Blog Without A Name

Self-promotion, with cats

For those who had been waiting for the Edited and Compleat eEdition of Liaden Universe novel Necessity’s Child — your wait is over!  You may purchase it from Baen eBooks in Every Format Known to Woman:  here’s your link.  You may also purchase the Kindle edition only from Amazon:  here’s that link.

The hardcover and the audiobook editions will be released on February 5.  Also!  it’s not too late to pre-order the signed hardcover from Uncle Hugo’s Science Fiction Bookstore in Minneapolis (Uncle ships worldwide).  Here’s that link.

As mentioned yesterday, “Eleutherios,” a Liaden Universe® (no, really, trust me) short story, is now published to the Baen front page.  The story may be read for free — no fee, no log-in, no sign-up required.  The story starts here (you have to scroll down).

Edited to add:  SFSite has opened the voting for Readers Choice for Best Read of 2012.  Last year, the Top Read, according to the readers of SFSite was Ghost Ship, by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.  Lots of good books came out in 2012 (including Dragon Ship by Lee and Miller), and you can nominate up to 10.  The rules are right here.

Also, I note with sadness that  Maine has slipped to second place in cat ownership, nationwide, ceding pride of place to Vermont.  Maybe this year we will recapture the coveted Fur-and-Purr Award.

 

Liaden Universe® InfoDump Number 99

Silver Anniversary!
The Liaden Universe® didn’t start out as a Universe; it started out as one book. That book, a quirky little space opera called Agent of Change, was published by Del Rey as a paperback original, in February, 1988.

Which is to say, twenty-five years ago, this February.

But, wait! There’s more!

Not only is February 2013 the Silver Anniversary of the Liaden Universe®, but the sixteenth novel in the Universe, Necessity’s Child, will be released on February 5, in hardcover, signed hardcover, ebook, and audiobook!

Also? Every single Liaden Universe® novel ever written is — at this very instant! — in print, as omnibus, hardcover, trade paper, mass market, ebook, and/or audiobook editions!

Having survived as writers for twenty-five years is an achievement by itself. To have all of our novels in print during that twenty-fifth year is. . .amazing. And humbling.

For those who are planning to attend Boskone, we’ll be hosting a dual Silver Anniversary/Book Launch party there. We’re also mulling over some web celebrations, because really — you’re only in print twenty-five years once.

Help Build a Liaden Universe® Party Game
We would like to have available at least one Liaden-themed party game for the Big! Boskone Liaden Bash! Since there’s not likely to be enough space in the room to set up a Sticks table (never mind that I don’t think Massachusetts law allows payouts), and competition knife-throwing is right out, we thought we’d have a basket full of quotations/brief passages available. The idea would be that a partier would pick up a piece of paper out of the basket, read the quote aloud, and the first person who identifies the book/story from which the quote is taken and/or the character speaking will win the adoration of the rest of the party goers. Rumor is that we may have prizes available to us, so there exists the chance of a quote-off, also.

So! We need your help. Post your favorite quote and source (note: I will really need the entire quote as it appears in the novel/story and the source) here.

The link takes you to a moderated forum. That means that a human being must clear your comment, so it may not appear immediately. Never fear, it will appear eventually.

Let the games begin! And thank you for your help!

About that 16th Novel in the Liaden Universe®
Signed copies of Necessity’s Child are available for pre-order from Uncle Hugo’s SF Bookstore in Minneapolis (they do mail order! worldwide!) — here’s your link — and from your favorite online and indie bookstores.

Also! There will be an audiobook edition released concurrently with the hardcover, on February 5, from Audible.com. Here’s that link.

And, of course, the ebook edition is available (as has always been the case) in multiple formats (including ePub/Nook) from Baen — and, additionally, in Kindle format from Amazon.com.

Also Available from Uncle Hugo. . .
Signed copies of the hardcover editions of Ghost Ship and Dragon Ship. Use this link, and scroll down.

Liaden Story on Baen Website!  Mark your Calendars!
On Tuesday, January 15 (holy cheese! That’s four days from now!), short story “Eleutherios” will be posted on the Baen website below the fold (just scroll down a little; you’ll find it — in fact there’s a story by Wen Spencer up there right now, so you could practice, just to be sure you’ve got the technique down). The story may be read for free — no donations, no log-ins, no sign-ups!

The Liaden Wiki Needs You!
Friend of Liad Gus Fleischmann took the initiative, and gathered the enormous amount of Liaden information that was all in pieces all over the web into the Liaden Wiki: http://liaden.wikia.com/wiki/Liaden_Wiki

The wiki is meant as a resource for readers (and for authors, too).

The material Gus gathered needs to be ordered, proofread, tweaked — and added to! — and for that, we need you. Please consider pitching in.

Thank you!

