Author: Sharon

Q.  Amazon cancelled my order/I cancelled my order for the signed edition of Dragon Ship.  Are there any left anywhere within the expanding confines of the existing universe?

A. Yes!  Uncle Hugo’s Science Fiction Bookstore in Minneapolis still has signed copies of Dragon Ship on hand.  Here’s your link to the Lee and Miller catalog page.  You’ll have to scroll down.

Q.  Are signed editions of Necessity’s Child going to be available?

A.  Yes!  You may preorder it now, in fact.  In light of the kerfuffle surrounding the Dragon Ship signed editions, and Amazon’s total customer service Fail in the event, I would strongly suggest pre-ordering your signed edition from Uncle Hugo’s.   Here’s that link again.  This time you’re lucky; Necessity’s Child is right at the top of the page. Yes, the book “costs more” from Uncle.  On the other hand, not having to deal with the uncertainty and frustration engendered by Amazon’s curious lapse has got to be worth a buck or two.

Bonus A.  First chapter of Necessity’s Child, right over here.

Bonus A #2.  No, we don’t know when Baen will release the eArc.  The last we heard, via a reader, was late October-ish to mid-November-ish.

Q.  I totally missed getting a hardcover of Ghost Ship before it sold out.  Are there any left anywhere within the expanding confines of the existing universe?

A.  Yes!  Uncle Hugo’s reports have 40 Ghost Ship hardcovers on hand.  The link, one! more! time.  Yep, you’ll need to scroll down.

 Q.  I read the splinter of The Cards of Fortunate Destiny on Splinter Universe.  Will you be completing that novel?

A.  No.

Q.  How about getting a co-author to write it with you?  It would be, like, half the work for you!

A.  No.  You will have noticed that I have a co-author, and I know that collaboration is not “half as much work” for anyone involved.

Q. What’s with Trade Secrets?

A.  Steve’s working on it.  It had to be gutted and re-visioned — much like Balance of Trade, as I recall.  Teenagers!

Q.  When will the sequel to The Tomorrow Log be published?

A.  My best, conservative, guess is?  Never.

 

…I think that’s caught up what I have in email and other places ’round the net.

If you have a question I haven’t answered, please ask in comments.  I will answer, though it may take me as much as a day.

Thanks!

As reported elsewhere, on Friday we made the pilgrimage to Bangor for the Book Festival.  Friday evening we gathered with the other participating authors at the Hammond Street Senior Center for wine and conversation.  We were greeted there by Johnny the Cat, the proprietor, who came out from under a table where he was keeping a Very Close Eye on those gathered, to give Steve a bump and then to flop down and show belly.

The keynote was given by Richard Russo and Kate Russo.  They described the process of putting together their collaborative project, Interventions.  The project was the publication of four stories, by Richard, and four paintings, by Kate, Richard’s daughter.  Their goal was to produce a book that couldn’t easily be made into an ebook, that had numerous “moving parts,” and which would demonstrate that “book” is a multidimensional experience.  For those interested, the “moving parts” include four individually bound stories in a slipcase.  Each story has the painting relating to it inside, but not bound in; it can be used as  a bookmark, and keeps the art in front of the reader as they move through the story.

The talk was enjoyable and informative, and Richard did me. . .the favor. . .of reminding me of Stevenson’s “Windy Nights,” which is now stuck in my head.

Thanks a lot, Richard.

I’ll mention that the weatherbeans were calling rain for Friday and Saturday.  We managed to dodge the bullet on Friday, but Saturday more than made up for it.  There were several early downpours, flash flooding, and rivers of muddy water flowing freely down Bangor’s hilly streets.

We sat in the car in the parking lot across from the library for about half-an-hour, waiting for the weather to let up. When it had, a little, we grabbed our bag of goodies and a umbrella, and picked our way across the liquid street.  Even with the umbrella, we were both soaked, so it was good we had some time to dry off before the group signings.

The rain had stopped completely by the time we were due to walk down to the Rock and Art Shop and give our talk, where we had a small, diverse group, including folks who had read our entire oeuvre, and folks who were just getting started.

If you’re ever in Bangor, Maine?  Go the Rock and Art Shop.  Really.  And schedule some serious time there.

Steve had started to feel somewhat poorly — still not done with the cold from hell, apparently — so we did not stay in Bangor for the last, celebratory event, but opted to get home before it was dark (my night-sight has gone straight to heck).

In all, we had a great time, largely thanks to the help and patience of Gibran Graham, and Barbara McDade.

#

So, after being feted and celebrated, today is about doing the laundry and getting my office straightened up.

One of the things that’s making my office quite so untidy are the piles of galley proofs from books long published.  I think I’m going to have to bite the bullet and throw ’em out.  Then I have to decide what to do with the nice Brother laser printer that I took with me to Temp Headquarters so that I didn’t have to deconstruct my entire home office in order to take the ink-jet with me.  The Brother is super, but, really, I don’t need another printer in this office; I already have two.

