Sharon – Page 318 – Sharon Lee, Writer

Sufficient unto the day is the excitement thereof

So, let’s see…

Early today, we discovered that Agent of Change was now available, DRM-free, from the Baen Free Library, which means it’s also available for free download from Amazon, because that’s how the Big River rolls. Since the purpose of giving the first one away for free is to ~~addict~~ acquaint new readers with the Liaden Universe®, we ask that you please point out Agent’s availability to your friends, coworkers, family members, strangers chance-met on the street. . . and, if you’re able, to boost the signal, by mentioning Agent’s free-to-download goodness in your blog, on Twitter, or Facebook, or wherever readers congregate online. Also? The Kindle edition needs reader reviews, to help curious newbies decide whether or not they want to read this book.

As of this writing, the free edition of Agent of Change has a bestseller rank of 632, which puts it at #1 in Kindle Space Opera, and #62 in Kindle Science Fiction and Fantasy. For whatever that’s worth — of which more in a moment.

OK, so that was the morning shift.

This afternoon, we learned that Dragon Ship by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller was the Number One Best Read of 2012, according to those who voted in SFSite’s Best SF and Fantasy Books of 2012: Reader’s Choice, where it is one of an amazing six Baen titles on the list.

Speaking of Amazon bestsellers (see how I did that? Smooth, right?), I came across this article, in which a new author is stunned by the financial rewards of his chosen profession.

Then there’s this article, which talks about the challenges of lipreading — if you read nothing else tonight, read this article; it’s fascinating.

And, apropos of nothing much, except that I was inside Steve’s camera earlier and found this — for your viewing pleasure, here is a picture of part of our living room. The part with the Yule tree (which is still up), the Skylark Award sporting it’s classy! cover! that was kindly created for it by Kat Ayers Mannix.

In-between the Skylark and the tree is the Prism Award, recklessly unshrouded. Directly before the Skylark are the extra Skylark Shrouds Kat also made. And, yes, that is a red metallic cloth covering the top of the old radio on which all of this is arranged.

Yule Tree, Skylark, Prism, Cover Art by David Mattingly

Hook a friend on Liad

Back in February 1988, Del Rey Books published as a paperback original a space opera that asked the musical question, Can a rich boy with a severe personality disorder, and a brother who is a giant sentient turtle, find true love and lasting happiness with a tough-talking retired mercenary soldier on the run from the Mob? The title of this odd little novel was Agent of Change, from first-time novelists Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.

This! is the novel that set up the Liaden Universe®, now sixteen books strong. And now? You can download it for free from these sources, DRM-free:

The Baen Free Library (in all ebook formats known to man)

Amazon (kindle)

Please share this news with all your friends, and especially with your friends who need the Liaden Universe® in their lives.

In other news, it snowed last night.

Cat Farm in the snow
Photo by Steve Miller

I can climb the highest mountain; I can cross the wildest sea

Today, it was back to the Winslow Library, which despite being smaller and consisting of one really big room (the Winslow Library lives in a converted roller rink — in what was conceived as a temp location until a proper library could be built, oh…I’m gonna say ten, twelve years ago. Despite the fact that it was never supposed to house the collection forever, it’s well-maintained and very easy on the nerves, and holds up extremely well to the old library building, which was, I believe, a former church. When the congregation outgrew the building, it somehow came to house the town library. It was old, it was tiny, it was cold. Oh, and it was on a flood plain. Every spring, the librarian would put out a sign up sheet for those folks who would be available at any hour of the day or night (I’m not kidding here) to move the books out, if the river crested above a certain number of feet. Good times.) — is much quieter than the Waterville Library. Also closer.

Edited to Add: I have a lousy memory; here’s a quick history and current news on the old library

Anyhow, I’d slept late, and so got a late start. The day was sunny and cold, and I noticed as I drove down the Garland Road that there are, like, a zillion maple trees on tap — more than I’ve ever seen. I’m wondering if this because this March is displaying some arcane signs of being the Best Sap Year EVER, or if I’m seeing desperation. Gotta make money, and there’s good money in maple syrup. Not necessarily in comparison to the labor involved, but having something to do is better than having nothing to do.

