Sharon – Page 263 – Sharon Lee, Writer

In which Rolanni may be the tiniest bit testy

Dear Google.

Please stop writing to me from a no-reply address to tell me that GoogleTalk is dead. I know GoogleTalk is dead and I mourn its passing every day. No, Hangouts is not just as useful, only cooler; Hangouts is an annoyance and a sham, and I would be delighted to tell you in-depth exactly how I feel about it and its non-functionality, if you had the guts to write to me from an address I could reply to.

But, no. Anonymous scolding is all you know.

No love,

* * *

Dear Eset.

First, you tell me I need to buy a new license. Then, I decide if I still want to use your product, and, if I do, I pay you.

Downloading the product to my laptop under the guise of an “update,” then telling me that in order to “activate” it, I have to purchase a license? So uncool.

No love,

* * *

Dear Internets.

Please stop repeating this silly, insulting question: “How do I write believable women characters?”

The correct question is, “How do I write believable CHARACTERS?”

The answer to the correct question is, “By observing people and by exercising imagination and empathy. These three things are your most powerful tools, as a writer. Keep watching, keep dreaming, and keep writing until you get it right.”

Also, know that you aren’t going to get it right the first time, or the fifth time, and by the lights of some, you will never get it right. Do the best you can. You can start writing without knowing how to do All The Things. Writing is a lifelong learning process, with many, many accomplishments to unlock. The only way you can start unlocking is by starting in to work.

Frustratedly,

* * *

Dear Backbrain.

Thank you. I believe that did in fact improve the story and moves things along more quickly.

Worth every bit of lost sleep and gnawed fingernails.

Keep up the good work,

* * *

Dear Trooper and Sprite.

Boy, are you guys workaholics.

Princess Sprite overlooking the basement

Liaden Universe® InfoDump No. 107

Party on the Internet!
Steve and Sharon will be among a half-dozen author guests celebrating the release of Christie Meierz’s new novel of the Maran, The Fall, on Monday, March 2, from 8-10 pm EST. The party will take place on Facebook. Here’s the link Attending authors include Corrina Lawson, Cat Rambo, Jael Wye, Miller and Lee, Heather Massey, Laurie A. Green, and Veronica Scott. There will be giveaways and all kinds of cool stuff going down, so c’mon and be part of the fun!

Pre-order signed and/or Personalized Copies of Dragon in Exile
As promised, Uncle Hugo’s Science Fiction Bookstore in Minneapolis, will be — is! — taking pre-orders for signed and personalized copies of Dragon in Exile, the 18th novel entry in the Liaden Universe®, the history of same having been faithfully recounted by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, Chroniclers of Korval since Nineteen-Aught-Eighty-Eight.Please read the following carefully, and then act in accordance with your necessities and estate.

There is a DEADLINE in play for personalized copies (in which “personalized” means that you ask the authors to write something /in addition/ to their names in your book). Personalized copies MUST BE pre-ordered by May 1. Also! If you want your book personalized, you must write the personalization in the box provided on the Uncle Hugo’s order form. The authors will reproduce what you have written on the half-title page UNLESS the personalization requested is, in the sole judgment of the authors too long and/or offensive.

Pre-orders for signed copies (in which “signed” means that the authors wrote their names in your book, period), will be taken until all the books are gone.

Uncle Hugo’s ships worldwide and does not charge your credit card until your order is ready to ship.

Here’s your link to pre-order from Uncle Hugo’s.

Dragon in Exile eARC now Available
Those who indulge may wish to know that the eArc edition of DRAGON IN EXILE may be downloaded directly from Baen Books in all the formats known to man, woman, and Turtle. Here’s your link.

Lee and Miller Mini-Tour in June
Baen Books and Simon and Schuster are sending Steve and Sharon on a mini book tour in support of Dragon in Exile in June. Here’s where we’ll be:

Tuesday, June 2, 7-9 pm — RELEASE DAY PARTY at Pandemonium Books, 4 Pleasant Street, Cambridge MA

Wednesday, June 3, 6:30-9 pm — The Toadstool Bookstore, Colony Mill Marketplace, 222 West Street, Keene NH

Thursday, June 4, 6-8 pm — The Toadstool Bookstore, 586 Nashua Street, Milford NH

Friday, June 5, 7-9 pm — Annie’s Book Stop of Worcester, 65 James Street, Worcester MA

Saturday, June 6, 7-9 pm — Northshire Books, 424 Broadway, Saratoga Springs NY

Sunday, June 7, TBA — Flights of Fantasy, 381 Sand Creek Road, Albany NY

Korval.com
If you missed the korval.com website in mid-February, you are not alone; the site was up and down for about ten days due to a changeover in its hosting arrangements. If you sent email to any korval.com address or searched for the website during that period to no avail, please accept our apologies.