Oh!  I should mention that there is a review of the Liaden Universe® Space Regency audiobooks over here.  (Liaden Universe® audiobooks from Audible US and from Audible UK.  This has been your obligatory author self-promotion.)

So!  What did y’all do this weekend?

Have I mentioned here that Steve and I will be participating in the Bangor Book Festival, Friday and Saturday, October 18 and 19 and 20 (that’s this coming weekend!)?

We’ll be at the Author Reception and Keynote on Friday evening, 6:30, at the Hammond Street Senior Center in Bangor.  Richard Russo will deliver the keynote; you’ll remember that he won the Pulitzer in Fiction a couple years back, for his novel Empire Falls.

On Saturday at 12:30, Steve and I will take part in the Mad Group Signing in the gorgeous Bangor Public Library Rotunda (honest, the BPL is a beautiful building; if you haven’t visited, you should.  Plus — books!)

Then!  at 1:30, we’ll remove to the Rock and Art Shop at 36 Central Street to talk about the Liaden Universe® with all comers.

In addition to us, there’ll be lots more going on, with about a zillion authors and illustrators taking over downtown Bangor, so plan on taking part.

* * *

There’s a very thorough explication of the Agent of Change audiobook Sequence, over here.  If you’ve been wary of the audiobook editions, or unwilling to commit to a long-running series encompassing. . .fifteen (soon to be sixteen) novels, you may find this review of use.

* * *

One of the things I find that I miss terribly from my sojourn at Temp Headquarters is the walks.  I knew this was going to be so, but I hadn’t realized how very much I would be jonesing for my nice mile loop up East Grand, through the green at Little Miss Cottages, up Wavelet Street ’til it dead-ends at Sunspray condos, and back down East Grand to Temp Headquarters.  I miss it so much, that I dreamed about it, though Wavelet Street had inexplicably acquired a bakery in the dream.  Might’ve been getting near breakfast time.

* * *

For those keeping track at home, Carousel Sun stands at 63,000 words, and things are starting to heat up nicely.

Someone took me, mildly, to task the other day for having failed to mention that there is an audiobook edition of Carousel Tides, too.  So, here’s your mention, and a link, too.

And now?  You’re all caught up.

 

So I got home from Temp Headquarters, leapt back into real life, did a couple rounds of doctor appointments, realized we’re going to have to change the way we do things around here, one! more! time! and have put Stuff in motion.

Steve finished signing all 1500 of those sheets of paper referenced in the to-do list.  I’ve produced a first draft of the essay due at the end of the month, and passed that on to Steve for revision/rewrite, and made a start on signing.

Carousel Sun has not gained any new words.  For several days, I’ve been plagued with the feeling that the story was going to end before I was out of book, which isn’t normally a situation in which I find myself in re stories.  Today, as I was signing pages, I had a brain-flash, and saw how and where to open it up, thus bringing story and book into a more perfect alignment.

Which just goes to prove that doing something boring, over and over and over again, really is good for you.

Or not.

Somewhere in the last few days, Steve caught a Really Impressive Cold.  He’s suffering, poor guy, and ought to be resting more than he will.  Also, he’s generously shared it with me, and no, I’m not resting, either.  Have you seen the to-do list?

Happily, though, we have three cats doing our resting for us.  That’s collaboration!

And, now — back to signing.

 

 

I really didn’t think I need to publish a policy statement for this, but I’m told that “most authors don’t mind” the behavior discussed below.  As it turns out, I very much mind this behavior, so!

Discussion

Sharon Lee and Steve Miller are delighted to meet and chat with their readers at conventions, readings, and similar events, and to sign their books, as time and the constraints of the event permit.  We are committed to being accessible to our readers.  We really like you guys, right?

However.  When we retire to the Cat Farm and Confusion Factory, we are on, as the union used to have it, Our Own Time.  We willingly engage with our readers via a number of online outlets, we publish contact email addresses so that readers may ask questions, and a Post Office Box address for folks who prefer paper.

We do not publish our home address as a contact.  The internet being the internet, I’m sure it’s there to be found. What folks from cities don’t quite seem to grasp, though, is that we live in the country.  Mail that doesn’t fit into our mailbox is simply left on top of it, open to the weather.  As we also live in Maine, that weather can sometimes be quite challenging.  Not to say, wet.  Sending anything to the home address is really just putting whatever it is to additional, unnecessary risk.

Everybody comfortable with the above?

OK, now we get to the:

Policy Statement

Sharon Lee and Steve Miller do not, as a policy, encourage anyone to send books through the mail for us to sign.  In point of fact, we don’t want anyone to send books through the mail for us to sign.  I’m being as clear as possible, here.

If, despite the above statement, you feel that you must make the attempt, the proper protocol is:

1.  Write to either Steve or myself at one of our widely available email addresses, on Facebook, at Live Journal, or mail a paper letter to the PO Box address, asking if it’s all right for you to send X number of books for signature.