At the library, I realized that Number Ten Ox, the laptop was only half-charged, and that there seem to be no public plugs in the library. Note to self: Remember to recharge Ox every time you come home from a writing shift away.

Got about 1100 words down on Chapter Five before I needed to shut down for lack of power, whereupon I went into town to perform various errands.

It was then that I noticed the ABS light was now lit on Binjali’s dashboard. The ABS light has to do with the anti-lock braking system. Seems that, if the light is on, the anti-lock brakes are off, though, somehow, “regular” braking is still in force (oh, rly?). The cure for this is to — all together now — take the car to a Subaru dealer. Yanno? I’ll deal with that next week.

Errands accomplished, I stopped to pick up lunch at the Red Barn’s Winslow satellite; and Steve and I feasted on fried chicken nuggets and potato salad. Excellent lunch!

I have now finished writing Very Substantial Checks to the IRS and the Maine State Treasurer — and there’s still money in the checkbook! (this, children, is why, when we get a check in, no matter how small, no matter how much needed, we take the taxes out first. Learn from our mistake; do this. It’s painful, and depressing to see how little is left of a royalty check after 33% has been deducted, but it’s even more depressing to find out on Income Tax Settling Day that you owe more than you have.

I’ve also finished Chapter Five in rough draft, and now it’s too late to go to bed early, so I guess I’ll settle for going to bed.

Who’s got Big Plans for the weekend?

Progress on Carousel Seas:

8,510/100,000 OR 8.50% complete

“I don’t bear any particular fondness for Arbitrary and Cruel, but they are my employer, so I gotta be careful, here,” she said, slowly.

Mozart, After; plus bonus pics!

Mozart is home from his ordeal and is of course exhausted. Here, he observes the gooshy food that ought to be his, except that his sub-intelligent and unfeeling minion has instead given to Socks.

Here’s Socks, trying not to look too smug:

Socks, being not very smug — Socks, being not *very* smug

Scrabble stole a march on everyone by sneaking into my ~~Mozart’s~~ her rocking chair while the Silly Fluffs argued over food.

…this has been your Thursday afternoon cat report from the Cat Farm and Confusion Factory.

You’re welcome.

Today’s theme is! Errands, with a side of chores

Today, Mozart goes to the hairdresser for his summer do. It’s a little early, but Mozart had obviously planned for a Cold Maine Winter, Just Like Grandpa Used to Have. I think he fails to understand that Grandpa tended to exaggerate when he was into the nip.

Anyhow, here’s Mozart being prepared for winter:

I’m sure he’ll be just as annoyed in the After shot.

So, first thing is hairdresser. Then back to the house to cook and eat supper; the chicken already marinating because I am mighty!; then out in the opposite direction to ransom the income taxes from the accountant. Then back home, to check over the paperwork and doubtless to write checks to the IRS and the Treasurer of the State of Maine. Possibly I’ll get some writing done, if no more chores or errands mount up while I’m slaying the ones already in-queue.

Speaking of checks — several kind people sent money via the Splinter Universe PayPal button, to help with the repair of my car. Thank you so very much; I’m surprised, but grateful.

I did yesterday get to the library for a writing shift, after picking said car up from the garage, which was good. I’m liking this getting out to a new room; varying from the Same Old seems to be sharpening up the writer brain. The writing goal is 2,000 words a day on Carousel Seas. The plan is to get to the point where I can juggle one ball, and then add in another for later in the day. This may or may not work, but if you don’t try, you never learn.

Or something.

And I see by the clock on the wall that it’s time to find a cat and insert him into a cat carrier.

See y’all later.

Progress on Carousel Seas:

6,004/100,000 words OR 6% completed

“Kate,” I said, bending over to pick up the Journal-Trib, “you lack vision.”