Korval.com has been online since 1998, and we’re committed to keeping it online for years to come.

Thanks for your patience with the sometimes bumpy connectivity the interwebs bring us.

2015 Publication Schedule
January 6: Carousel Seas, final book in Sharon Lee’s Archers Beach Trilogy
May 15: Short story for Baen.com, title TBA
June 2: Dragon in Exile, 18th novel of the Liaden Universe®
August 4: A Liaden Universe® Constellation, Volume 3

Delivery Schedule (NOTE: these are deadlines for turn-in Madame the Editor, NOT publication dates)
April 15, 2015: Short story for Baen.com, title TBA
May 29, 2015: /Alliance of Equals/
November 15, 2015: Sequel to Alliance of Equals (aka Third of Five)
August 15, 2016: Fourth of Five
May 15, 2017: Fifth of Five

Blogs and Other Webly Things of Note
Steve Miller’s blog, Journeyman: http://kinzel.livejournal.com/
Sharon Lee’s blog, Eagles over the Kennebec: http://rolanni.livejournal.com/
Sharon Lee’s “Professional” blog: http://sharonleewriter.com
Splinter Universe Discussion List: http://splinterverse.livejournal.com <http://splinterverse.livejournal.com>

Facebook Connections — please feel free to add us!
http://facebook.com/kinzel — Steve Miller
http://facebook.com/rolanni — Sharon Lee

Pinbeam Books: http://www.pinbeambooks.com an online catalog, with vendor links, to all Lee-and-Miller eChapbooks
Splinter Universe: http://www.splinteruniverse.com features outtakes, splinters, and oddities from the Lee&Miller writing career, currently changes irregularly.
Welcome to Liad — The official homepage for Liaden Universe® news — http://www.korval.com
The Hyperspatial Boardwalk Shop: T-shirts, mugs, more! — http://www.cafepress.com/hyperspatial

Liaden Interest Groups on Facebook
Clan Korval: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=38719490864&ref=ts <http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=38719490864&ref=ts>
Friends of Liad: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=16280839259&ref=ts
Flaran chamenthi: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=2213414696&ref=ts

Twitter
Steve’s on Twitter: http://twitter.com/bechimo
Sharon’s on Twitter, too: http://twitter.com/ClanKorval
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/rolanni/

Disclaimer Stuff
This InfoDump is a product of the Liaden Universe®, accept no imitations. You have received this message because you asked for it. If you wish to subscribe to the Liaden Universe® email list, to unsubscribe from the Liaden Universe® email list, or to /change/ your delivery email address, go here: http://www.fireopal.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/liadenuniversenews

Books read in 2015

8. Angels’ Blood, Nalini Singh (read out loud with Steve)
7. The Pride of Chanur, C.J. Cherryh (re-read, read out loud with Steve)
6. What Darkness Brings, C.S. Harris
5. When Maidens Mourn, C.S. Harris
4. Where Shadows Dance, C.S. Harris
3. What Remains of Heaven, C.S. Harris
2. Where Serpents Sleep, C.S. Harris
1. When Gods Die, C.S. Harris

Celebrations and Appearances

Korval.com is back up. Thank you for your patience while Steve — who is a Hero of the Revolution — got this sorted out. It was Rather Ridiculously Complicated to untangle, involving as it did intelligence, counterintelligence, the missing persons bureaus of several large metropolitan police departments, and a bevy of hedgehogs. In the end, however, Steve prevailed, and we are once again live.

If you sent email to either of us at a korval.com address, and got a bounce message, please do send it again, if it is still relevant. Thank you.

So — that’s one reason to celebrate.

The other reason to celebrate is that the release date for Christie Meierz’ new book, The Fall, third in her Tolari Space series, is March 2, and she’s throwing a party on Facebook, from 8-10 p.m. EST.

This link for the party is: https://www.facebook.com/events/906994769322555

The last time Steve and I attended an online party was in Second Life, a few years ago, so this will be a new experience for us, but we’ll be there, with a bunch of other authors and readers, to send The Fall out into the world, and wish it well.

Fellow celebrants are: Corrina Lawson, Cat Rambo, Jael Wye, Heather Massey, Laurie A. Green, and Veronica Scott. And? There will be giveaways! You don’t want to miss this chance to meet and mingle, so mark your calendars now — and we’ll see you there!

And I think that’s all the news that’s fit to print from the Cat Farm, where Sprite is staring out the side window of my office, Trooper is snoring in the co-pilot’s chair, and Scrabble, in Steve’s office, sleeps with the heffalumps.

