Blog Without A Name

Well, so — today thus far.

Since I had a return to make to eBags, and, as was established on Monday, there is no public FedEx drop-off in the Waterville environs save a self-serve box too small to take the parcel that was being returned. . .deep breath. . .this morning I drove twenty miles to nearest manned — or, in this case womanned — FedEx office, in the Great City of Augusta, and got rid of the damned box.

That accomplished, I stopped at the Augusta edition of Staples and bought a USB stick/thumb-drive/whatevertheheck they’re called this week. It is, in fact, slightly smaller than my thumb (my previous stick was as long as my forefinger) 16 gigs for $15 — almost a buck a gig! — while the former stick packed a whopping 128 megs and cost somewhere in the vicinity of fifty clams.

What an age we live in.

Those two minor errands accomplished, I headed back to Waterville, aiming for the post office, the drug store, the grocery store, and the Cat Farm, in that order, driving happily through the grey, damp day, singing along with Warren Zevon, when suddenly! without warning! the car began making a Horrible, Horrible Noise.

Yeah, the muffler had come uncoupled and was dangling by a slender thread.

I made it to Mr. Smith’s repair emporium in a roar of, err, power, checked Binjali in — hey, he needs to be inspected this month, anyway, right? — called Steve to come get me, as Mr. Smith can’t get to repairs until tomorrow — and we did the rest of the errands together, which was nice, but unplanned.

So, home now, and doing catch-up, since tomorrow we’re needed down-coast on bidness of the house. And! I just realized that, if that bidness goes forth, I’m going to have to learn how to cook.

Oops.

But enough about me!

You may not know that today is a very special day. Indeed! Today is the day that my neighbor in Bangor, Mr. “James A. Burton” sees his book Powers published by Prime Books. Available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and all the Usual Suspects. Check it out; you won’t be sorry.

I was going to write a longish blog entry about why there have to be Books Between, but…I’m tired, and the dishes need to be done, and after that I wanna curl up and read one of my geisha books, so…maybe later.

Today was cleaning, early, and getting bread started, and then the visitation of the Bath Guy, Stage One in our intention to remodel the bathroom, replacing the bathtub with a shower enclosure.

This consultation took much longer than I had planned on, and the execution of Stage One will be somewhat more expensive than I had anticipated — Balancing the under-budget work we had done in the fall. We signed the contract, gave a deposit and sometime in mid-June we’ll have a brand-new shower. Upon which time we will commence in saving for Stage Two.

Does it strike anyone else as Completely Unfair that the least glamorous room in the house will cost the most to redo?

Anyhow, I also finished compiling the second volume of short stories, and writing the foreword for that, so everything’s ready for an orderly transfer, just as soon as the contract’s ready.

Oh! And exciting news, for those who didn’t hear it elsewhere: We heard from David Mattingly this afternoon; he’s finished reading Necessity’s Child, and is excited about doing the cover. Can’t wait to see it!

Before I answer the siren call of the dishes, I want to assure fans of Silversocks that he’s settling in nicely. Here’s a picture Steve took of him yesterday afternoon, while he communed with a box:

Since this has come up in discussion several times:  No (that’s NO), Necessity’s Child, a Liaden Universe® novel scheduled for publication in May 2013 is not (that’s NOT) the sequel to Dragon Ship. 

Necessity’s Child is the book that bore the working title George, snippets of which were posted in this journal through late 2011 and early 2012.

Further to the sequel of Dragon Ship — It has not (NOT) been written yet; we are not (NOT) in the process of writing it; it hasn’t even been pitched yet.

Writing projects currently on the Lee-and-Miller plate are:

1. Short story for Baen website, due July 1 — Steve
2. Trade Secrets, sequel to Balance of Trade — Steve
3. Two sequels to Carousel Tides, tentatively titled Carousel Sun and Carousel Seas — Sharon
4. Write and submit proposals, one of which will be for the sequel to Dragon Ship.  We have discovered that we need to let our brains rest before we start in proposin’ agin, so that’s what’s happening.  *Looks at list above.  Falls over laughing*

Download it here.

 

I’m sorry I’ve been quite so scarce — had a small dose of Life here at the Confusion Factory.

However! While I was goofing off, the Word Wranglers were hard at work. Go, Word Wranglers!

Here’s where we stand. Please check the lists below; if you have sent in your list and I haven’t included it, please drop me a note at rolanniATgmailDOTcom. Thanks!

I have received completed lists for the following novels:
Agent of Change, jessie_c
Saltation, micheledear
Scout’s Progress, sb_moof
Ghost Ship, Alon Ziv
Crystal Soldier, redpimpernel
Local Custom, eoma_p
Mouse and Dragon, eoma_p
Local Custom, Deborah Fishburn
Fledgling, marniferous

I have received a partial list for the following novel:
Crystal Dragon, capricchio

The following titles are (or, in the case of Dragon Ship, will be) in the hands of Wranglers:
Crystal Dragon (partial), capricchio
Carpe Diem, Deborah Fishburn
Conflict of Honors, silverdragonma
Balance of Trade, Elaine Bushore Fisher
Plan B, Jennifer Briggs
Dragon Ship, Alon Ziv
I Dare, spiritdance

I have emailed, but have not heard back from, the editor of the audio editions, asking if he has deadlines, and which words lists he would prefer to have first.

