Blog Without A Name

Submitted last evening, “Eleutherios,” a short story by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller commissioned for the Baen front page, January 2013 publication date.

While I was finishing the story up, the authors’ proofs for Necessity’s Child arrived, with a deadline for return of next Tuesday.

I’ll be on the couch with a pot of coffee, two Maine Coon cats, three red pens, and a clutch of colored stick-it tabs.

Y’all be good.

So the short story’s done in first draft, clocking in at 7,300 words.  It still needs a title (hmmmm…Camel?) and a thorough going-over, but for today it, and I, rest.  By which I mean, “signing several hundred blank pages.”  And doing the dishes.  Because yesterday was about writing 5,000+ words, and the dishes suffered for it.

In other news, the Deluxe Scrabble edition which is our Yule present to each other arrived on Friday, and has been sitting on the Mencken Table making with the come-hithers.  We have, so far, Been Strong.

Also!  The Christmas catalogs have begun to arrive.  I love Christmas catalogs, they’re so full of. . .stuff.  Ridiculous, useful, in some cases sublime stuff.  Things I never knew existed.  Truly, Christmas is a season of joy.

I’m still working my way, page-by-page when time allows, through Maphead, which is continuing to amuse.  I’ve just finished a chapter dealing with (among other things, like the National Geographic Geography Bee, and people who turn maps upside down so they’re pointing in the direction of travel) people who make up their own geographies.

The 1942 smash hit, Islandia, was the lifework of Austin Wright, who began imagining his world when he was a boy, and continued to work on building its culture, language, geography, and customs throughout his life, until his untimely demise.  (Read all about it here).  The papers from which Mr. Wright’s widow and daughter extracted the novel ran to manymany hundreds of pages.

Also discussed, of course, is Tolkien, and Brandon Sanderson, who is quoted as saying something like it’s the maps that allow people to immerse themselves in fantasy novels.  A sentiment with which — speaking as someone who skips over, and is frequently annoyed by, the maps — I am not in agreement.  Having a map of Mirkwood Forest doesn’t make me “believe in” Mirkwood Forest; I believe in Mirkwood Forest because it’s real.  Sheesh.

That aside, and speaking as someone who, at an early age, started in to build what became the Liaden Universe®, I’m amused by the author’s assumption that people who tend toward that particular imaginative exercise are inevitably mapheads and/or that maps will definitely be part of the process of defining the world.

I am. . .whatever the opposite of a maphead is.  Unless I’ve walked an area, a map of it makes no sense to me.  If I have walked an area, then I can “see” the houses and the landmarks on its map. I have a map of Old Orchard Beach hanging on my wall.  It serves the same function, for me, as knots on a memory string, to remind me of locations I already intimately know.

It amazes me that Steve (who is a maphead) can look at a map of foreign climes and immediately know how to get from Point A to Point B.  How’s he do that?

I guess I’m saying that there won’t be any maps of the Liaden Universe® coming anytime soon.

But — here’s a question for all you voracious readers out there — do maps lend weight or reality to your fiction-reading experience?  What (else) makes a world “real” to you?

Discuss.

. . .and I’m off to do the dishes.

 

 

Today it’s your turn, Skowhegan!  We’re off for the long-delayed eye exams, and to run various errands, probably including new glasses (sigh).

For those wondering What On Earth the Woman is Doing, I offer the following notes on progress:

1.  Reviewed and signed contracts for seven novels and one novella.  Steve put them all in the mail yesterday evening.

2.  Threw away 2300-ish words on the commissioned short story and started again, this time with an outline and a break-out of POV for each scene.  The new iteration stands at 839 words, and feels much better.

3.  Regarding yesterday’s report of piracy, someone asked how books get pirated.  Short answer is that someone buys a legitimate copy and decides that it is their right, and their duty, to make it available to as many people as possible, for free.  Before ebooks were as common as they are now, some people spent what I can only imagine was days, scanning books and uploading them to pirate sites.  I’d say you have to admire that kind of dedication, but, honestly?  I don’t.

As to why they do it…some justify their behavior by saying that they can’t find the books through legal channels (obviously untrue in the case of Necessity’s Child).  Others will say that they’re working to throw off the tyranny of copyright/the big publishers/millionaire authors; that they are in fact, vanguards of The Revolution.

In the end, it really doesn’t matter why they do it; they’re still stealing.  Not only that, they know they’re stealing and they know it’s wrong, which is why they make with the justifications.

4.  As reported elsewhere, I am currently somewhat short of spoons (see Spoon Theory).   This means that I may be scarce on The Intertubes; I promise to check in when I can.

…I think that catches everything up.

Everybody play nice.

So, today’s news from Google Alerts is that  a person of no melant’i, who goes by the screen-name “Hocham,” asked in something called the mobilism forum for a copy of Necessity’s Child by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.  Hesheorit was willing to give 10WRZ$ for a copy, because they couldn’t wait until February.  The request was posted at 1 p.m. yesterday.

At 3:20 p.m. yesterday, another person of no melant’i, this one hight “Mage” posted a link to a pirated copy of our novel, thus, one supposes, earning his 10WRZ$.