Pre-Order Dragon in Exile from the Uncle — MORE INFO

After reading yesterday’s post, reproduced below, lots of people rushed off to pre-order their signed and/or personalized copy of Dragon in Exile from Uncle Hugo’s.

This is very gratifying. Thank you.

But!

It came to the attention of Mr. Blyly, who may, in this instance, be understood to stand in for Uncle himself, that, in the happy rush of ordering, some folks who usually ask for personalizations (yes, Mr. Blyly notices this, because he’s that good) — didn’t.

So! What I’m going to do is ask you to read the instructions carefully and don’t let excitement carry you away.

We’re going to do a practice run, now. Please read the information below, and act according to your needs and estate.

1. If you want your book signed and personalized, you must write your requested personalization in the box provided on the order form. You must write the requested message EXACTLY as you want the authors to write it, so be sure to check for spelling errors. Also, the authors reserve the right to not personalize a book, if the personalization requested is, in the authors’ sole judgment, too long, or offensive.

1a. If you want your book personalized, but you don’t put the personalization in the box on the order form? You’re gonna get a book that the authors have written their names in. Period.

2. If you have already pre-ordered a book, and you wanted it personalized, but you forgot to fill in the box? You may direct an email to Mr. Blyly at unclehugoATaolDOTcom with Dragon Personalization in the subject line, and your requested personalization in the body of the email.

I want to thank everybody for your interest in, and support of, our work. We’re very pleased to be able to provide signed books to those who want them; it adds an air of festival and sharing to the process of seeing our book published.

* * *

Original blog post follows, with link

As promised, Uncle Hugo’s Science Fiction Bookstore in Minneapolis, will be — is! — taking pre-orders for signed and personalized copies of Dragon in Exile, the 18th novel entry in the Liaden Universe®, the history of same having been faithfully recounted by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, Chroniclers of Korval since Nineteen-Aught-Eighty-Eight.

Be aware that there is a deadline in play! Personalized copies (in which “personalized” means that you ask the authors to write something in addition to their names in your book) must be pre-ordered by May 1.

Pre-orders for signed copies (in which “signed” means that the authors wrote their names in your book, period), will be taken until all the books are gone.

Here’s your link to pre-order personalized and/or signed copies of Dragon in Exile.

Pre-order signed copies of Dragon in Exile!

Pre-orders for signed copies (in which “signed” means that the authors wrote their names in your book, period), will be taken until all the books are gone.

Here’s your link to pre-order personalized and/or signed copies of Dragon in Exile.

Monday afternoon cat spam

Work is going forth, here at the Cat Farm and Confusion Factory, which means that I’m even more boring than usual. For those who have been concerned — as who has not? — regarding the state of the deck roof: so far, so good. The wind blew some of the snow off, and I managed to slug some more off via the rake, by remembering that I was destined to be a basketball player. Possibly, I wasn’t as successful as I could have been, had I actually been willing to fall backwards off the steps to make the shot, but old age makes cowards of us all.

At the moment, and barring a blizzard that does not blow out to sea, I think the roof is safe.

Since I’m being boring, allow me to share some pictures of my assistants, who are never boring.

In case it was less than clear how very much Warrior Princess Jasmine Sprite adores getting her picture taken:

Warrior Princess Jasmine Sprite, the camera-shy... — Warrior Princess Jasmine Sprite, the camera-shy…

We don’t keep Trooper around just because he’s so dern sexy. . .

Friday, Saturday and beyond!

Christie Meierz has a Guest Post at SFSignal, in which she talks about some of the women who live in the Liaden Universe® and what makes a woman strong. Here’s your link.

Yesterday, I took myself out of the house, to work at the Winslow Public Library — chance of scene, and all like that, plus I assumed that it would be quieter than the house was scheduled to be on the day.

Well. . .it was a change of scene, but. . .libraries aren’t quiet anymore.

The first surprise was that the tables had been rearranged since the last time I’d been in, and my favorite table, in No Woman’s Land between the Storytime Bleachers and the Adult Fiction Section, had been replaced by a checkers table. It was a nice height, and sturdy, and more or less big enough for my needs, but I didn’t feel I should set up camp there, in case someone wanted to play checkers.

So, I moved back into the room (the Winslow Library is located in what used to be a rollerskating rink, so it’s one Really Big Room) , where there were two tables, deep in the bowels of non-fiction. One table was occupied by a man who was quietly reading a book. Good enough. I claimed the second, unpacked, and commenced in to work.

. . .only to find that the man who had been quietly reading had been awaiting the return of his son, who was doing research for a report, and who, I suppose, had reading comprehension issues, because the man said, “Ready?” and started to read the book aloud to the boy. Every so often, he would stop, and the boy would say back what he had understood.

