Sharon – Page 310 – Sharon Lee, Writer

What I’ll be doing for the next few days

This is Carousel Seas, in manuscript, with attendant files, notepads and pens:

As of this writing, Trooper is on the bed, Mozart is on the floor and in motion, Scrabble sleeps with the heffalumps and peace reigns at the Cat Farm. Mozart is sounding a little hoarse this morning, but I haven’t heard a curse word out of him this morning. The squirt bottle is primed, just in case.

Once again, this:

Close up of the project in hand. With Owl. — Close up of the project in hand. With owl.

…is what is going to be occupying most of my attention for the immediate future, so I’ll be scarce. It’s possible — well, probable — that we’ll take a couple hours off on Wednesday, because — The Lone Ranger. I’d hate to tell you how very much I want to see this movie, then it’ll be back to work. With luck and a tailwind — and the minimum of Cat Drama — the completed manuscript should be ready to hand in by July 15.

So! What’re your big plans for the coming week?

For the good of the Troop

So, we wandered down to our neighboring lovely state of New Hampster, where we were interviewed by Trooper, Nate, and Missy, Rita, Kelly, and Kim. They decided that they would allow us to bring Trooper home, so we did that.

This is Trooper:

He’s looking up at Mozart, who was cursing at him from on top of the file cabinet. Mozart’s not usually a curser, and the high, squeaky voice does lend a certain. . .piquancy. Still, he got his point across. Trooper’s voice is kind of a mellow honking sound — very charming. Mozart was. . .nonplussed, but did not descend from the file cabinet.

Here’s Mozart on top of the file cabinet:

Here’s another picture of Trooper, who really likes my blue oriental rug:

Right now, relative peace reigns. Trooper is on the copilot’s chair and Mozart remains on the file cabinet, but has decided to ignore the fact that there is Another Cat in the room.

In a strange reversal of roles, Scrabble is perfectly OK with the fact that there is a Third! Cat! in the house, and has allowed Trooper to pass her several times, unmolested and uncommented-upon.

I’m hoping the drama will be well in the past by tomorrow this time. I’ve never known Mozart to hold a grudge even half that long.

The cat wants to sleep with Anthony, not with me*

The cream cheese I opened with great anticipation this morning — had blueberries in it. I am a purist when it comes to cream cheese.

With neither Steve nor I nor any cat near it, Steve’s (full) coffee mug went over, soaking the tablecloth, Steve’s breakfast and the pile of side papers.

I completely lost track of the fact that there’s this thing called “temporal progression” by which our lives are ruled, and missed my yoga class.

The sixteen-year-old, Marden’s Special air conditioner is noisily dying the death.

The weatherbeans are calling 86F/30C and bad air today (though not as bad as the air along the southern coast, which wins its very own little orange warning triangle on Wunderground). See imminent death of air conditioner, above.

The item I expected to arrive in today’s mail. . .didn’t.

The business correspondence is stacking up, and I need one answer from someone who is not answering their email in order to deal with any of them.

The fluorescent bulb in the desk lamp is starting to flicker. And I don’t think I remembered to stock in a replacement bulb.

I need to file. No, I really need to file.

On the plus side, I did get it together to order in a ceramic cat fountain, which I’ve been meaning to do for months. Scrabble will be pleased.

We have a road trip coming up over the weekend, when it’s supposed to be cooler. That’ll be nice.

____________

*From “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,” by Judith Viorst, one of my favorite stories ever, including as it does the most pathetic complaint in All of Literature: The cat wants to sleep with Anthony, not with me.

Books read in 2013

Even Money, Dick Francis & Felix Francis
Magic Bites, Ilona Andrews
Sandman Slim, Richard Kadrey
The Diviners, Libba Bray (e)
The Eighth Succession, Don Sakers
You’re All Just Jealous of My Jetpack, Tom Gauld
Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance, Lois McMaster Bujold (e)
Hellspark, Janet Kagan (re-re-re-re-re-re-&c-read)
The Year of the Dog, Grace Lin
The Quantum Thief, Hannu Rajaniemi (e)
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened (a mostly true memoir), Jenny Lawson
How Dark the World Becomes, Frank Chadwick (e)
Shades of Milk and Honey, Mary Robinette Kowal
French Fried, Chris Dolley (e)
My Father’s Dragon, Ruth Stiles Gannett (read aloud w/Steve)
Fair Game, Patricia Briggs (e)
Nymph, Francesca Lia Block (read aloud w/Steve)
Oh, Myyy, George Takei (e)
Hunting Ground, Patricia Briggs (e)
Cry Wolf, Patriacia Briggs (e)
Alpha and Omega, Patricia Briggs (e)
Miss Buncle, Married, D.E. Stevenson (read aloud w/Steve)
Agatha Heterodyne and the Hammerless Bell, Phil & Kaja Foglio
Moonrise Kingdom screenplay, Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola (e)

Cover Art Sneak Peak

(Apologies to those who have seen this before. This is a repost in order to see if the Magic of the Internet is on the case.)

