The Saga of the Car continues.
Yesterday, I picked up a 2016 Subaru Legacy at Charlie’s Subaru in Augusta — the same dealership that sold me Kineo (used), and is now gluing him back together. Geico, after originally agreeing that it would rent me a Subaru (since only Subarus are comparable to Subarus and mine was broken), tried an end-run at the point-of-rental, telling the rental guy that Geico Did Not Do “comparable”; Geico does Number of Seat Belts, and there was no need to go to extra expense to provide the customer with a “luxury car” (I kid you not, and no, Subarus are not “luxury cars”). Fortunately, I had spoken to the rental guy before I’d called Geico, and he gave me a Subaru anyway, which really was above and beyond.
Everybody please put them together for Greg at Charlie’s Motor Mall Rental Center, who was beyond helpful, and made the rental part of the process just as smooth and easy as it could be.
Also — Geico? No gold stars for you.
Now, Geico has authorized this rental for nine days, that being the amount of time that Doug in the Collision Center guesstimated the putting-back-together part would take. However, Greg tells me that, if I have not heard from Doug, Geico, or Greg himself before the Ninth Day (that being Friday the 29th), that he will just roll the rental over for another nine days, so I shouldn’t be in a position of not having a car, no matter how long the repairs take.
So! Everything on the car front is as caught up as it can be, and I anticipate making no further updates until Kineo is home again.
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On another note entirely — y’all are aware that Steve and I have a book coming out in early July. It’s called Alliance of Equals, and is the nineteenth novel-length adventure in the Liaden Universe®. You can read an early reader review, here.
Now, among the Liaden cognoscenti, there is a certain amount of. . .excitement. . .about Alliance of Equals. Long-time readers apparently think that it’s going to be one heckuva read, and they’re not wrong.
We’re excited about Alliance, too, and we feel sorry for all the folks — yes, there are quite a few — who are going to miss out on the excitement — and the great read! — simply because they have never heard of the Liaden Universe® and don’t know that they Really Want To Read this book the instant it comes out.
So — we’re asking for your help to identify ways and means to get the word out in as many venues as possible.
Readers: What is/are your favorite review site(s)? (We know about Locus.) We’d like to see that they get a review copy.
Also! If you blog, Tweet, Facebook, or have a social media platform of some kind, you can help get the word out by mentioning Alliance, or chatting about the Liaden Universe®, and even the fact that there are two! Liaden Universe® novels available as free ebooks, for those who may be a little timid about trying a new series.
Links for Agent of Change, free ebook: Amazon (kindle) Baen Free Library (all formats known to Man)
Links for Fledgling, free ebook: Amazon (kindle) Baen Free Library (all formats known to Man)
Writers/Commentators/Colleagues: Do you host other writers on your blog? Steve and/or I would love to stop by and chat. Do you talk about upcoming books? We’d love to get you a review copy of Alliance. Drop me a note at rolanniATkorvalDOTcom.
Thank you all in advance. We couldn’t have gotten here without help from our readers and colleagues and random well-wishers on the internet. Truly, it’s a wonderful world.
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In personal news, I have caught Steve’s cold, which is poor planning, indeed, and not just because it means that I couldn’t play pickleball this morning.
I have here on my desk a Chunk of The Gathering Edge to be fine-tuned; a short story that I’d really like to write for Splinter Universe, and, of course, the 2015 taxes to do.
I will, therefore, be Somewhat Scarce on the Intertubes for the next while. Email will of course reach me, but I may be Just a Tad Slow answering.
And that’s all I’ve got.
Everyone in the snow zone, please, please stay safe. I know you guys aren’t used to this, and I Worry.
Here’s a list of Helpful Snow Tips (really) from the Bangor Police Department, for those who can Facebook.
And, here’s a picture of Belle, collaborating:
Today’s blog title brought to you by Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, “S.O.B”. Here’s your link.
It cannot be a whole year since we last duked it out with tax records! Oh, well — thanks for the timely reminder. Some situations are too complex to put off until April!
I so enjoy your musings here. I am, of course, a fan of All Things Liaden as well. Really looking forward to Alliance of Equals. Thank you both for What You Do!
I will try to do some fb stuff later today, from home. Can I copy the stuff about the free books in whatever I post?
Sure thing; that’s why I tried to get it all in one place.
Thanks!
My library allows readers to recommend ebooks for the eBook library. They had a list of books I could pick from and the kinzel book was on it! Yay. Now I will log in as my daughter and see what other books of yours I can find. Check your libraries people and request! It hooks readers into buying the rest of the series.
Loved the advice for the blizzard-inexperienced. They should’ve added, for those in the mid-Atlantic states who came from farther south, that when it finally clears but the travel advisories are still on, one should not think ‘Oh, it’s so beautiful–I’ll bet the countryside’s even prettier–let’s go for a drive.” That’s how you get stuck in a windblown drift on a highway up a mountain and spend considerable time not getting unstuck, to be finally pulled loose by a fellow w/4 wheel drive and a winch, who is patiently pulling out every car stuck on the way up that mountain. The gods should have blessed him with great wealth, perfect health and a retirement somewhere it doesn’t snow.
Doin’ Snoopy’s happy dance in anticipation of wonderful new book coming. I’m sending out some virtual chicken soup along with very real wishes for your rapid recovery.
Review sites – I spend a lot of time on Librarything, which has Early Reviewers – though that’s normally done through the publishers. I believe Baen is on there, though I might be wrong. And the other site I use a lot is NetGalley – again, through the publisher, and I believe Baen is _not_ on there (any more). Love to see Alliance on either one! I will be reading and reviewing it on Librarything anyway – but obviously not until it comes out publicly.
Posted a link on Facebook to both the Agent of Change at the Baen Free library, and to the Amazon page for Alliance of Equals.