Month: February 2012

…so they’ll stop nibbling me.

Got to the gym, did exercise, came home, iced ankle, put out some minor fires, and spent a lot of time staring at the screen.  Words finally appeared; I wanted more, but Words are good, and I’m still easing my way back into the narrative.  Different story than Dragon Ship; and very different characters.

On the health front, Steve is on the mend, which means his cold is worse, of course, though English would have it that his cold is better.  Silly language.

Oh, and hey!  The up-front money for the German editions of I Dare arrived today.  Yay! for checks in the mail.

Adverts and self-promotion follow.  You have been warned.

Remember that we’ll be donating the proceeds of February sales of the eChapbook The Cat’s Job to Planned Parenthood, for breast cancer screening.  The full story, with links, is here.  So far, donations total $120.17.  Thanks to everyone for their support.

Also!  It’s not too late to participate in the SFSite’s Reader Poll for the Best Novel of 2011.  Here’s the link.  Ghost Ship by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller was published in August 2011.  Just sayin’.

Also, also!  The Locus 2011 poll about everything SFnal is here.  You do not need to be a subscriber to vote.  You do not need to choose from the titles Locus has helpfully provided from their own reviewers’ lists of Best Books of the year; there are ample blank spaces provided for write-in votes.  Please only vote once, and please be truthful about your gender.  Here’s a list of eligible Lee-and-Miller, and Miller, work, just to help you with your decision-making.

And!  Last also — the Hugo Award Nominations are now open.  If you were an attending member of RenoVation last year, or are a supporting/attending member of Chicon this year, you may nominate works for the final ballot.  If you want to play, here’s the link .  That list of eligible Lee-and-Miller, and Miller, works, above, is going to be handy, here, too.

 

Progress on Necessity’s Child
(the book formerly known as George)

71,858/100,000 words OR 71.86% complete

“Oh, if it is something your grandmother has said I can’t know, I don’t mind,” he said. “There are House secrets, after all. It must be very difficult to remember which House you are in.”

Because of the adventures of the morning, detailed elsewhere, I got kind of a slow start to the bidness end of the day. Still, some words got written, some emails got answered, and, um, progress is progressing.

Tomorrow, the only thing on the schedule (saving a visit to the gym) is writing. Here’s hoping that no other piece of Necessary Machinery loses its mind.

Progress on Necessity’s Child
(the book formerly known as George)

70,793/100,000 words OR 70.79% complete

“Far-dreamer, welcome,” a familiar — even a beloved — voice said from the opposite side of the hearth. “Glad I am to see you return to us.”

So, today.

Early, I went to the gym for the first time since I tumbled down the hill and did in my ankle, and noodled out a new, low-ankle-stress workout with Justin, who seems to be expecting that things like therapy and follow-up visits and other niceties never mentioned by my physician ought to be happening. Guess I have a phone call to make tomorrow. In the meantime, as Tricia Bray predicted — recumbent bike for the win! Also some upper-body work that’s all pretty much what I’d been doing before the fall.

After gym, I hit the post office, the banks, and the grocery store, came home and sat on the couch for an hour with my foot elevated. Icing also happened, and Mozart was pleased. (Begin Explanatory Note: Not, you understand, because Mozart is a particular fan of ice per se. But he does know that if I have an ice bag on my ankle, I’m rendered immobile for a Specific Amount of Time. The lap-sitting opportunity presented by this is what pleases Mozart. End Explanatory Note)

After lunch, I dove head-first into the excitement of changing various accounts to reflect the fact that Bank of America sent me a new credit card, or more accurately, assigned me a new credit card number, because the one I’d had for, oh, nine years I guess, has been compromised. What fun.

That done, and as always a sucker for adrenaline, I then paid bills, and tinked around on korval.com

For those who are still with me, and who are of an archival turn of mind — would you mind going here and looking at the list of conventions at which we’ve been GoHs and Special Guests. I think I may be missing a few, and it’s not outside of the realm of possibility that I have misremembered that we were GoHs at SuchACon when in fact we were plain-vanilla panelists.

Thanks much.

Now, I’m for doing the dishes and getting some lunch. Steve caught a cold at Boskone, so I’ll see if I can get him early to bed. . .

Oh, let’s see…

When last we saw our intrepid hero and heroine, they had transferred the care of cats and house to the equally intrepid house-sitter, mounted Argent the Subaru, and sped off to Portland, Maine and business class seats to Boston on the Downeaster.