Of which we, the authors, receive not one cent, or WRZ$.  Worse, the pirated copy is now out on the web for even more persons of no melant’i, of which there appear to be quite a number, to download for free, or for the exchange of WRZ$.

May I just say that I am so very, very tired of having our work stolen?  I just, really, want to put my head down on the desk and weep.  Apparently “Hocham” is a fan of our work (I’m going by the “can’t wait until February” aspect of hesheorit’s post), and yet thinks it’s PERFECTLY OK to steal from us.

What, I wonder, does “Hocham” think writers live on?  Mist and buttercups?  What, I wonder, will “Hocham” do for hesheorits next Liaden book if there is no next Liaden book?

We’ve talked about “numbers” here before.  If books don’t do well for publishers — if they don’t “have numbers” — series have been cancelled.  It can and does happen.

Will “Hocham” and “Mage” take responsibility for their actions?  Or will they just go on to their next “favorite author” and kill them, too?

Honestly, we don’t need fans like this.

Authors write for a number of reasons — and one of those reasons is to earn money.  If they don’t earn money, they may continue to write, but those stories will never be published, so that’s sort of a moot point.

Don’t steal, for ghod’s sake.  Is that so damned hard?  And don’t download pirated books.

* * *

In other news, contracts arrived yesterday for the Carousel books and for the Five Book Liaden Universe® dash.  So, yanno, yay!

I hope we’ll be able to see all of these published for y’all.

Here we have another endorsement of Grandma’s African, this one from Socks, who was helping me sign pages this morning.

All righty, then!  Time for another review of who does what to whom in publishing

Ready?

Let’s go!

Q: What is the Primary Function of an author?

A: The Primary Function of an author is to write.

Yep, that’s pretty much it, with the following clarifications-or-conditions:

If we (as author) happen to perform the Primary Function under contract, we write books and hand them in (more or less) to deadline.

We may also write on spec first, and sell later.

If our book has been placed with a publisher, or if we self-publish, then we also may read and correct galleys. Some authors skip this, usually for lack of time; most try to go over their galleys, if only to annihilate that one wayward “not” in dialog, the existence of which changes the meaning of the last third of the novel*.

Occasionally, authors may be asked to write cover copy. Occasionally, authors are asked to write forewords or afterwords to novels and/or collections. This is not always the case; and sometimes the requested copy isn’t used.  That’s life.

Some authors choose to do some promotion and/or mingling with their readers. Some authors choose to do a lot of promotion and mingling; some authors choose to do none. These choices are author-specific and personal.

* * *

Astute readers will see that the above list leaves out a Whole Buncha Stuff having to do with producing and selling books.  This is the Stuff that authors have no control over, or, often, power to change.

This Stuff includes, but is not limited to:

1. Cover art**

1a. Cover and/or internal typeface(s)

2. The physical dimensions of the book

2A. The medium — i.e., hardcover, trade paper, mass market, electronic, audio — in which the book is available

3. The quality of the binding and/or the quality of the paper

4. The price of the book

5. The language(s) into which the book is translated

6. The vendors who carry, or who do not carry, the book in a specific medium

6a. The individual libraries and/or library systems that have, or have not, acquired the book

6a1. Whether or not the acquiring library, if any, has acquired all available books in a series/universe, or random titles that got good reviews in journals that librarians depend upon

7. The price charged by those vendors who do carry the book in whatever medium

8. The speed at which a certain printing sells out

8a. The speed at which (and whether) a sold-out book is reprinted

9. Whether the electronic version of the book has DRM imposed upon it

9a. The policies of publishing houses with regard to DRM

9a1. The policies of publishing houses with regard to pricing, and rate of publication for electronic books

10.  Errors in the audio edition (if any) of a certain novel.  Note:  Authors do not receive “galleys” of their audiobooks

* * *

Since some people seem to cling to the Certainty that Authors have control over all aspects of the publication of their book, despite numerous authors who occasionally produce lists like the above in order to educate their readers, and interested others, I need to be Very Firm here. Apologies to the overwhelming majority of y’all who are reasonable, literate human beings.

Ahem.

Writing to the author about your personal dissatisfaction with those things which fall into the publisher’s honor does one thing and one thing only: It corks off the writer. Depending on the writer, it may, alternatively, depress them and fill them with a sense of their own powerlessness, or solidify their belief that interacting with readers is more trouble than it’s worth and will only lead to grief.

What it won’t do is effect the change you desire. In order to effect the change you desire, you must speak to decision makers. Which is to say, you have to talk to the publisher.

Specifically:  Authors do not have the ability to remotely correct typos, mispronunciations, formatting errors, &c  in ebooks or audio books or print editions.  Such errors must be reported to the publisher.

I hope that’s sufficiently clear.

Thank you for reading, and for your continued support of our work.
__________

*True story; not mine.

**Sometimes, authors get to consult with cover artists; we’ve personally been very pleased in being able to work with David Mattingly on several of our Liaden Universe® covers, now. Ultimately, though, it is not the author, but the publisher, who directs and approves the art.