I quietly packed up and moved to the map table near the computers, which is where I stayed throughout the next three-0dd hours. I could still hear the man reading to his son, but it wasn’t so loud that I couldn’t ignore it.

Scarcely had I vacated the table when a high school aged girl came in with a woman. They sat down at the table, and began grammar and punctuation drills. Which they did for three hours. I’m a writer, and I can’t maintain an enthusiasm for punctuation for three straight hours, but these ladies were hardcore.

Meanwhile, the father and son moved over to the computers, and the boy logged into. . .something. His dad had to prompt him a couple times, but on the whole he needed much less help with the computer than he had with his research reading.

The boy had barely gotten logged in when an older man and a younger couple came in, took over the table he and his dad had been using and commenced in to having a seminar about. . .something. Which they labored over for more than two hours.

Who knew the library was such a crossroads of commerce?

After I was done my own work, I wandered across the river, and had a late lunch at Holy Cannoli. If you’re ever in the neighborhood, the lemon-chicken soup is to die for.

I finished up a couple errands, and made my way back home, to find that we’re under a Winter Storm Watch from this evening into Sunday. Depending on who you believe, we’re looking at snow accumulations of 3-5 or 4-8 inches. There’s also an outlying model which predicts it will rain, to which I can only say, “avert.”

While I was at the library, I picked up a bookmark advertising the Langlais Art Trail. This is a project to mapping the location of all of the (odd, humorous, and, in many cases, Quite Large) pieces of art that Bernard Langlais gave to the State of Maine across the course of his career. The most famous of these is, of course, the Skowhegan Indian. The Colby College Art Museum also has a nice collection of his smaller works.

For more information about Bernard Langlais, his work, and the art trail, go here.

Now, having brought y’all up to date on the doings of the Cat Farm and Confusion Factory, finished my coffee, and brushed three cats, I’m going to turn off the internet and go to work.

Everybody have a good weekend!

Tuesday

We picked up Mozart’s ashes today.

Then, we went for a ride. Not a long ride; only to Augusta. We walked around Lowe’s and did our bit for morale by asking a passing Lowe-worker where the roof-rakes might be found. Not one to be had in the store, we were told, in-between gasps of laughter. Possibly not one to be had in greater New England.

After we had sowed our seeds of merriment, we went to Best Buy, where I finally succumbed and purchased the Shiny, the Canon PowerShot SX700HS 30X with the Bundled Goodies. It’s about half as thick as my venerable PowerShot 120IS 10X, and weighs just about the same. The challenge here is going to be remembering not to just stick it into a pocket and forget it’s there.

In theory, it does all kinds of sweet things, none of which I’ve figured out, yet, including sending pictures via wifi. What an age we live in.

Stopped at the grocery on the way home, because we are once again about to go under a — wait for it! — Winter Storm Watch. The theory is that we may received from 5-11 inches of snow from Wednesday afternoon until Thursday afternoon.

After that, we won’t have to deal with any more snow until Saturday night into Sunday.

My plan for the rest of the week is to take the laptop, and retire with it and Alliance of Equals to the couch and do nothing else — except shovel snow, of course (and tomorrow’s my turn to make dinner, but that’ll be meatballs (already made) and rotinis, with gravy. Easy-peasy.). The Kid Coons aren’t entirely sure that they Approve of the laptop, which takes up precious lap-space that could more fruitfully be occupied by a coon cat. Sprite, in particular, believes that she can too fit in the space between me and the keyboard.

Just for the record?

She can’t.

For those who were breathlessly awaiting my impression of Jupiter Ascending — I had a good time with it. Mind you, I don’t get to see many movies, so that probably pre-disposes me to being amused and pleased by those I do see, but to my way of thinking, I had three winners in a row: Guardians of the Galaxy, Big Hero6, and Jupiter Ascending.

What did you do today that was exciting?

Monday

So, we’re going to the movies, to see “Jupiter Ascending,” which has generated the most polarized reviews of any movie in recent times. I’m thinking that because it’s (by description, if not by definition) a Science Fiction Romance, not a Space Opera, not a Space Adventure, (not, ahem, Guys Blowing Things Up) that the people who are expecting those things — because science fiction! — don’t know what to do with it, and so they can only trash it. The people who love it, love it for things that sound SFR-y to me — Cinderella chassis, lots of hunky guys to choose from, a Choice between Personal Happiness or Destiny. . .

We shall see.

In the meantime, the wind is still blowing HARD, but the sky is blue, the sun is out, and there’s no snow in the forecast until Wednesday.

Almost summer.

* * *

Progress on Alliance of Equals
53,093/100,000 OR 53% Complete

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