Blog Without A Name

It’s raining here at the Confusion Factory, which it has been doing the last day or so. Very different from Reno, where I waked every morning in a room outfitted with Serious Sun-blocking curtains, to my first thought, “My, it’s dim! I wonder if it’s raining.”

Which brings me to the realization that, though I’ve written somewhat of the travails which afflicted our most recent journies, I haven’t written of WorldCon itself.

…which was lovely. Verily, the most relaxed and delightful WorldCon I’ve attended as a pro in years. We were lightly but respectfully scheduled, and had more time to catch up with people and Just Chat than I’ve had since I was SFWA ExecDir and it was part of my job to talk, at least, to SFWA members.

So, our con started — well, on the train, actually, when we met up with Jo Walton. The Lake Shore Limited, as reported elsewhere in this journal, was five hours late to Chicago; a theme that continued with the California Zephyr.

To digress for a moment, while it was unfortunate that the train was, at the end, six+ hours late (though on the return trip, I was to learn that this was a mere bagatelle), it was fortunate in that, for the very first time in numerous train crossings of Our Great Country(tm), I saw the Salt Lake Desert, which the Zephyr typically crosses at night, and I’m very grateful for that.

So, anyhow, being no stranger to trains running rather less-epically late, we usually plan on getting into far-flung places the day before the event starts. (We didn’t do this for last Chicago WorldCon, which was, after all, only an overnight trip. Our first event was at noon, the train was scheduled in at 8:45 — plenty of time to get to the hotel, shower, put on con clothes and get the heck down to the panel. See the train be three hours late. See Sharon and Steve throw the baggage into the hotel room and run over to the second tower to make the start of the panel.)

For the Reno trip, we made sure we arrived on Tuesday. But! The train gets into Reno at 8:30 in the morning. Even if it was late, we reasoned, we’d be in time for lunch. And so we arranged to meet Di Francis (Diana Pharaoh Francis) and her family for dinner at 6 p.m.

A date for which we were almost late.

When the train did eventually find Reno, we found Myles and Nancy O’Reilly waiting to whisk us to the Atlantis, while Jo entered into the capable care of Mem Morman for transport to the Peppermill.

Check-in was a little bit of a zoo — I don’t remember why at this point — and Shaii, on the desk, upgraded our room, to which we repaired, to unpack and shower and change.

We took a taxi to the Peppermill, located Di and her family patiently waiting, had a good visit and an…eclectic dinner at the Island Buffet. We wandered back to the Atlantis eventually, and, restless with too much ice tea (Man, I drank more ice tea on this trip than I have since I was a kid in Baltimore), walked around the place, as is our habit, locating Points of Interest.

I know some folks were disturbed by the fact that WorldCon was attached to a casino — that, in fact, the con hotels were casinos. I thought it was…interesting, and not as completely disorienting as it apparently was for others. Note that I speak here of the Atlantis; the Peppermill was a Whole Nother Story.

Anyhow, Steve and I pretty quickly found our path to the convention center, and patterned the casino floor so we had the various restaurants located.

Wednesday, after locating the Friends of Liad Fan Table, with Shawna and Angie already in attendance, I abandoned Steve and took a taxi to the Nevada Museum of Art, which is a wonderful little museum that you should all visit, if you’re ever in Reno. I went specifically for the mummy display, but the facility was small enough that I was able to tour the whole thing, eat lunch and get back to the Atlantis in time to join Steve for our presentation at the Sierra View Library, across the street from the convention center.

We arrived in time to see Steve Gould finish up his presentation, which was fun; then we read from Ghost Ship, answered questions, and said Hi to Carol Berg, who was up next.

May I just say? The library event was lovely, and I thank WorldCon, in the person of Patricia Parsons, for working with the Sierra View staff to make it happen. We were very glad to be a part of this outreach effort, and hope that future WorldCons can find a way to continue the tradition.

We finished out Wednesday by having dinner with Mem and Terry, then returned to the hotel to crash early.

Thursday started with a journey to the Peppermill (WorldCon hired real buses to shuttle between the hotels! Buses that knelt down to let passengers aboard. Camel buses in the desert. Was anything ever cooler? Ahem.). So, anyhow, to the Peppermill, where we speedily got lost on our way to the writing workshop, and enlisted the aid of a gentleman with a broom to set us on the proper path.