1a.  We will most likely say “no,” but we will answer a civil inquiry.  Do not assume that we will say “yes,” and mail the books before you receive our answer.  This will only cork us — well, me; Steve’s a lot more even-tempered than I am — off.

2.  If, against all odds, we agree to receive your books, and sign them, please send them properly packaged for travel, and include with them a stamped, self-addressed envelope of a size and kind that will easily and safely accommodate  your books for the return journey.

3.  Unless we’ve discussed this with you in depth, do not send anything to our home.  Not even a surprise.  Especially a surprise.  Just. . .don’t.  It’s creepy.

Thank you for your attention to the above.

For those looking for signed editions:  Signed editions of our books are often available through Uncle Hugo’s Bookstore.  If Uncle doesn’t have a signed copy in stock, you may contact our local bookstore, Childrens Book Cellar.  We have an arrangement with Ellen where we will stop by and sign books for which the customer has requested a signature.

 

1.   Sign 1500 pages; mail to Baen no later than October 18 (in process)

2.  October 30:  Essay due at BenBella (in process)

3.  October 19 and 20:  Bangor Book Festival

4.  Somewhere Novemberish at a guess:  proof Necessity’s Child galleys

5. December 10:  Short story due at Baen

6.  Talk about words with Necessity’s Child narrator (which will be easy and fun and probably take no time at all, in the cosmic order of things)

6.  February 15, 2013:  Carousel Sun due at Baen (in process)

7.  February 15-17:  Boskone

8.   May 15:  Carousel Seas due at Baen

9.  July 15:  First of Five (working title) due at Baen

…the above, of course, only elucidates professional obligations.  It’s sorta refreshing not to see “do laundry,”  “vacuum,” “wash dishes,” “do taxes,” “get house ready to sell,” and the like on the list.  On the other hand, it’s not looking like there’s a lot of room for frivolities in that schedule.  Maybe it’s time to trade in the cabana boy for a wife.

So, I’m home and unpacked.

For students of feline behavior, I can report that I was not in the least snubbed.  Scrabble, in fact, ran to me the moment I came in, declaiming loudly.  I believe the gist was something on the order of, “I had to run this entire establishment by myself for a whole month!  You take over now!”

Mozart and Socks were more low-key, but have conspired to keep me pinned down most of the day.

What part of the day was not taken up with various Triumphant Return activities was taken up with bill-paying and the sorting through of paperwork.  Yanno?  I just did a whole month where the only thing my brain had to think about was. . .story, and characters, and what-happens-next; which is apparently my comfort zone.  Arithmetic hurts.

Actually, I used to contend that arithmetic hurt when I was a kid.  Nobody believed me, of course, but I may actually have been telling the truth.

Anyhow — home, and settling in.

Just in case you were worried.

 

. . .because I’ll be on the road on Thursday.

1.  Tom Piccirilli, prolific author in just about every genre you can think of, and that other one, too. . .Tom was last weekend diagnosed with brain cancer, and on Monday underwent extensive surgery to remove a golf-ball sized tumor.  Despite initial optimism, last night, Tom’s wife, Michelle, reported that the battle has only just been joined.  Tom will be receiving chemotherapy and radiation treatments over the next couple weeks, and then. . .

I gather that the insurance situation is about what you’d expect — we’ve talked about creative folks and health insurance before, here — and another colleague provides the information that Michelle is going to have to quit her job in order to take care of Tom.

Tom’s sister-in-law has set up a fundraiser, hopefully to help Michelle and Tom cope with the oncoming tsunami of medical bills.  Here’s your link.  

Please help if you can; and please spread the word.  Thanks.

. . .

2.  Uncle Hugo’s is taking pre-orders for signed copies of the next Liaden book, Necessity’s Child.  Here’s your link.

2a.  Necessity’s Child is a Liaden Universe® novel taking place on the planet Surebleak.  It is NOT the sequel to Dragon Ship.   For an explanation of Why This Is So, please go here.

2b.  Baen recently purchased five Liaden Universe® books, as yet untitled, delivery dates still somewhat fluid, but beginning in 2013.  Those five books are your sequel to Dragon Ship.

You’re welcome.

3.  All fifteen existing Liaden novels are available as audiobooks, right here.    Also downloadable from that page — hour long free samples of the first book in each of the four sequences.

4.  For those looking to read Liaden short stories electronically, Pinbeam Books is your friend!

4a.  For those wishing to read the Liaden novels on the ereader of your choice, every single one of them — all 15! — are available directly from Baen Books, right here

4b.  You’ll want to keep a close eye on that link above, because the Necessity’s Child eArc ought to be making an appearance there in a matter of a few weeks.

5.  Today is the 24th anniversary of the Lee and Miller (with Archie, Arwen, and Brandee) arrival in Maine.  The state has yet to recover.

Here ends your Wednesday Morning Advert & Intelligencer.  Be well, and remember to hug the people you love.