Oh, let’s see, where was I?
Milford, New Hampshire, I think. Yes — we had a great time talking with the science fiction readers group at Toadstool Books’ Milford location on Thursday.
On Friday, our intrepid and very patient driver conveyed us to Annie’s Book Stop in Worcester, where we talked with a SRO crowd of avid Liaden readers, some of whom had traveled from the far kingdoms of Connecticut and Boston and New York state. We had a great time, and returned to the hotel tired, but happy.
Saturday, we shifted residence again, to our old standby, the Fairfield Inn, in East Greenbush. From there, we visited Northshire Books in Saratoga Springs, where I could have happily spent the day, but duty called. We spoke to a small crowd of familiar faces, and I got to talk about The Telling Detail in public, which is always a pleasure, and so back to base and a late dinner at, yes, Denny’s. (Fish. And salad. Honest, for those who fear for our longevity when we dine out: We’ve made it this far, after all.)
Sunday afternoon, we had a pleasant lunch at Maria Perry’s house with the Flights of Fantasy book club, before removing to the store, where an amazing number of people waited for us, considering that it was a Truly Gorgeous day.
We were very lax on the photographic side this time — if anyone has pictures from any of our events, we’d love to see them! Kate Reynolds took this picture of us getting ready to read from Dragon in Exile.
Everybody seemed to have fun — we did! Many books were signed, and eventually we wended our way back to base, said a fond farewell to our noble driver, and retired to Denny’s for dinner (Chicken Bourbon — we split what Denny’s fondly believes to be one serving. We did sin slightly by taking a slice of cheesecake (one, which we split) back to the room for a late dessert). Returning to the room, we packed, I read, Steve perused Facebook, and so early to bed, in anticipation of Monday’s adventure.
Yesterday. . .was Monday. Enterprise Rent-a-Car responded nobly to our 7:30 a.m. call, and sent Billy to pick us and our luggage up and take us to the East Greenbush location in order to fill out paperwork and take charge of the keys to a sleek black Jeep Compass, which we proceeded to drive north to Brunswick. We reclaimed Kineo from Amtrak long-term parking, turned the Jeep back to the Enterprise location on Pleasant Street and beat feet to the Cat Farm and Confusion Factory, with a short stop at the Waterville Hannaford to pick up a few groceries.
Trooper and Scrabble were on paw to greet us upon arrival. Sprite left her Ivory Tower as we were putting the groceries away, and. . . we shall, gentle reader, draw a curtain over the intimacies of the joyous homecoming.
This morning was about sleeping late, and getting the receipts in order to send on to the publisher, and skritching cats. Steve has been a ball o’fire, and has already started the laundry. This afternoon after lunch (salad!), and possibly a nap, will be about paying the bills that arrived while we were gone, and balancing checkbooks, brushing cats (all of whom swear that Mary did not brush them; or anyway, she did, but not The Right Way) and perhaps peering cautiously at the 200+/- legitimate emails that are waiting for my attention. Or maybe I’ll take up a corner of the sofa and read The Martian, which I’m finding Very Slow, but not quite irritating enough to give up on. Honestly, though; if the hero of this novel had been a woman? It would have been dismissed as a Mary Sue of the Highest Order. Also — cardboard characters, much?
. . .I think that catches me up.
So! What’ve y’all been doing for the last week?
I read an amusing fanfiction where Tony Stark from the Avengers hired Calvin from the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip. Nothing like a good read that leaves you with a grin on your face.:-) I enjoyed it so much I am going to see if I can track down some old Calvin and Hobbes books.
Well. In answer to your question…No doubt this will be a terrific surprise, but this past week I’ve been reading Dragon in Exile. Not to mention reading the entire Liaden series over again. (Okay, I started a couple of weeks before Dragon in Exile came out, so I’d be ready.) And acquiring such volumes as I didn’t already own. It’s the first time I’ve read the whole series in one whack and I’m even more impressed than I was before at the number of plot threads that wind in and out of the series.
Alas, I am near the end, having just this afternoon purchased the second Constellation collection. Then I will need to find some patience until August and wait for the next novel. If it can be told- will the next book include more of Theo’s adventures?
Welp. The August book is Constellation Three, the third short story compilation. Alliance of Equals is the next novel, which we turned in on May 31, and which so far has no pub date. I’m sorry to report that Theo makes no appearance therein. Third book, though — working title The Gathering Edge — as currently being Thought About, has lots of Theo.
One must not forget the scritching of cats
Thank you kindly for the information. Had you asked me to choose which of the several story lines I most want to see more forward next I would have been hard put to choose, so I’m sure I’ll be delighted with the next book (though I’m still exceedingly curious about Theo, given where we left her!).
Ah well, I’m rationing the last few short stories and moving on to read other things instead of obsessing about Korval. In part because Liaden is trying to creep into my regular speech, and my mundane coworkers are giving me Looks.