Books read in 2013

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)

I believe it may be Tuesday

I managed, for the first time since last Monday, to get out of the house for my morning writing shift. Today, I sampled the Waterville Library, which may be up for some award for the Noisiest Library in the State of Maine. Initially, I went upstairs to the Maine History Room, where I had been as alone as a writer could wish to be on a previous occasion. Today, the History Room was empty, but there was an Intervention of some sort going on in the room directly across the hall, and both of the women involved sport Hearty Farm Girl lungs.

I really didn’t want to hear the personal business of the woman being counseled, so I went down one flight, to Non-fiction, and set up on a table by an air shaft/skylight. This seemed ideal, except that the air shaft went right down into the librarians’ office, and they were having a gossipfest.

I finally wound up writing on one of the low pillowed window seats between Maps and Non-fiction.

The bitter irony here is that I knew I didn’t want to go to Winslow today, because they have a morning story hour, and Winslow is one, big, open concept library. Waterville, I reasoned, would be quieter, because it’s split up among four floors.

Hah.

Note to self: put earplugs into work bag.

Despite it all, I did get some work done — 2,174 by the time the dust settled during evening revisions.

My plan had been to hit a library again early tomorrow, but on the way home (cue sinister music) the muffler went kaplooie (or, more accurately, it went brumrumRUMrumrum). I arrived home and asked Steve if he would follow me back into town, to the garage. He said he would, but he had some things to take care of first, so while he was taking care of things, I decided to upgrade the LibreOffice on my desktop.

This is a relatively simple operation, but it became fraught, because of Chrome misnaming a file with a .torrent at the end, which, as you may imagine threw Windows into a screaming tizzy. It wouldn’t let me install the file, the LibreOffice site does not make it easy to find 3.6.5 now that 4.0 has been released, and it was all just Much Harder than it needed to be.

Then someone was wrong on the internet. Sigh.

So, Steve and I ate lunch, and motored out to the garage, dropped Binjali off, hit Staples for a laptop mouse to replace mine that had died months ago, but I just remembered it today at the library, and then picked up a couple of vanilla milkshakes, because it had suddenly become That Kind of Day.

We returned home to questions from the accountant in re our tax information; someone was still wrong on the internet; and I finally got my editing done. I have notes for the next scene, so that’s ready for expansion tomorrow, which I will do, if I have to sit on the damn porch in the rain.

. . .Public Service Announcements Below

I’m not if this will work, but David Mattingly posted a video of Times Square on Saturday night. Here’s the link which may or may not work

* * *

Also, Waterville and nearby Maine folk take note! There will be a Steampunk Tea, sponsored by the Waterville Public Library and Cirque du Geek cordially invite you to attend a Steampunk Tea Party at Selah Tea Cafe on Maine Street in Waterville. The festivities will include a costume contest, Steampunk games, and more!

Join us for tea, cookies, and some Steampunk fun! Attending in costume is encouraged, but not required.

Another link that may or may not work, to Cirque du Geek’s facebook page

And here’s Selah Tea’s webpage

* * *

Last but not least, please give if you can: Bangor Women’s Shelter Matching Fund

Progress on Carousel Seas: 4,003/100,000 OR 4% completed

By ways unseen, she came to the sea.

Monday Socks Update

We took Socks in to see his primary vet this morning for a follow-up visit to last week’s amazing adventures. He’s in good shape (at the moment — this is, as we discussed, the issue — we always need to qualify “good” with “for now”), if kind of sniffly and grumpy. In the vet’s opinion, Socks is a good candidate for megacolon surgery. The next step rests with her — she needs to contact the Experts in Portland, partly to insure that she’s done everything they feel is necessary in terms of diagnosis and medical treatment, and also to find out costs for surgery, convalescence care, and all those things none of us thought about. We expect to have that information in hand this week

In the meantime, we have some new, high-energy, low fiber wet food to try , since the vet’s still interested in getting another two (or three) pounds on him, especially in light of possible upcoming surgery.

So, we’re in Wait Mode.

More news as it arrives.

