Y’all know what tomorrow is, right?
Right!
Tomorrow is Saturday, May 13, the day that Steve and I will be doing a meet ‘n greet, and signing books at Barnes and Noble, 9 Marketplace Drive, Augusta Maine, from 1 to 3 pm. Stop by and say hi. Here’s a link for further information.
Tomorrow is also the day that the next special goody for patrons only goes live on Patreon. This week’s goody is Steve, reading his story “Charioteer.” Here’s your link to the Lee and Miller Patreon page.
So, yesterday, we goofed off, and went to see Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (2D). I had a great time with it, though I didn’t come away with ribs sore from laughing, as reported by some. Excellent gosh-wow space opera — and Rocket, of course. Recommended.
I believe this completes my list of must-see movies for this year.
Local folks! Steve and I will be signing books and talking (try to stop us!) at Barnes and Noble, 9 Marketplace Drive, Augusta, Maine, on SATURDAY, May 13, from 1-3 pm (that’s, like, the day after tomorrow!). More information here. (Yes, we know there’s an error in the names, but the rest of the info’s good.)
The B&N gig is our last pro appearance until we hit Pittsburgh for Confluence in August, which we’re really looking forward to. Here’s your link to the Confluence website.
Those who have read The Gathering Edge — please consider leaving a review on Amazon, BN, Goodreads, &c. We are once again trying to get one hundred! reviews on Amazon.com, and we’re already more than halfway there. The more reviews a book has, the more attention Amazon pays to it in promotions and whatnot, so your help is really appreciated.
For those who have not heard the news, we have a new goal at Patreon, and! every other week (more or less), we’re posting a patron-exclusive audio file of Steve or me reading a story. Steve kicked it off with “A Night at the Opera,” I read “Gift of Music,” and upcoming — this weekend! — will be Steve again, reading “Charioteer.” Check it out, here.
. . .I think that catches us up. Thank you for all you do — and hope to see those who can make the journey at Barnes and Noble, on Saturday.
To get you warmed up, here’s a picture of Steve, assembling Photographic Evidence.
The second patron-only goody has been posted on Patreon. That would be Sharon Lee reading “The Gift of Music,” by Sharon Lee. The story is set in Archers Beach, the setting of the three Carousel books by Sharon Lee: Carousel Tides, Carousel Sun, Carousel Seas.
I’ll take this opportunity to mention that we are a mere $164 shy of our goal of $2,500 per month. If you would like to become a patron, here’s your link.
I would also like to thank everyone who has given us support, in all its various guises, over the many, many years we’ve been writing. We couldn’t have done it without you.
Now, here’s your link to the new goody.
And here’s a preview of what Belle and Sprite are going to be doing today:
The first goody supporting the new Patreon goal went up last night. Here’s the link.
I note that, as of this morning, we are a mere Usian $253 short of the new goal.
Thank you all so very much for your support.
Trooper and I were collaborating last night, which is why this notice is a little late:
Those of you who have been with us for a while will recall that we maintain a Patreon account. It was originally established when it became clear that, because medical bills had eaten our downpayment, the Cat Farm and Confusion Factory would not be relocating, and thus would need to Take Steps to upgrade the current arrangement.
The most important single thing that we felt needed to be done to make our house in the country safer as we got older was a whole-house generator. We set a monthly goal of $2,000, and with the help of many, we were able to install the generator.
At that time, after taking advice, we did not offer goodies or other incentives, aside from our very sincere thanks (and the sincere thanks of the cats, naturally).
This time, we’re returning to the theme of medical bills. Not only did Steve have a “heart event” in November, but he has had, since elementary school, an ongoing dental. . .issue (which very likely exacerbated his heart problems), which entered a new phase of expense. In Maine — at least in our part of Maine — dental insurance is Very Thin On The Ground, so we’ve been doing the Insured by Visa thing. We thought we could whack down the backlog reasonably, but the fine dental professionals keep front loading more stuff, and there’s only so much room on that Visa card.
In addition, my health insurance payments have been going onto that same Visa card, as well as some. . .unanticipated medical bills of my own (not wanting to be left out, or anything).
Anyway, long story short, we’ve “announced” a new Patreon goal of $2,500 per month, and! we’re offering an incentive for folks to sign up or increase their pledges.
So, here’s what we’re going to be doing: Patrons will have special early access to one (or both) of us reading a chapter, a short story, a poem several times a month (right now, given doctor’s appointments, Random Is, but we’ll shoot for every other week). Ambient cat noises supplied at no extra charge. The reading will be posted first on Patreon, for the enjoyment of patrons only, and eventually – after a month or two – migrate to Splinter Universe, for the Edification of All.
We expect to post our first reading installment on April 15, 2017, to give USian patrons something to look forward to on Income Tax Day.
Fuller details are available at our Patreon page. Here’s the link.
As before, and as always, donating is utterly and entirely voluntary. Please do not stint yourself or your household, or deny yourself books! (Especially do not deny yourself books! This is about getting y’all new books on schedule, among other things.) If you can help us out, and you want to help us out — thank you, very much. We’re cool, whatever you decide to do.
And I’ll just take this little space that’s left down here at the bottom of the page to thank everyone who has given us support, including buying our books, sending cards, and random surprise gifts, PayPal donations, Patreon pledges, and kind letters. It all helps. Really. You guys are awesome.
So, that’s what’s going on. First reading goes live on Monday. Steve’s picking out a story right now.