We arrived somewhat ahead of our departure time, so I got to play with Cygnus to see how quickly he picked up on alien wireless systems (answer: quickly, and almost seamlessly), and Steve got to talk to Paul Merrill from News 8 about Congress’, ahem, boneheaded notion to withdraw funding from the Downeaster.

The trip down was pleasant, which is the Downeaster’s norm. We read and picnicked on the cheese and turkey sandwiches we’d brought from home; the train arrived on time, we caught a taxi and arrived at the Westin Waterfront in plenty of time to check in, unpack and meet Tyler Stewart and his wife, Karen, for dinner in Cambridge before being whisked off to our signing at Pandemonium Books.

Friday, we sort of chatted our way through the Westin’s lobby as people started seriously arriving. Among the people arriving were the attendees of a dance convention which was either sponsored by or was itself The Pulse, with moms, sisters and occasionally fathers in attendance, all of which made for interesting people watching.

Later in the day we had an enjoyable dinner off-campus with Mem Morman and Kent Bloom, returning to the Westin in good time for me to rest a bit (I did Boskone on a stick and a bladder cast! but it was occasionally tiring.) before we went downstairs to the Galleria and The Reception.

We caught up with lots of folks — Martin Deutsch, Tricia Bray, Sam Butler, Andrew Seigel, Paula Lieberman, and others that I’m forgetting because I have rocks for brains, not because I don’t love you all.

Eventually, we found our bed, and collapsed, arising early next morning in good time to attend the Friends of Liad breakfast.

Despite the early hour (8! am! on Saturday! at a con!), the breakfast was well-attended (boy are you guys tough!), and a good time, as well as good conversation, was had by all.

After breakfast, was our first event of the day — actually, our first two events of the day. I read from “The Space at Tinsori Light,” while Steve sat in the audience, disappearing for a few minutes to dash across the hall and take part in the Baen Traveling Roadshow. The audience was appreciative, though I fear I had to leave them at a. . .tense. . .scene.

It was then Steve’s turn to read, which he did, from Dragon Ship. The audience stayed right where they’d been — a good sign — and I took a seat in the audience until it was time for me to go across the hall and take part in the Baen presentation.

Later on in the day, we were interviewed by Brother Guy Consolmangno (aka The Vatican Astronomer), which was a great deal of fun — Guy is a smooth interviewer, the audience was interested, and we all had a good time.

An autographing and a literary beer (wine) rounded out the afternoon.

Now, here’s where it gets weird.

We went to dinner with Toni Weisskopf (aka Management), Dan dos Santos, Chuck Gannon (aka Charles E. Gannon), Bob Eggleton, and Marianne Plumridge. Because of the stick-and-cast situation, we traveled the short distance to the restaurant by cabs. Said restaurant was, um, PACKED, and even though Reservations Had Been Made, there was a longish wait for our table to be ready, and time was starting to get a little tight, since Toni and Dan had to be back by 9, in time for the Boskone Saturday Night Meet-the-GOHs and Award Event.

When we left the scene of our really excellent dinner, one cab had answered the hostess’ call on our behalf, and, since Toni and Dan, as above, had to be back for the Event, Steve and I tried to give them the cab, saying we’d go ’round the corner and grab another.

“No,” said Toni. “Get in.”

So, all four of us — Dan, Toni, Steve, me — got into the cab, alighting in front of the Westin at 8:59. Toni and Dan rushed off to the Event; Steve and I went upstairs to take off our coats and put our badges back on.

We therefore arrived at the Event a trifle after everyone else, and the play was in progress as we took our seats. We had the idea that Toni was going to be the surprised recipient of the Skylark award, since her credentials are excellent and NESFA positively delights in misdirection when it comes to keeping the Chosen in the dark about what’s about to happen to them.

So, it was that we settled in and saw Trixie Pixie introduced, and Toni, and John Scalzi, heard that Jerry and Roberta’s get well card was at the info desk for members to sign. . .and there was a pause while Suford Lewis, NESFA’s president came up to the podium and began to read from a prepared statement.

She explained first what the Skylark is, and how long NESFA had been awarding it, and said that it usually went to an individual, but sometimes to a couple.

“Oh,” I thought, “not Toni. Must be Patrick and Teresa.”

For instance, Suford continued, past worthy couples had been Joe and Gay Haldeman, and Patrick and Teresa Nielsen Hayden.

“Oh,” I thought.

And then Suford said the word “Liaden,” and Steve in the chair next to me said, “Eeep!” quite distinctly, and a whole buncha heads turned round to stare at us, smiling, while another whole buncha cameras went off.

