Category: Blog

Most important news first!  The keys have been found!  Why they were in my gym bag, when I never take Steve’s car to gym. . .

Secondly, in reference to the title of today’s blog post — we here in Central Maine are in the midst of a wind storm.  The West Wind is smacking us pretty steadily with winds around 35 miles per hour, with the occasional 55 mph gust, just to confuse the power lines.  I will note that today is bright and sunny and blue, which is NOT the kind of weather we’ve been used to seeing around here.

We continue to improve, health-wise.  I’ve done the upfront for the taxes; now I need to wait for paperwork, and fill out the accountant’s form.  Which has changed since last year, to the point where I may need a tutorial.  But — the taxes, at least, are mostly under control.

Not so, the rest of the to-do list.  I gotta tell you, I look at the to-do list and despair.  I have an interview to do; I have files to continue to pull together for distribution to either an archive or a dumpster; I have at least two short stories to write — it might be three.  Or four.  I have notes  here. . .somewhere — and I have, yes, a book to write.  Now on extended deadline, sigh.

Tomorrow!  Ah, tomorrow! is the Official Book Day for Carousel Seas — which has already had an eArc Day and a eBook Day, so you wouldn’t think I’d be excited about Paper Book Day, but. . .I am.  I feel like I ought to at least bake Kate a cake, and, yanno, make a Big Noise.  But neither of those is really very likely to happen.

Today, I started the laundry.  I may, honestly, have to rethink that, considering that the wind has knocked the power out, briefly, twice, now.

And, Canon keeps sending me these notices, tempting me with the New Powershot — the newest with a 50x zoom, and. . .I really don’t need 50x zoom to take pictures of the cats.  I mean, I know that.  But — shiny.

In health news, I continue to feel better.  Honestly, there’s got to be an upper limit to this, doesn’t there?  How sick do I have to have been that I’m continuing to feel better?

Well.  The to-do list isn’t going to do itself.  I’ll concentrate on the interview this afternoon.

Hope your afternoon is decisive and profitable.

 

Today’s blog post is from “The Highwayman,” a poem by Alfred Noyes, set to music by Loreena McKennit.  Here’s your link.

 

So, I slept in a little bit this morning; Trooper assisting by sleeping on my face, which gives you some idea of how very, very asleep I was.

Spent some parts of the morning trying to locate my set of Steve’s car keys, which I lost sometime during being ill, when I needed to move the cars for the plowman.  All the pockets in the house are clean, as is the couch, my bag, Steve’s bag, the cars, the driveway, the kitchen table (my keys, which I would have used at the same time, and for the same purpose, are on the kitchen table, right where they belong), the Mencken Table, my desk, and the catch-all drawer in my office — all, all are keyless.  I’m going to have to admit defeat at this point.

After I combed Trooper and Sprite, I gave the rest of the day over to totaling/closing the 2014 accounts (I still have two that need last bits of information before I can close them), since our accountant was kind enough to make sure the accounting packet reached us on Christmas Eve.

In a moment or two, I’m going to go do the dishes, and then retire to the sofa with When Gods Die to keep me company.

Before I sign off of the interwebs for the evening, though, I’m going to revisit something, because it still. . .fascinates me.

WARNING:  POSSIBLE SPOILERS BELOW IF YOU HAVEN’T READ “THE NIGHT DON’T SEEM SO LONELY”

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Back a few weeks ago, when a portion of the internet went stupid because I had used a Bad Word in “The night don’t seem so lonely,” someone involved in that conversation took advantage of it to critique the story, in order to show me how (1) I could have completely avoided using Bad Words and (2) written a stronger story that they would have liked better.  (Yes, this is exactly as breathtakingly rude as it sounds, but never mind that.)

The person in question would have improved the story by throwing away the first scenes in the story-as-published, opening with Moss on the beach, alluding to his adventures on the road, and his reason for being there, in very brief one-or-two sentence flashbacks, and finishing with an epiphany of  destiny.  Which…OK, that’s a story; it’s not the story I wanted to write, but let that go, too, because there’s an even more interesting assertion in the reason for restructuring the story in this manner, which was this:

The opening scenes, sayeth the critique-person, risk losing readers who may decide that they don’t want to read about these characters.  By opening with the scene on the beach, readers *immediately know* that Moss isn’t “just some drifter” but a person they should care about.

This notion of “risking” the loss of readers fascinates me, but, then, I tend to assume that readers are reading for character, rather than plot.  In the case of Moss, I began the story where I did so that the reader could get a brief taste of what his reality had been for the last while, and to maximize the punch of relief for the reader when someone, finally, takes an honest interest, while at the same time feeding the uncertainty — is this really going to work out, then?  So much has gone wrong for this kid. . .

And back around I come to this idea that you will lose readers if you force them to interact with characters.  What a strange, strange notion.

So — what grabs you in a story, and forces you to keep reading?  Character?  Dialog?  Plot?  Setting?  Bad Words?

Discuss.

Today’s Baen Free Radio Hour features an interview with Sharon Lee (hey, that’s me!) talking with Baen editor and podmaster Tony Daniel about Carousel Seas, and!  Chapter 39 of Larry Correia’s Hard Magic, as read by Bronson Pinchot.   Here’s your link.