Reflections on Food

I’m taking a little bit of ribbing over on Facebook about my initial reluctance to eat something referred to in the menu as “gyro meat.” So far as I know, there is no gyrobeast from which this meat might be harvested. If the meat in question was simply spiced lamb, why not say “spiced lamb”?

So, a few minutes of soul-searching out of respect for the girl who watched, with fascinated horror, as the Pollack Johnny hot-dog-making machine at Lexington Market made hot dogs. The same girl who, yes, still happily ate scrapple, even knowing what it was.

In any case, my gyro was perfectly tasty and I’m glad to add a new foodstuff to my repertoire.

Last year, through the kind offices of Mem Morman and Kent Bloom, I added beignets, which were also very tasty — and therefore amazed people who could scarcely believe that this was my first experience of the food. Mem is also, I fear, responsible for my discovery of Greek food in general, back a couple years when we were GoHs at CoSine.

Anyhow, I got to thinking why I’m such a food illiterate.

Part of it — a good deal of it — has to do with having been born Rather A Long Time Ago to people who had been raised by people who had survived the (first) Great Depression, who were themselves very frugal, and unlikely to experiment with something so vital as food. You bought what you knew you’d eat; otherwise, you might not like it, and food would be wasted.

It was Very, Very Bad to waste food.

When I reached adulthood, some of my friends were able to help me expand my food horizons, but when Steve and I moved in together, we were — not to put too fine a point on it — bitterly broke, occasionally rising to the point where money was only extremely tight. We bought basics that we knew we would eat, because it would be Very Bad to waste food.

We (Steve’s family was similar to mine — trad blue collar, where the father worked the Real Job; and mom took care of the kids. In his case, things were a little tighter still, because there were five kids — four of them boys. My parents only had to feed two girls.) But, yeah — we might have experienced varied and different foods by going out with groups at conventions, except, again, we were poor to the point of carrying our own cheese sandwiches with us, and eating out of our room.

Anyhow, it’s good that life is easier now, and that there are so many different things to sample. Even if some of it isn’t immediately and intuitively understandable.

What delicious food(s) have you recently discovered?

* * *

Progress on Carousel Seas: 1,733/100,000 or 1.73% complete

This was the tricky part — well. And not burning down the carousel.

Guest Post: Steve Miller

Yesterday, we went to the ocean. Yes, yes; we are grasshoppers. But it was sunny and warm and we had cabin fever, and…Well. Let Steve tell it:

A tale in several parts.

We went out to go to the store yesterday, (starting with breakfast out) with a car load of redemption cans and bottles in the car — which needed to be turned in before we could do grocery shopping.

We arrived at redemption center, which was too busy to get into the parking lot, went to the vets and picked up some needed meds for Socks, went back to redemption center and stood in line.

We eventually redeemed bottles/cans/lottery tickets to the tune of $17.45. It was, as we noticed, a very pretty day out and since Sharon had begun the morning with “Hey, let’s go to the ocean!” and suggesting a breakfast there … and said the same when the bottles were redeemed (and hey, we had Socks meds so that was the really important part of the day’s agenda) … so we stopped at Julliete’s bakery and bought some cookies (matched set of peanut butter cookies and chocolate chip cookies) and with sustenance in hand and Sharon still suggesting the ocean before the grocery store, we set off to do that. I’ve been needing an actual cabin fever type break from being in the house too long and since driving long distance at highs speeds lowers my blood pressure appreciably, we got on I-95 South and went with the flow, which seemed to be running seventeen miles an hour about posted speed limit.

Very good to get a drive in, and at that pace we looked to arrive in Old Orchard beach in considerably less than the usual two hours and five minutes from Winslow.

* * *

So we took a rest stop between Gray and Falmouth, got back on the road, and saw … slow traffic ahead of us. And slower. And emergency lights. And then, slowest traffic.

In fact, for around forty-five minutes we sat there, car off in the midst of I-95, listening to Pandora on my phone and then stored tunes on Sharon’s phone, simply letting the breeze come through the window.