We managed, when called, to go down to the front (after I thrust my stick and my bag into Seth’s hands — thanks, Seth!), and Steve said our thank you, and Suford said to me, off-mike, “How did we keep it a secret? We didn’t tell anybody!”, and Jane Yolen delivered the traditional warning regarding Big Glass Lenses and the Sunball in the Sky, and. . .wow.

Yeah, just. . .wow.

After, we took the Lens downstairs to visit those whose duties to the con precluded them from attending the Event before going back to the room, depositing it in a sun-safe place, and going out to party.

Sunday morning, Steve had a panel about the fine art of titling with Toni Weisskopf, Debra Doyle, Claire Eddy, and Priscilla Olson, which was well-attended and informative.

Sunday afternoon, Elizabeth Bear and I talked about sequels to an attentive audience, and then it was time to go home to Maine.

And so we did.

Science fiction and fantasy authors Sharon Lee and Steve Miller are pleased to share the news that they are recipients of the 2012 Skylark Award.

Presented by the New England Science Fiction Association at the annual regional science fiction convention Boskone, the Skylark — formally The Edward E. Smith Memorial Award for Imaginative Fiction — is presented to some person, who, in the opinion of the membership, has contributed significantly to science fiction, both through work in the field and by exemplifying the personal qualities which made the late “Doc” Smith well-loved by those who knew him. Given since 1966, previous recipients include Sir Terry Pratchett, George R.R. Martin, Anne McCaffrey, Jane Yolen, and Isaac Asimov.

The Winslow, Maine writers received the award in person at a surprise ceremony at Boston’s Westin Waterfront, Saturday, February 18, 2012 with 1990 Skylark winner Jane Yolen attending and sharing her take on the care and feeding of the award.

A complete list of past Skylark recipients may be found here

All righty then. I’ve finished the fixing of the first seven-tenths of Necessity’s Child including several (small, tiny) structural changes and writing a couple scenes, and deleting/shortening a buncha scenes (which, OK, is structural, too). The characters are all where they should be, physically, emotionally, and mentally by this stage in the narrative, and we’re ready to motor on.

Hear that, brain?

Most of the changes were in the service of making elapsed time seem long enough to the reader without actually having to tell every. single. thing. This is key, because I’m following three POV characters, who start off in very different places, and who need to all meet at the corner of Twenty-Sixth and Elm at ten o’clock on Saturday the eighth in order for the rest of the story to go forward as it should. Since all that’s straightened out now, we’re ready to motor on.

Ahem. Brain?

Well.

Next on my schedule is packing for Boskone. We’ll be on the train tomorrow afternoon, having handed off the keys and the cats to the housesitter. Those in the area, do stop by Pandemonium Books tomorrow — that’s Thursday! — evening from 7 to 9 p.m. We’d really like to see you.

In other news, it looks like I’ll be reading “Tinsori Light” (or as far into “Tinsori Light” as I can get in twenty minutes) at my session on Saturday morning. Since Steve’s reading follows mine (same time, same place), and since we are scheduled against the Baen Traveling Slideshow, the plan is for Steve to go to the Slideshow at 10 and return in time for his reading, whereupon I will go and do likewise.

I will be but lightly casted this weekend — the bladder cast, augmented by a stick. I will not be running any races, mind you, but I will be much more personally mobile than I was in Chattanooga.

Those who are coming to Boskone, remember the Friends of Liad Breakfast at 8 a.m. on Saturday in Saucity, which is inside the hotel. Saturday’s a busy day for us at the con, so we want to get an early start in the hopes that we can lull it into a false sense of security, hit it over the head, and riffle its pockets for cantra pieces.

And now, despite the fact that Mozart is emitting sleep rays at a dern near toxic level, I’m going to go pack. If you’re coming to Boskone, I hope to see you there! If you’re not coming to Boskone, I hope you have a fun-filled weekend planned!

Progress on Necessity’s Child
(the book formerly known as George)

70,069/100,000 words OR 70% complete

“I don’t like that boy,” she said.

“Which one?”

“The new one — Luce.” She thought. “Or Pete.”

He grinned. “But they seem to like each other.”

“I don’t like that either.” 

Marvel/Disney seeks to forbid the creator of the comic character Ghost Rider from publicly identifying himself as the creator, from doing sketches of the character for money at conventions, and is seeking $17,000 in “damages.”

Boing-boing has the story

1. A Literary Agent talks about royalties, and which sales are better for the author — ebook or paper? — here

2. Don’t be a Victim! Jim Hines talks about self-defense and self-control.

3. Women with clean houses don’t write epic fantasy.

4. For those who missed it yesterday, the Interactive Map of Entitlements. You can sort by year, and by program. Pay particular attention to the slideshow.