We here in Central Maine are currently trembling under the weight of a Winter Storm Watch.  The weatherbeans are calling 5-8 inches of snowfall Saturday night, with a delicate inch or two of ice added on Sunday.  We are Charging All The Things and hoping that the power stays on.

In celebration of the Storm Watch, I went into town today to perform Necessary Errands, and to leave the cover art for Dragon in Exile in the capable hands of Amy Cyrway at the Framemakers.  If it’s possible for anyone to be more excited about this art than Steve and me, then that person would be Amy.

Speaking of the Dragon in Exile cover art, Long-time and Always Intrepid Friend of Liad Mike Barker has worked out the kanji on the sign below the red dragon.  He tells me it reads “dragon dwelling in exile,” which is so cool, I may still swoon.  But not before I ask if there is anyone in the studio audience, or perhaps someone playing along at home who reads Arabic.  Because I’d really like to know if the letters over the red door to Miri’s right can be deciphered.

In other news, the Big Pile of Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries that I ordered before Christmas have arrived.  Seven books, no waiting.  That’ll keep me busy for a while.  Especially since I’m, yanno, supposed to be writing a book.

We’re looking at getting back to this whole writing thing on Monday.  Five weeks of being ill kind of took a sledgehammer to the writing schedule, the house schedule, the sleep schedule, and all the other schedules, with the possible exception of the cat-feeding schedule, though I vaguely recall Scrabble putting me on notice that she was considering filing a Formal Complaint.

It’ll be exciting, getting everything all lined up again. Honestly, you wouldn’t think, to look at us, that there were any schedules.  Just goes to show. . .something.

Everybody have a great weekend.

 

The New Year thus far has been consumed by Shopping.  I have purchased check registers from Ebay (No, I don’t keep my checkbook electronically.  No, I don’t want to hear about how it’s really better.  Thanks.).

In addition, I have purchased books (The Wave in the Mind; The Martian; Tigerman), and movies (From Up On Poppy Hill; Sleeping Beauty), and various bitlits of music.

In a little while, I will put on my coat and my boots and go out to get the final 2014 mileage from the cars, and change out the mileage books.

Steve is heating the oven for egg rolls for the traditional New Years dinner.  Last night, we ushered the Old Year Out by sharing half of a veggie pizza, and listening to Steve’s Midnight Radio on Pandora.  We actually did make it ’til midnight before we turned into pumpkins.

For those who are almost as sick of hearing me complain about my health, as I am, about complaining:  Steve and I are both appreciably better.  We are, in fact, in that zone of Almost Totally Well where we able to look back to even a week ago, and say to each other, “Holy Crap, we were really sick.”  So, yanno, yay! for antibiotics, and boo for losing damn’ near five weeks of work.

Our writing schedule for 2015 looks like this at the moment:

Short story in support of Dragon in Exile due at Baen April 15
Alliance of Equals due at Baen May 29 (renegotiated deadline)
Third of Five due at Baen November 15

2015 publications so far look like this:

January 6: Carousel Seas
May 15:  Short story in support of Dragon in Exile
June 2:  Dragon in Exile
August 4:  A Liaden Universe® Constellation, Volume III

Also, just a reminder, Lee and Miller will not — that’s NOT — be attending Boskone this year.  See above, five weeks of illness, from which we are barely now recovering.

. . .and that’s all the news that’s fit to print.  Here — have a picture of Princess Jasmine Sprite wearing the traditional Lady Bug Lace in honor of the New Year:

So, I am Much Improved.  Not quite Well, but you can see it from here.

Despite the oximeter, which claims I’m getting ‘way plenty air, I still feel that there could be some considerable improvement on that front.  So, I’ve been — gently and carefully — practicing yoga breathing while laying on a rolled-up towel, along the length of my spine, so that my chest is open and receptive.  I’m taking it as a positive sign, that I can now do these things without coughing my lungs out.

Steve — who you will remember started this journey a couple days ahead of me — is also Much Improved, though he’s not using the Well-word, either.  We’re both being very cautious, and I’m not noticing that either one of us is turning down any naps.

So, that.  Yesterday, I actually opened the file for Alliance of Equals and fixed a problem that had moved me to tears a couple weeks ago.  Brain coming back online = excellent.

Today’s snailmail brought us tube from David Mattingly.  Inside the tube, was a print — Number 1 of 50! — of the cover art for Dragon in Exile!  It’s even more bright and beautiful in person than it is on the screen  (here, take a look).  I’m really looking forward to getting it framed and up on the wall.

If you’d like a copy of the print on your wall, write directly to David at davidATdavidmattinglyDOTcom.  But you better hurry: at least three of that limited run of 50 are already spoken for.

I’d like to thank those folks who have taken the time and trouble to review Carousel Seas. And, for those who missed the news, due to the press of holiday business — the ebook edition of Carousel Seas is now available in multiple formats from Baen.com, and in Kindle format, from Amazon.

. . .and that?  Is all I’ve got.

Everybody take care.