The workshop, despite being down one participant, went well, I thought; both of those remaining being serious about their reading and their writing. After, Steve and I had lunch in Biscotti’s, bused back over to the Convention Center to do our stint at the SFWA table, hosted a sold-out kaffeeklatsch, checked in at the FoL Fan Table, did a drawing for free! books!, signed books in the Dealer’s Room; met Judy Bemis for dinner; did Art Night (which was rather less…extravagant than other Art Nights I’ve attended), and hit the SFWA Suite, where I left Steve chatting with Dave Smeds when I went back to the room to nurse a altitude headache. (Note to self: In high, dry climates, drink water constantly! Really.)

Friday we were scheduled but lightly. I met up with Phyllis Irene Radford, whom I hadn’t seen in years — was it the Kansas City Nebulas? — and we did some Fast Catch Up(tm). Our reading was standing room only, followed by a signing, then the Baen Authors Dinner, and the FoL-only party, which I left early, being a poor thing and easily exhausted.

Saturday our dance card was full to overflowing. We started out with an 8 a.m. breakfast at Toucan Charlie’s with sixty! stalwart Friends of Liad. That? Was amazing. And gratifying. We had a good time and hope everyone who attended, did, as well. I’m sorry we didn’t get a chance to talk to everyone — but, sixty? Who could have predicted?

So, after breakfast, we hit the first panel of the day — Collaboration, moderated by Steve. I do have a complaint here. I had checked in with Con Ops regarding the taping policy and had been told, definitively, that no taping of panels would be allowed. We arrived to find our co-panelists (the gentleman of the set is very avid podcaster; the lady apparently also, but he was doing the rigging) rigging up an Entire Podcasting System in order to tape the panel prior to being broadcast on his/their site. We explained about Ops, the gentleman allowed as how it was easier to get forgiveness than permission, and continued his set-up.

Now, this annoyed — and still annoys — me for a couple reasons. One, Ops. Two, he never asked us if we would mind providing free content for his site. Now, had he asked us, I might’ve said OK, sure, whatever, since I’m generally well-disposed toward himself. But he didn’t ask, he just assumed, and now we all have to put up with me being cranky with him about this, which is too bad.

So.

After Collaboration, Continuity, and a star-studded cast: Lois Bujold, Eric Flint, Dean Wesley Smith, Steve Miller; Sharon Lee moderating. This was played to a large room, full, as you might imagine from the list of panelists. We had a lively, and as people stopped to tell me later in the con, informative discussion about series/character/worldbuilding continuity. It was a pleasure to moderate; I had fun and I hope my co-panelists did, as well.

After that, we raced off to the SFWA meeting, then I went on to the Urban Fantasy panel with Tim Pratt, Larry Correia, Lisa Goldstein; ably moderated by Madeleine Robins. Another fun, well-attended panel.

Dinner with Myles and Nancy followed, then on to the Baen Paty, and thence to the Friends of Liad Party.

Sunday was about touring the Dealer’s Room, where we signed more books, talking to bunches of people, I bought the aforementioned corset, talked to more people, had dinner with Eve Ackerman, her lovely husband, Steve-whose-last-name-I-didn’t-get, Toni Weisskopf, eventually found our room again and crashed.

Monday, we had a good-bye breakfast with Shawna and Angie, and leisurely began our fraught journey back to Chicago.

The Friends of Liad came to this convention in droves; we were stunned — and gratified. Angie, Debbie, Shawna, and Thuy, who womaned the fan table, did all the party prep and acted as Message Center for Steve and me, were Beyond Awesome; it was in every sense a working con for them, and we’re very grateful for their efforts.

…and here ends the con report.

Announcements!

1. “Guaranteed Delivery,” a Liaden Universe® short story dealing with love, leadership ratings, and insurance fraud will be posted at Splinter Universe on Monday, September 12.

2. Steve and I will be Guests at the Great New England Steampunk Exposition in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, Friday, September 16 through Monday September 18. Other guests include Kaja and Phil Foglio, Abney Park, Jake von Slatt, Mademoiselle Veronique Chevalier, and too many more to type. Do plan on attending.

3. Steve is putting books up for auction at eBay. The vanguard is a signed trade paper edition of I Dare. Bidding closes on Monday, September 12.