Oh, and by the way? If you really like a piece of cover art? Telling the author is nice, but you really ought to spend a couple minutes with Google and send an appreciative note to the artist and, yes, to the art department of the publishing house. Artists need love, too. And work.

1.  Dishes
2.  Laundry   STARTED.  This may take a while…
3.  What’s with the cat fountain?  (Answer for the curious:  fur in the pump.  Ick.)
4.  Ahem — story for Baen.  Rly.

Well, so, the short story.  The short story stands at just about 700 words.  It doesn’t have a title yet, and it took its time getting here.  Days getting here.

I sat on the couch, coon cat to the left of me, coon cat to the right of me, pen and paper on my lap.  I glared at that pad of paper, which is the time-honored process by which words, characters, and plots are conjured.

I sketched out five concepts — not the way I like to do things; I prefer to noodle around in my head until somebody comes along and tells me a story.  However, I don’t always get my druthers, and there’s a deadline involved, which is, in the way of deadlines, intricately and ineluctably entwined with manymany other deadlines, so forward motion was necessary, realsoonnow.

As with so many other things, feeling under the gun is not the best way to get things done, and I was just about to throw in the towel, admit I’d forgotten how to write and go drown my sorrows in a re-re-re-re-&c-viewing of Earth Girls Are Easy, when. . .

Niku showed up, late, and full of himself.  I have a feeling that these may be defining traits.  In any case, I was very pleased to see him, and immediately opened a file, writing 700 words in, like, 20 minutes, so I guess I haven’t forgotten how to write, after all.

What a difference a character makes. . .

So!  Steve and I spent Wedding Anniversary Number 32 in New Brunswick.  Our lodgings were directly on the Miramichi River, and quite pleasant.

It was low-profile anniversary, more relaxicon than worldcon.  We walked, we ate, we napped, we played Scrabble, we listened to music.  Excepting the music, provided by my Little Red Sansa Clip jacked into a speaker-thingy, we were electron-free.  That?  Was splendid.

Our Celebratory Dinner was, of course, salmon, which was to die for.  For dessert, Steve went with pumpkin pie; I had warm apple crisp with ice cream.  Oh, my.  It’s been years between apple crisps with ice cream. . .

We had been going to leave Miramichi yesterday and wander home via the river road,  by way of Bathurst, Dalhousie, and other Interesting Sites, staying a night on the road Downeast, if necessary.  That plan changed with the threat of a snowstorm coming up the river, as well as the nor’easter working its way up the USian East Coast.  We left very early in the brilliant morning, and drove home the way we’d gone in, via Route 8, the Way of the Fish*,  and beat the weather home.

The cats were pleased to see us, and participated in a viewing of David Niven’s Around the World in 80 Days, which was kind of the Pirates of the Caribbean of its day, in terms of Big Names wanting to play.  Sadly, it was woodenly acted, but, in balance, very pretty to look at.

This morning, it’s raining, having snowed and iced overnight. Hopefully, the lines will hold.

On the topic of  travel being broadening, I have been introduced to Miramichi traditional boiled mayonnaise, and donair sauce.  We stopped at Tim Horton’s on the road, for coffee and a snack, and I was pleased to have a tea biscuit.  For some reason, Tim’s in the US don’t offer tea biscuits; they claim that American’s don’t “understand” them.  And truthfully, I don’t claim to “understand” them, myself.  But they are good.

We came home to the information that Baen has scheduled the first of the two Liaden Universe® Constellations for a July 2013 release.  Rough art (note the error:  this is not a novel; it is a collection) here.

Today’s plans include running the cat-eating machine and outlining a short story.  Also need to clear off the Mencken Table, so we can finish signing the tip-in sheets for Necessity’s Child.

No, I don’t know how we stand the unremitting glamor, either.

I hope everyone had a relaxing few days, or, if not, can see a relaxing few days in your near future.

——-

*The Scenic Roads in Canada (as in Maine, and in New Jersey, too) have graphics assigned to them, in order to make the route easier to find.  Highway 8, the River Route, has a purple fish as its icon.  Similarly, Route 11, the Valley Route, is the Way of the Fiddlehead.

 

I just finished my true-up pass through the first 70,270 words of Carousel Sun.  It went a little slower than I had anticipated because of having to do things like make a plan of the carousel, so I knew which animals were near which other animals.  (OK, I think that tops my previous personal nitpicky best of having to work out all the shifts and who was on them, for Dutiful Passage’s run in Conflict of Honors.)

I also had to shift a chunk of stuff further down the story, smoosh two chapters together, and do the rest of the stuff that one does in order to make sure all the lines match up.

Still to be done:  finding the proper place for Jess to come by and talk to Kate about the meetin’, but I think that’s for tomorrow.  Because tonight, I am brain dead.

Anyhow — after that last bit is in place, the story will be on its downhill run; everything is forced,  and the pieces ought to snap right together.  She said optimistically.

This is good because I need to put the book aside for a few days, first for travel, and then to write a short story.  But, still, in line to deliver the book on time.

*knock wood*

I hope everyone is having a safe and enjoyable weekend, within the current, local definitions.