Publication Schedule
January 15: “Eleutherios,” short story, Baen front page
February 5: Necessity’s Child, hardcover, signed hardcover, ebook, audiobook
July 2: Liaden Universe® Constellation, Volume 1, tradepaper, ebook
August: Essay in Dragonwriter: A Tribute to Anne McCaffrey and Pern, Benbella Press
August 27: Dragon Ship, mass market
November 5:  Trade Secrets, hardcover, ebook
January 5, 2014:  Liaden Universe® Constellation, Volume 2, tradepaper, ebook

Delivery Schedule
February 14: Carousel Sun (contemporary fantasy by Sharon)
August 15: Carousel Seas (contemporary fantasy by Sharon)
May 15, 2014: First of Five Liaden Universe® novels
February 15, 2015: Second of Five Liaden Universe® novels
November 15, 2015: Third of Five Liaden Universe® novels
August 15, 2016: Fourth of Five Liaden Universe® novels
May 15, 2017: Fifth of Five Liaden Universe® novels

…please be aware that the above are turn-in dates; the publisher sets the publication dates and they are, therefore, A Mystery. One thing that we can say definitively is that the publisher will not publish any of the above novels before they’ve been turned in.

A Reminder About Those Five Liaden Novels. . .
. . .referenced above. Those five books, in their entirety, comprise the “sequel” to Dragon Ship. Yes, it IS complicated.

Where in the World Are Lee and Miller?
Boskone, February 15-17, 2013, Boston (http://www.nesfa.org/boskone/)

At this point, Steve and Sharon have no plans to attend either WorldCon nor DragonCon in 2013.

Blogs and Other Webly Things of Note:
Theo_Waitley is the discussion group for readers of Fledgling and Saltation: http://community.livejournal.com/theo_waitley/
Where Dragons Rest: http://community.livejournal.com/liaden_readers/
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

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
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

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

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The Coon Cat Wednesday Lunch Club

Socks needs to be fed up, so we feed him gooshie food several times a day, in addition to the crunchies that are always available.  Mozart does not need to be fed up.  His position is, I believe, that Rank Hath Privilege, and that he also ought to be fed gooshie food several times a day, or the kid’ll get uppity.  Management having rejected this position on grounds of maintaining good coon cat general health, Mo contents himself with Observing. . .and occasionally pushing his head under the kid’s head and sampling a bite for himself.

The Coon Cat Lunch Club
The Coon Cat Lunch Club

 

Socks shows proper respect
Socks shows proper respect

 

Books read in 2012

The Masqueraders, Georgette Heyer (read aloud with Steve)
Venetia, Georgette Heyer (read aloud with Steve)
Agnes and the Hitman, Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer
Miss Buncle’s Book, D.E. Stevenson (read aloud with Steve)
Maphead, Ken Jennings
Pistols for Two, Georgette Heyer (read aloud with Steve)
A Night in the Lonesome October, Roger Zelazny (annual read-one-chapter-per-night aloud with Steve re-re-re-&c-read)
Timeless, Gail Carriger (e)
The New Gypsies (if one can be said to “have read” a picture book)
The Great Steel Pier: An Illustrated History of the Old Orchard Ocean Pier, Peter Dow Bachelder
What Angels Fear, C.S. Harris (e)
River Marked, Patricia Briggs (e)
Althea, Madeleine Robins (e)
Heartless, Gail Carriger (e)
Powers, James A. Burton (e)
A Geisha’s Journey, Komomo, photographs by Naoyuki Ogino
Geisha, Liza Dalby
The Kimono of the Geisha-Diva Ichimaru, Barry Till, Michiko Warkentyne, Judith Patt
Partials, Dan Wells
Starters, Lissa Price
A Princess of Mars, Edgar Rice Burroughs (read aloud w/Steve)
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, Grace Lin
From Whence You Came, Laura Anne Gilman (e)
Frederica, Georgette Heyer (read aloud w/Steve)
No Dominion, C.E. Murphy (e)
The Prestige, Christopher Priest
Cuttlefish, Dave Freer
Intruder, C.J. Cherryh (read aloud w/Steve)
Blameless, Gail Carriger (e)
Changeless, Gail Carriger (e)
The Quiet Gentleman, Georgette Heyer (read aloud w/Steve)
Unbroken, Rachel Caine
The Talisman Ring, Georgette Heyer (read aloud w/Steve)
Sylvester / OR, The Wicked Uncle, Georgette Heyer (read aloud w/Steve)
Death and Resurrection, R. A. MacAvoy
The Unknown Ajax, Georgette Heyer (read aloud w/Steve)
Black Sheep, Georgette Heyer (read aloud w/Steve)
Stealing the Elf-King’s Roses, Diane Duane (e)
The Reluctant Widow, Georgette Heyer (read aloud w/Steve)
Friday’s Child, Georgette Heyer (read aloud w/Steve)
Dragon Ship manuscript, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (e)
Kim, Rudyard Kipling (e)
Regency Buck, Georgette Heyer (read aloud w/Steve)
Pollyanna, Eleanor H. Porter (e)
Chimera, Rob Thurman (e)

 

In which Amazon.com is an idiot

Waiting in my inbox today is an accusatory note from Amazon.com, stating that “content” in one of Pinbeam Books eChapbooks, to wit: SKYBLAZE has been found in another publication not published by Pinbeam Books.  Amazon.com leaps immediately to the conclusion that we have stolen this “content,” and has taken the book off-sale until we prove that we have the right to publish our own damn’ story.