To-Do

1. Get back with George

2. Make appointment at gym

3. Call eye doctor

4. Make appointment to have hair cut, curled and dyed magenta

5. Figure out how to make the television stream Netflix. Maybe I’m missing some wires? Argh.  Welp, I tried, and Mozart tried, too.  And you know if Mozart can’t figure it out, I might as well hang up my hat.  I think that the wireless signal may not be strong enough in the living room.  I note that I have a hard time getting The Leewit online in the living room, too.  A project for another day, obviously.  Or maybe I’ll buy a Zillion Feet of Cat5 and hardwire the tv to the router.

6. File before the pile becomes sentient

7. Continue hacking at backed-up bookkeeping

8. Finish folding brochures

9. Make appointment for Scrabble and Mozart to get their annual check-ups/shots

10. Get more coffee all gone, the coffee.  *is sad*

Elsewhere On the Intertubes, there’s a discussion about Urban Fantasy, and people are providing their favorite titles in-genre, which is very cool and useful, in an oh! I’ve-gotta-get-that-book kinda way.

One thing, though, is that, looking at the lists, and the titles I do know/have read, I’m finding myself parsing certain books not as “urban fantasy” but as “werewolf novel” or “vampire novel.” This is, I should state, based on the scientific process known as “gut feeling.”

I mean, the Sookie Stackhouse books are fun, but to me, they’re vampire novels, not urban fantasy. The Weather Warden books are super, but, nope, not urban fantasy. Wizard of Pigeons? Dead-on urban fantasy.

So, you’re wondering — as I am — what’s the difference? And, thinking about this. . .I think that, for a book to be urban fantasy, to me, the city/town/specific piece of land has to be a character. It’s not enough that the action is set in a certain place, the story has to be about that place to some degree; it has to be important to the story that these events are happening here, rather than over there, in Gotham.

So, yeah, the Sookie books take place now — making them Contemporary Fantasy/Vampire — but the towns and cities in which the various stories happen are. . .just settings. The life of A Specific Town isn’t threatened, or bound up tightly with the magic of the story.

In Wizard of Pigeons, the city depends for its existence on its magic-workers doing their magic correctly and consistently; in The War for the Oaks a piece of the city’s geography is under dispute by two factions of the fey. In Carousel Tides, the fate of an entire seacoast town depends upon the heroine dealing with the forces of magic appropriately.

The attraction for me, in what I call urban fantasy, is the juxtaposition of the weird with the everyday, and the degree to which each reflects and influences the other. A story about vampire or werewolf politics can be — has been — interesting to me, but — if the story can be moved to any city and told just as effectively, then the story isn’t urban fantasy.

Discuss.

“Guaranteed Delivery”
6,083 words DRAFT COMPLETE

A little bit shorter than I had predicted, but a draft well-completed. It gets to sit for a couple days now, then I’ll re-read, tighten, and post. Still shooting for September 12 for that last thing.

And now? The dishes!

As I mentioned yesterday, it’s that time again!

Time for a refresher course on who does what to whom in the world of publishing.

All righty then!

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 the 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 we do the selling thing at all, 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 to novels. Doesn’t always happen; 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 lots 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 a Whole Buncha Stuff having to do with producing and selling books that the author of same has nothing to do with.

These things include, but are 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, or only random titles

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

* * *

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.

I hope that’s sufficiently clear.

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

*True story; not mine.

**Sometimes, authors do 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 OKs 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.

Slept in; Steve made us a lovely ham omelet for breakfast, after which I repaired to the office and have been doing odds ‘n ends of clean-up and touch-up at the Splinter Universe site. Since I had the hood up, anyway, I posted the first 340-odd words of “Guaranteed Delivery.”

You can thank me later.

Close study of the schedule for the Steampunk Expo would seem to have us getting into Fitchburg on Thursday evening, since Opening Ceremonies is at 10:00 Friday morning.

At noon, Steve and I will be doing a panel/dialog, “How Not to Lose Your Readers in the Maze,” then conducting Part One of the Writers Workshop from 2:00 – 4:00.

On Saturday, there will be a Friends of Liad breakfast at 10:00 a.m. in the Gardner Room; then at noon we’ll be doing another panel/dialog, “Writing a net serial versus a traditional novel.”

We’ll be conducting Part the Second of the Writers Workshop on Sunday from 11:00 to 1:00.

Also? We’ll definitely be at the Abney Park concert on Saturday night, and in the dealer’s room (oh, my, yes), and in All the Usual Places.

Do come! It’ll be a blast.

