Author: Sharon

Saturday dreaming

So, last night, or early this morning, I dreamed that the Master Harper had died, and in fulfillment of his last duty to the Hall and the Craft, his spirit had spanned the world, looking for the one who would come after.  He found her soul in Dreamland, and revealed himself. When he was certain that she had seen, he turned, for the last time, toward the Hall, showing her the way.

The spirit of the new Master Harper turned into a hart — by which we learn that she is a traditionalist — and followed.

A nice story, really, and about then I realized that I was one of several persons auditing this event, and my companions were Not Best Pleased.

“A motorcycle!” said one.  “One does not Seek Through Dreamland on a motorcycle!”

“Why not?” I asked.  “The steed we ride in Dreamland is that which is chosen by our soul.”

“It’s not traditional!” said another one.

“Well, he wasn’t traditional, was he?” said a third.  “That’s not exactly a surprise, after all these years, is it?  Gods know, we all came against his Ideas, down the years.”

“You want traditional?” I said, turning back to the screen, or the window, in time to see the hart leap from Dreamland into the cluttered room at the top of the tower, skidding slightly on the old pages underfoot.

The shape went misty for a moment, reforming into a ragged young woman, her hair tangled with brambles, her face dirty, clutching a leather bag to her meager chest.  She gazed around the room, face dawning awe and then delight as she discovered each instrument beneath its piles of books, scribbled notes, and gee-gaws.

“It looks like you’ve got traditional,” I said, waving my comrades over to watch the new Master Harper start her tentative tour of the tower.

In the distance, a motorcycle roared, wound out, and faded. . .

 

Post-book non-news

Well, let’s see. . .

I was going to get down to finishing the post-book office clean-up, the taxes, gearing up the files for 2017, and All The Other Stuff that I ignored during the last month of writing Neogenesis, but!

Monday, The Hanging Tree arrived in the mail, so I read it instead of doing any adulting.  Tuesday I had a doctor’s appointment, in which several plans were made for health monitoring, including the borked knee.  I’m back to gym, but this time on the recumbent bike, which is apparently less stressful on knee-joints than the treadmill.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to strengthen the knee enough that I’ll actually be able to walk around Niagara Falls in August.  If it’s not significantly better, there’s a cortisone shot in my future, so here’s hoping bike therapy works.

Yesterday, was Steve’s first appointment at the rehab gym, where goal-setting and measurements and other cool things were done.  A three-day-a-week schedule has been put together, which will start next week and continue ’til we leave for MarsCon.  After we come back, re-evaluation will happen.

Today in the mundane world, I’ll get back on putting my office back together, and all the other catch-up.  I’m sure there are people out there who manage to keep all of the chores done and the house clean while on deadline, but it’s a trick I’ve never managed.

I think this catches us up. What’re y’all doing that’s fun?

And that’s a wrap

Neogenesis, the twenty-first novel in the Liaden Universe®, the 75th Lee and Miller collaboration,  has been submitted to Madame the Editor.

The manuscript weighs in at approximately 142,000 words/601 manuscript pages.

From the reader perspective, this is the book after the next book, the next book being The Gathering Edge, which is to be published in May.   Neogenesis is currently scheduled for January 2018 publication.

So.  I’m thinking risotto for dinner, with maybe a glass of wine.

How about you?

 

 

There’s so many things he just don’t understand

So, let’s see.  In our Last Thrilling Episode, the Writers were scrambling to get various projects done by deadlines/extended deadlines.

As of this morning, one of the overdue projects has been turned in; the other is in process.  The novel…is done in concept.  Which means that I have about thirty pages of dialog/rough story to expand and polish.  After all the cake has been iced, I’m guessing we’ll come in about 130,000/132,000 finished words.  And, yes, I have written many more words for this book than made the final cut.  Might be time for a Blooper Track.

In terms of Mechanics, the book has been proofed, spell-checked, grammar-checked and continuity-checked through page 555 (remember — these are manuscript pages, +/- 250 words/page in the Normal Way of things, and slightly less in This Way of doing things, because sub-chapters), and I’m actually feeling pretty good about it as a novel.

However, the next book will be about a person who sits in his chair and does nothing.  Fair warning.

I’ve been making a list of things To Do when the book is finished.  It looks something like this:

  1. Do income taxes
  2. Clean house
  3. Do Laundry
  4. Make blankie run
  5. Get haircut
  6. Prep for con
  7. Start next book

“Go to the Virgin Islands and sit around the pool drinking Adult Beverages” had been on the list, too, but the Coon Cat Consortium vetoed it.

. . .And I think that’s all I got, except to note that Today the Weather Ghods of Central Maine have given us a nor’easter/ice storm.  It’s a good thing I was planning to stay inside, anyway.

Y’all be careful out there.

Oh.  Today’s blog title brought to you by the Steve Miller Band, “Motherless Children.”  It’s been on continuous loop in my head for a couple days now, and I thought I’d share the gift.  Here’s your link.

Just checking in

Yes, yes, everyone’s fine here at the Cat Farm and Confusion Factory.  We’re simply in the midst of Deadline Heck for various projects, two of which are late, and one of which is coming due Right Soon.  I, personally, have been down deep in the guts of the novel, doing I can’t even tell you, because to do so I would have to change brain trains, and I can’t really do that right now.

On the Mundane Plane, it was snowing yesterday, so we put off going to town. Which of course meant that it snowed even more on the overnight, and is snowing as I type, so I guess we’ll go to town in the snow.

I hear from Uncle Hugo that Mr. Blyly will soon have a page up for the pre-order of singed/personalized copies of The Gathering Edge, the. . .twentieth Liaden Universe® novel.  We’ll let you know when that page is live.

For those of a Hugo nominating bent, the Liaden Universe® is eligible for the brand new Series Hugo, which is being test-driven at this year’s WorldCon.

The cats are all fine, though of course they’d rather we’d do something a little more interesting than sitting in a chair and staring at the computer screens.  Belle has taken to jumping up in the bed in the early morning hours — say around 4:00 am, to Discuss Weighty Matters with me.  Steve is of the opinion that she wants me to add a dining room, so she can have a dining room table to sleep on (we just finished reading The Cat Who Saw Red aloud, and I fear Koko is a bad influence.).  She would also like a Cat Porch to be installed.

. . .I think that’s all I’ve got.  Writers lives are pretty boring, really, especially when we’re working.

Everybody stay well and warm — or cool, depending on your hemisphere.