Others needed to be somewhere and began backing up, and some of them turning around(!) to escape the back-up by illegally crossing a very tiny (maybe one and a half yard deep) opening in the divider between north and south bound. This opening was so short that a car on our side that was half on the emergency apron on the south bound side would be sticking out into the high-speed travel lane of the northbound side.

A number of cars made this escape — but having years ago covered (as a newspaper editor in Maryland) a multi-fatality car crash where someone did such a u-turn on Maryland’s portion of I-95, I can say I wasn’t much in favor of this whole process and i did nothing to aid those attempting it. We were just considering starting the car up to recharge devices (we carry a charger in the car for just such necessity) when Sharon, from her special vantage in the shotgun seat, said “I think an ambulance is trying to get through!”

See above cars trying to illegally turn? Some of them were having a Real Hard Time and so were stuck sideways across the road …

* * *

A policeman having arrived suddenly from the south, he (with some anger apparent), pulled his car long way into the opening sealing it. There were many complaints, and an advancing ambulance that most people couldn’t see or hear (cars running, radios on, cellphones to ears, all watching for a sign of progress in the traffic a half mile down the long hill in front of us …

Sharon was right, there was an ambulance, and it wasn’t getting much help. I pulled our Subaru as close to the median wall as i could, and got out of my car, yelling at the person in front of us to move out of the way (they were about 1/3 of the way into their three point turn becasue they didn’t realize the cop had sealed the illegal turn behind us…) …

So then I turned and made like a windmill, which got a lot of people’s attention, and some of them even opened windows and heard me say — “To the side, clear for an ambulance! to the side, clear the way!”

The tractor trailer rig which had been being a good neighbor already was able to facilitate things by nosily revving his engine and then people heard him do something, saw me, and eventually (both behind and in front of us) started moving cars. As Sharon put it “That ambulance driver is amazing!” …

I got back in the car, saying words about stupids ….

And then we waited some more. The officer called out to people that it would clear soon, and about fifteen minutes after the ambulance got through there was minor motion ahead. Five minutes after that I turned the car back on and we were able to proceed to the ocean …

* * *

And so,…

This is what the fuss was about

* * *

Tale not being so much of an issue — just later yesterday…

So, after we got out of the traffic jam we motored on in fine style to OOB (oh oh bee) (that’s local talk for Old Orchard Beach!) we drove about town looking vaguely at houses, considering buying a motel to turn into a co-office spot (with a residential unit for us) … and then we pulled into the Skylark, where we parked and went for a mile walk on the beach and then a return trip via East Grand Avenue….

But before we get to the eat part I should point out that the ocean was wild yesterday, coming off the same storm that’s tearing up the Massachusetts
coast .. and OOB was experiencing a “clam tide” in which thousands of live/fresh clams were thrown up onto the beach. Many locals were carrying buckets among these deposited creatures… I didn’t do that, instead just admiring the waves, foam, mist, and sound of incessant thundering surf. Very, very impressive.

and then we decided to eat.

Alas, the new downtown spot, Hoss and Mary’s, has no restroom, so we didn’t eat there … instead driving up Saco Avenue to Jimmy The Greek’s .. where Sharon had (she promises me!) her first-ever gyro. I was more pedestrian, going for the Chicken Carbonaro Sandwich on Garlic and Herb Bread with Sweet Potato fries while Sharon’s meal came with regular potato waffle fries. Sharon pointed out much later that 1) she’d had potatoes at all three of yesterday’s meals and 2) that all three of yesterday’s joint meals, with tips, cost less than our recent Friday morning breakfast at Boskone — at the Westin Sauciety restaurant.

Then a leisurely drive home up the expressway, watching for a comet in our rearview mirror and seeing none, and then getting off the highway at a vantage point and still missing out. Have you see the comet?

A quick stop at Hannaford’s for a bit of groceries, and then a quiet evening. So, after that refreshing rejuvenating ocean experience I have a busy couple days ahead of me and you likely won’t hear from me much.