In other news, I see by my calendar that it’s time once again to post the list of Auctorial Influence. I hope to get around to that a little later today.

After I, yanno, do some work.

Later.

…the whole house took an after-lunch nap, and we’re all the better for it. So, yay.

Upon rising, rosy and refreshed, from my bed, I did some writing, and now I’m going to do the dishes (Honestly — who uses all these dishes? More to the point, where’s my wife?), then read until Steve calls it a day.

Hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend.

Progress on “Guaranteed Delivery”
2,486/10,000 OR 24.86% complete

A little under the weather today (boo! hiss!), and seriously thinking about joining Mozart, who has a very nice little thing going with the blankets and my pillow.

On the other hand, these stories aren’t going to write themselves.

Which pretty much sums up the Dilemma of the Self-Employed.

While I was dithering, I did some updatery of the Korval homepage, including linking to those artists who have created art on behalf of the Liaden Universe®. It’s an impressive list — go check it out; we’re seriously pleased that our work has inspired such lovely art.

One thing did strike me, though, as I was putting the list together. All of our cover/story artists? Are guys.

Which prompts the question — who are the female cover artists currently working in SF/F? Can anybody help me out with some names?

. . .in other news, Scrabble re-arranged my desk for me on the overnight, and I can’t find my calendar. This? Could be serious.

Yes, it’s true!  The laundry is done.  Onward, to the dishes!

Today was mostly about the continuing campaign to catch up email (if you haven’t heard from me, I’m not ignoring you; I just haven’t gotten to your letter yet), and writing.  The first section of “Guaranteed Delivery” is done; now we switch viewpoints.

I realize that I am remiss in several announcements of possible interest.

First, The Crystal Variation, including Crystal Soldier, Crystal Dragon, and Balance of Trade is now shipping from Amazon.

Second, we have at least one report of a Ghost Ship that we personalized during our stop-over at Uncle Hugo’s reaching its final destination.  If you haven’t received yours yet, it’s on the way!

Thirdly, Rachel Hyland (also known for her editorial role at Geek Speak Magazine) did a lovely article about the Romance of the Liaden Universe® here  Feel free to read and comment.

Fourthly, I need to do the dishes.  Oh, wait…

Progress on “Guaranteed Delivery”

1,595/10,000  OR 15.95% completed

Yes, yes, we did just get back from, Steve tells me, seventeen-and-a-half days on the road.  However! Advertent readers will have noted that, during our time away, I purchased a corset.

There was a reason I did that.

Steve and I, with Phil and Kaja Foglio, Abney Park, and many, many other Very Cool People will be Guests at The Great New England Steampunk Exposition in Fitchburg, Massachusetts.  The Exposition begins on Friday, September 16, and runs through Sunday, September 18 — and! I see that the program has been posted.

This promises to be a delightful and awesome experience, so do plan on attending!

Once we return from the Expo, we’ll be sticking very close to home (and writing like mad writing things, ahem) until it’s time to make the trip to Chattanooga, in mid-January.

Writing projects currently in hand:

Dragon Ship — Steve is lead writer on this project, which is the sequel to Ghost Ship

George — Sharon is lead writer on this project, which sorta takes place in a pocket of Ghost Ship. If I do it right, it will be another Portal Book into the Liaden Universe®, joining Agent of Change, Conflict of Honors, Balance of Trade, Local Custom, Fledgling.  An amusing, if not outright terrifying, note:  We had dinner with Madame the Editor at WorldCon, wherein she inquired after “George.”  The die may be cast.

“Guaranteed Delivery” — For the moment, Sharon is lead writer for the original fiction posted on Splinter Universe.  This will change as various deadlines approach and are surpassed.  This particular story, which I hope to post on September 12, concerns  the Ride the Luck courier service.

“The Space at Tinsori Light” — another story destined for Splinter Universe, featuring a yos’Phelium pilot from the Diaries.  Shooting for mid-October posting, though here we’re getting near the delivery deadline for Dragon Ship, and all things give way before a book deadline.

Trade Secret — the sequel to Balance of Trade.  Steve is lead writer on this project.

You will note that there is no Yule Chapbook in this schedule.  As those who were at WorldCon heard, Steve and I are in the process of closing down SRM Publisher.  We are looking for ways to see paper chapbooks published, perhaps on demand, but we’re still in the exploration stage.  As soon as we know what shape the future will take, we’ll let y’all know.