5. The Hugo Administrators want you to know that the Hugo Nominations deadline is March 11. Here are the rules. Here’s a list of eligible Lee-and-Miller, and Miller, titles (yes, it’s the same old list that you’ve seen before).

The weatherbeans are calling for minus 1F (-18C) tonight, which I think is as cold as it’s been all winter. Fierce wind blowing, too.

*cue WC Fields*

So, the redlining is over. Tomorrow, I need to make the changes in the manuscript. I did take a slightly wrong turn at the very end of the pages I have written, so I’ll be fixing that, and then zooming on toward the finish line.

Uh, yeah.

In other news, The Galveston Daily News reviews Carousel Tides, and Steve is proposing a fun new project for Splinter Universe. His Facebook post is reproduced below, for those who don’t FB:

Coming attractions …

I have, these last few days, been going over a curiosity we may be sharing on Splinter Universe starting in a day or two — and possibly stretching out over a couple weeks.

To explain —

We’ve discovered some old “exercises” of mine that grew into a number of strands of a story that never quite got finished, and for good cause. If I recall the period properly I’d been working on this when my job got crazy and I’d ended up working 10 to 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, for some months. That ended when I had back problems so bad I spent over a week flat on my back with muscle relaxants making motion possible ….

And what I was fiddling with was Miri, and Ichliad Brunner, and Klamath. The pages we have are, alas, not exactly numbered — and there were tries and retries, and angles. At this distance I can’t recall which were first and second ….

So my idea is that I’ll scan the apparent strands in, one by one, and post the strands on Splinter Universe, and we can all take a look (perhaps you more than me since I also have Jethri on the line) and see if we can work out what might have been the proper story line … and who knows, maybe we’ll see if something more should be done with what’s there, given that, in effect, we’ve already finished some of the story through the joys of Misfits.

If you want to know what a work in progress can look like from the wrong side of the lens, this will be your chance, assuming anyone is interested.

How say ye?

Everybody stay warm.

Well, now, where was I?

Right. Seem to have run right out of “rest,” with the result that my ankle has started to swell up again. Spent yesterday on the couch, redlining Necessity’s Child. Today will be more of the same, and that should see the end of that part of the project. Then, I really do need to get with the desk-top, do the changes, and the text-block moves. And, yanno, write the final third of the book.

Happily, my backbrain has forked over with An Idea regarding the future of one of the characters. Sadly, it would involve a sequel that would entangle with the sequel to Dragon Ship.

Perhaps the backbrain will kindly produce some more information on this subject some time soon. After all, it has all the time in the world, here.

* * *

We have thus far collected $89.24 for the Planned Parenthood breast cancer screening program. Our thanks to everyone who has purchased a copy of The Cat’s Job in February. For those who came in late, we are contributing the February proceeds (that means, the money that we get, after the bookstores get their piece of the action)of the eChapbook edition of The Cat’s Job to Planned Parenthood. Complete explanation, with links, here

* * *

Speaking of Amazon (note that smooth transition, baby) — If you are an author who sells Kindle editions of your work, it is worth your while to check the catalog pages of your books to ascertain whether Amazon has arbitrarily marked your book down to $0.99US

Pinbeam Books has five titles that have been marked down. On the publisher page, the list price still shows at $2.99US. It is on the catalog page (i.e. the page that people Actually Buy The Book From) that the discounted price is displayed (You! Save! $2.00!)

At least one other author has noticed this, regarding his own books, that I know of. I suspect that there are more, because the answer to my inquiry to KDP support is: We wanted to write you to confirm that we received your recent email to KDP Support and will be responding to you as soon as possible. Unfortunately, our response time is taking a bit longer than the usual 24 hours we normally reply within.

And, yes, before someone says it — Amazon does indeed have the power to do whateverthehell they want to do with any book they list. Says so in their manifesto contract. However, Amazon is trying very hard to position itself as The Author’s Friend; the guy who’ll cut authors a fair deal and give them 70% royalties.

Only?

Books that are sold at $0.99US earn 35% royalties.

* * *

We watched Source Code Friday night — it was, I thought, very well done, even riveting. Even Mozart was riveted, and his taste in film runs almost exclusively to vintage musicals.

Recommended.

* * *

And for those who have been jonseing for an eArc of Dragon Ship, we have word from a proactive reader who enquired of Baenebooks that “Assuming the book stays on schedule, we should be publishing the eARC sometime between May and June…”

. . .and that’s all the news.

How’s your weekend coming along?