So, yo!  Amazon.com!  Listening?

Good.

* * *

Dear Amazon.com.

Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (that’s me and my husband co-author) wrote a novella called SKYBLAZE and self-published it, first as a paper chapbook: Adventures in the Liaden Universe(R) Number 17, and then as an electronic chapbook. We are the authors; we own the rights.

Because we are the authors and own the rights, we are able to resell the right to publish to other publishers. This is called “reprint rights.” So it is with SKYBLAZE; Mr. Lapine asked us if he could buy the right to reprint the novella SKYBLAZE in his anthology, FANTASTIC STORIES OF THE IMAGINATION and we obliged him.

So! This is why the “content” is in two separate publications. If we’re lucky, we may resell the rights to that story — or any other of our stories — and you’ll find the “content” in other publications.

Honestly, guys, if you’re going to run a publishing business, you ought to know this stuff. And thanks for taking one of our most popular books off-sale at Christmas-time.

Sharon Lee

* * *

Now, of course, the real challenge is going to come in July, when a Whole Lot of that “content” will appear in A Liaden Universe® Constellation Volume One.  I can hear the little Amazonian robot brains grinding their gearing now.

Well.  I’m off to resubmit our eChapbook to the Kindle store.  In the meantime, if you were wishing to purchase SKYBLAZE in Kindle format, please consider purchasing it from Smashwords, as it is not currently available for sale from Amazon.

 

The coon cats at home, late December

I have been remiss in sharing Mozart’s love of The Spa, which opens directly after one of us takes a shower, and the various scents of soap and shampoo ride the steam.  He’ll shoulder open the door the hallway and jump up on the hamper nearest the shower, sniff, sigh, and curl up, purring.  He’s in The Spa at the moment, savoring the fragrant aftermath of my orange-creme goatmilk soap shower.  I can hear him purring from the hallway.

In other news, and leaving aside Christmas Eve’s adventure as a completely unrelated incident to his general health, Socks is, since having acupuncture, much improved.  There’s been only a very small amount of sneezing, the chronic sinus difficulties have vanished, and he can breathe easily.  More than that — he can purr, which he hasn’t been able to do without setting off a explosive bout of sneezing.  He also has much more energy — who knew that he could bounce?  We’re just really delighted and hope very much (everybody knock wood) that this improvement is permanent.

I hope everyone is having a lovely last weekend of 2012.

 

Help build a party game

Asyouknowbob, Steve and I will be hosting a Liaden Universe® Silver Anniversary party at Boskone.  We therefore wish to have available at least one Liaden-themed party game.  Since there’s not likely to be enough space in the room to set up a Sticks table (never mind that I don’t think Massachusetts law allows payouts), and competition knife-throwing is right out, we thought we’d have a basket full of quotations/brief passages available.  The idea would be that a partier would pick up a piece of paper out of the basket, read the quote aloud, and the first person who identifies the book/story from which the quote is taken and/or the character speaking will win the adoration of the rest of the party goers.  Rumor is that we may have prizes available to us, so there exists the chance of a quote-off, also.

So!  We need your help.  Send me your favorite quotes and/or scenes!  Or, actually, post them below this message (note:  I will need the entire quote as it appears in the novel/story *and* the source).

This is, asyoualsoknowbob, a moderated forum.  That means that a human being must clear your comment, so it may not appear immediately.  Never fear, it will appear eventually.

Let the games begin.

Recap with storm warning

Oh, let’s see.

On Tuesday Monday, Steve and I went into town to do some minor grocery shopping and pick up a music stand.  We had noticed that Socks hadn’t asked for breakfast, but sometimes he, like me, doesn’t want to be bothered with breakfast, so we didn’t think much of it.

We were brought to a realization of our error when we returned home some hours later, groceries in arms.  Socks was clearly in distress and, it being Christmas Eve, our local vet was naturally closed.

So, we took a road trip down to Lewiston, to see the kind and competent folks at the Animal Emergency Clinic of Mid-Maine.  Five hours and one-hundred-thirty-odd miles later, and one-hundred-fifty-eight dollars lighter, we were back at the Cat Farm, Socks much improved, though of course worn out by his ordeal.

Socks sleeping off his adventure.
Socks sleeping off his adventure.

Yesterday, we took a half-day off to watch “Singing in the Rain,” and play the inaugural game on our new double-Scrabble.  Yes, we are slackers.

First Game on New Board, December 25, 2012
First Game on New Board, December 25, 2012

Today, we’re under a Winter Storm Warning as the Wicked Weather that’s been pacing up the coast finally reaches us, on the overnight.  We’re looking at up to sixteen inches of snow, over Thursday and early Friday, which suddenly takes the week down from four mailing days to um, today, so if I want to mail these things this year, I’d better get crackin’.

Hope those who celebrate had a lovely holiday, and that the weather where you are hasn’t been dreadful.