Thank you all for your very capable help on this project!

…while I ice the blasted ankle. Honestly…

So, yesterday got away from me. We had an early appointment with the accountant in re the necessities attending the formal shutting down of SRM, Publisher, Ltd. This meant that I had to throw away yesterday’s projected to-do list in favor of doing a whole buncha paperwork that had to be filed within 30 days of the last day of bidness, which was, um, March 31. A fun time was had by all, the paperwork is complete, and in the mail, and we shall speak of it no more.

I am still behind on email. Ox and I will deal with that over the course of the afternoon, since the sofa is no place to be compiling a short story collection. We’ll also be working on proposals and dipping into the newly-arrived research books: Geisha, Liza Dalby; and A Geisha’s Journey: My Life as a Kyoto Apprentice, Komono, with (lots and lots and lots) of photographs by Naoyuki Ogino.

Money quote from the latter: Maiko training begins by learning how to say “hello.” The trainee must greet the other person as an adult human being. She must be able to assess their position, and her own, and speak accordingly. Her demeanor–or as we say here in Kyoto, her motenashi–must be perfect at all times.

Number Ten Ox continues to be a joy to use, with the exception of the trackpad. I never did get the hang of trackpads, though I am trying with this one, which seems well-behaved. However, there may be a wireless mouse in my future.

Off now to answer email and try to stay out of trouble. While I’m gone, here — have an interview.

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)

The subject is seen here overseeing the production of Liaden Universe® Constellation Volume Two.

Artists in the news:
A must-read for anyone who is an artist, loves an artist, or who doesn’t understand why artists just don’t Work Hard so They Can Make More Money.

Office clean-up:
My office is habitable again. Turning in two books essentially back-to-back, finishing up the income taxes, attending two conventions, and with the complicating circumstance of a sprained ankle meant that the Creative Clutter had reached such a pitch I simply couldn’t work. Great swathes of chaos make me ill — an artifact of Extreme Virgo-ism — and it’s hard to write when you’re feeling off-center and nauseous.

But! It’s All Good, now. There are a couple of small piles, all of which have to do with open and on-going projects, and all of the filing is done. I threw away a lot of stuff. Without a doubt, I threw away things that might have been Of Interest to the scholars who, in future, will inevitably Study Our Work — but I can think again, and I don’t hate coming into my office, so — fair trade.

Projects on the move:
I’ve finished compiling the first volume of Liaden Universe® short stories and written an Authors’ Foreword. Up next, compiling the second volume, while simultaneously pulling together some proposals. When all that’s out of my way, I’ll commence in with writing the next Carousel book.

Steve has the story that will eventually — August? — appear on the front page of the Baen website on his plate, and also Trade Secrets.

We’ll also need to find time to record the lists of Weird Words — a post regarding which is upcoming.

Fans of Mozart take note:
He is now wearing his summer shorts. Photos forthcoming.

Fans of Socks take note:
Socks is now home from the vet, where seven teeth were extracted, and his sinuses flushed. He is, as indeed I would be in his place, sitting under the kitchen table. Still a little groggy, and not up to talking to anyone, which is perfectly understandable, but the vet says he came through the ordeal like a trooper.

Fans of Scrabble take note:
She sleeps with the heffalumps. The Floofy Grey Things with their ridikulus skirts, and their ‘waybigfurryfeet, and their drama don’t really fall under her job description, after all.

The Day of the Authors:
We were up early to deliver Socks to the vet, then went crosstown to the Best Western for breakfast. After that, we came home, and I finished up the last of the checkbook reconciliation (three! months! of checkbooks to balance), then we packed up Number Ten Ox and went in-town for lunch at Selah Tea (tomato-basil soup with a mini-quiche, iced monk’s head tea, and a molasses cookie, mmmm…), and to do a test run of Ox’s network-finding, internet cruising, and word-processing-in-public-places functions. Aces on all, and I hereby note that Ox is more powerful — and has more memory — than my desktop.

Atmospheric Note: Selah Tea plays big band and classic jazz, hence the title of today’s post.

Progress on Semi-Sekrit Project:
At his suggestion, today I called the guy who can probably solve my problem for me quickly, and reasonably. He fobs me off with a request to call him Wednesday. Or Thursday. Grrr.

Weather Report:
It’s raining like a sonofagun and has been all day.

Strange Internet Holidays, Today is One:
Today is International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day. Splinter Universe, and the crowd-sourcing of Fledgling and Saltation land us firmly in the Technopeasant ranks.

The Evening of the Authors:
Having goofed all day, it’s now time to get to work.

Lots of off-line stuff to attend to today, as yesterday afternoon. I am, for the record, slightly behind on email.

So! What’re y’all doing this weekend?