We have, through the kind offices of Tony Daniel and Danielle Turner at Baen, the following Sneak Peak of the cover art for Carousel Sun by Sharon Lee, which is tentatively slated for publication in early 2014.

I like it.

Carousel Sun cover art
by Eric Williams

For those coming in late, Carousel Sun is the sequel to Carousel Tides, by Sharon Lee — available even now at a bookstore near you; in all ebook formats known to man from Baen, from the Kindle Store, and the Apple ebook store. It is also available as an audiobook from Audible. I’m writing the last book in the trilogy — Carousel Seas — as we speak.

Please note that the Carousel books are not (that’s not) Liaden Universe® novels; they take place in an almost-real town on the coast of Maine, and they are fantasy.

#SFWApro

The weather outside is frightful…

. . .but the cats are so delightful.

Here we see Mozart getting into position to meet today’s 90F/32C projected temps. Note the pink toes, spread for maximum cooling surface.

Scrabble does not approve of the paparazzi

Scrabble remains on-station in Steve’s office. Here also note the deployment of the toes.

Wildflowers in the cat garden — Absent friends

On a related subject, today saw the first flowers bloom in the Cat Garden.

Steve is getting the air conditioners into the service, and I plan to spend a good part of the day doing laundry and playing around with the workshop description/class plan.

In which the penultimate draft is printed out

Yesterday, I took the day off. Today, I’m kinda sorta doing some stuff, but I’m not being nearly as energetic as Steve, who helped me go through a mountain of blankets and sheets and curtains from the closet shelf and decide which we’re keeping, which goes to Goodwill and which to the dump. He also did the dishes and cooked lunch.

So, what I’m saying here is I’m being a slacker.

I did merge and print out Carousel Seas, so it’s ready to go when I am. And, I cleaned off my desk. No, really, I did — see?

I also have to write a course description for MWPA for a workshop Steve and I are teaching in August, but that will not, I fear, happen today. Perhaps tomorrow.

Hope everyone is having a lovely summer weekend.

In which the penultimate draft is done

Last night I finished the penultimate draft of Carousel Seas, the last book in the Archers Beach trilogy. Now the manuscript (and the author) get a couple days to breathe before I dive in among the commas for a last pass.

Also? I get to clean off my desk. The picture below is your reminder that creativity is messy.

Now, I get to clean off my desk — The desk at the end of the draft

* * *

Progress on Carousel Seas

100,358/100,000 words OR 100.36% complete

Here ends the penultimate draft

Look WHO came in today’s mail

Thank you, Chris Huning, for the lovely surprise!

That’s not thunder. . .

So it turns out that the Really Loud peal of thunder that woke us up at 6:11 this morning. . .was an earthquake. Epicenter in Sidney, 2.6 on the scale. Sidney’s about 15 miles from the Cat Farm and Confusion Factory.

For the record, I am against this increased trending in Maine earthquakes.

Have I mentioned here that the ebook edition of A Liaden Universe® Constellation, Volume One is now available in all formats known to man from Baen and also from the Amazon Kindle store? Well, it is. The paper book will be on the shelves of a bookstore near you on July 2.

Yesterday was another boring day from an observer’s point of view. I wrote 3,700 words of climax for Carousel Seas. Today, with luck and a tailwind, I’ll take care of the wrap-up, and then it will be done! Done! DOOOONE!

Ahem. Except for the final pass-through and patch, of course. But that’s next week and in-between, there’s a weekend.

Mike the Electrician and his helper, Scott, did enliven the early part of yesterday by arriving to install the two new ceiling fans. FWIW, they pronounce the Harbor Breeze Hive Series flush-mount ceiling fan Best! Ceiling! Fan! Ever! We’re pretty happy with them, too.

. . .and I think that’s all I have to report.

Who has exciting plans for the weekend?

* * *

Progress on Carousel Seas

96,670/100,000 words OR 97% complete

I understood the land’s distress. Nerazi was the second person I’d met in the Changing Land; she’d helped Gran nurse me back from being elfshot and almost dead. In all the time since, I’d seen her at a standstill exactly twice.

And I’d never seen her afraid.