Blog – Page 241 – Sharon Lee, Writer

Liaden Universe® InfoDump No. 111

Publication Date for Alliance of Equals
The Question that Ate October, here at our email boxes and around the web, is: When will the next Liaden novel come out? Can I get an eArc? Sample chapters? Something?

The Answer to this question is: Alliance of Equals, the nineteenth novel-length adventure in the Liaden Universe®, aka “the book after Dragon in Exile” is scheduled to be released in hardcover on July 5, 2016.

And, in an attempt to forestall the Inevitable: Baen makes the eArc editions of novels, if any, available somewhere between two to three months ahead of the hardcover publication. So, you’re looking. . .April/May 2016 for the Alliance of Equals eArc.

Mass Market Edition of Dragon in Exile
Baen will be releasing the paperback edition of Dragon in Exile, which was published in hardcover on June 2, 2015, in June, 2016.

The Gathering Edge
The Gathering Edge is the title of the Liaden Universe® novel that comes after Alliance of Equals. Sharon and Steve are in the process of writing this novel even now. It is due on our publisher’s desk on February 15, 2016. We do not (that’s DO NOT) have a publication date for this title.

Hey, Wanna Get Mugged?
The Liaden Universe® store over at Offworld Designs is now offering Liaden Universe® coffee mugs, in addition to tree-and-dragon denim, polo, and t-shirts. Mugs and shirts make great gifts! Here’s your link.

Do It Like A Delm
The Do It Like a Delm contest was a huge success, and a lot of fun, too! If you missed the entries, take a look, starting here.

Lee and Miller Interview with John Mierau
Earlier this month, Steve and Sharon did an interview with John Mierau re: crowdfounding in general, and Patreon in specific. Here’s your link to the interview.

Mark Your Calendars!
Dragon in Exile, mass market edition PUBLICATION DATE: June 2016
Short story in support of Alliance of Equals, baen.com PUBLICATION DATE: June 2016
Alliance of Equals, the 19th novel in the Liaden Universe® PUBLICATION DATE: July 2016
The Gathering Edge, the 20th novel in the Liaden Universe® TURN IN DATE: February 2016

Where In The World Are Lee and Miller?
Boskone 53, February 19-21, 2016, Boston, MA.
Ravencon, April 29-May 1, 2016, in Williamsburg, VA! Lee and Miller are Writer Guests of Honor.
Balticon 50, May 27-30, 2016, in Baltimore, MD. Lee and Miller are Returning Guests of Honor. Read all about it, here.
MidAmeriCon II, the 74th World Science Fiction Convention, August 17-21, 2016, Kansas City, MO. Miller and Lee have purchased their attending memberships.

Trivia Isn’t Trivial
Sharon and Steve are working in a universe more than a couple million words old, and strive for consistency. That means they often need to recall details like “What does a pre-Exodus Yxtrang salute look like” or “Is Miri left-handed?” or maybe “What’s the name of the ship that didn’t fire on Cantra when….” While you may see a quick question from the authors on Facebook, far more often they’re referring to that resource that both you and they can use — The Liaden Wiki. Not only can you use it, but you can contribute to it by creating or updating pages and sections. Got a head for ship names or planets or want to be sure the language is right? The Liaden Wiki is one way you can show off and also help keep the stories — and entire universes! — on the right track! Go here to see the 105 pages already in place.

Blogs and Other Webly Things of Note
Sharon Lee’s blog, Eagles over the Kennebec
Sharon Lee’s Professional Site, and The Blog Without A Name
Splinter Universe Discussion List

Lee and Miller Patreon Support Page

Facebook Connections — please feel free to add us!
Steve Miller
Sharon Lee

Pinbeam Books: An online catalog, with vendor links, to all Lee-and-Miller eChapbooks
Splinter Universe: Features outtakes, splinters, oddities from the Lee&Miller writing career, currently changes irregularly.
Welcome to Liad:The official homepage for Liaden Universe® news.

Liaden Interest Groups on Facebook
Clan Korval
Friends of Liad
Flaran Cha’menthi

Twitter
Steve’s on Twitter
Sharon’s on Twitter, too
Pinterest

Disclaimer Stuff
This InfoDump is a product of the Liaden Universe®, accept no imitations. You have received this message because you asked for it. If you wish to subscribe to the Liaden Universe® email list, to unsubscribe from the Liaden Universe® email list, or to change your delivery email address, go here.

Books read in 2015

39. The View from Saturday, E.L. Konigsburg
38. The Chocolate Thief, Laura Florand
37. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, E.L. Konigsburg
36. The Paper Doll Museum, Abigail Padgett (e)
35. The Princess Bride, William Goldman (re-re-read; and–it’s official–I definitely prefer the movie)
34. The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
33. Cooking the Books, Kerry Greenwood (e)
32. Forbidden Fruit, Kerry Greenwood (e)
31. Maisie Dobbs, Jacqueline Winspear
30. Trick or Treat, Kerry Greenwood (e)
29. The Golden Hawk, Frank Yerby (reread; six pages fell out at various spots during this reading; it was reread many times, when I was 14)
28. The Wave in the Mind, Ursula K. Le Guin
27. The Boy from the Burren, Sheila Gilluly (e)
26. Dead Heat, Patricia Briggs (e)
25. Girl Genius: The Beast of the Rails, Kaja and Phil Foglio
24. A Bollywood Affair, Sonali Dev
23. Who Buries the Dead, C.S. Harris
22. Killer Instinct, Zoe Sharpe (e)
21. Devil’s Food, Kerry Greenwood (e)
20. The Making of a Marchioness, Frances Hodgson Burnett (e)
19. A Little Princess, Frances Hodgson Burnett (e)
18. Geekomancy, Michael R. Underwood (e)
17. The Perfect Rake, Anne Gracie
16. The Martian, Andy Weir
15. Blaze of Memory, Nalini Singh
14. Tracker, C.J. Cherryh (read out loud with Steve)
13. Chanur’s Legacy, C.J. Cherryh (re-read, read out loud with Steve)
12. Chanur’s Homecoming, C.J. Cherryh (re-read, read out loud with Steve)
11. The Kif Strike Back, C.J. Cherryh (re-read, read out loud with Steve)
10. Why Kings Confess, C.S. Harris
9. Chanur’s Venture, C.J. Cherryh (re-read, read out loud with Steve) (Note: the publisher’s note at the end of the book states that the next-in-series is Chanur’s Revenge. This is false. The next-in-series is The Kif Strike Back.)
8. Angels’ Blood, Nalini Singh (read out loud with Steve)
7. The Pride of Chanur, C.J. Cherryh (re-read, read out loud with Steve)
6. What Darkness Brings, C.S. Harris
5. When Maidens Mourn, C.S. Harris
4. Where Shadows Dance, C.S. Harris
3. What Remains of Heaven, C.S. Harris
2. Where Serpents Sleep, C.S. Harris
1. When Gods Die, C.S. Harris

There’s a light over at the Frankenstein Place; there’s a light burning in the fireplace

So, last night Steve and I went to the Waterville Opera House to view for our very first time, the Rocky Horror Show. This was, I’ll stress, the play, not the film. Since we were Rocky Horror virgins — to an extent; I don’t think anyone could have existed in SF Fandom since the 1970’s and remained Entirely Ignorant of the plot. Which actually served us well, otherwise, my enjoyment would have been. . . much less.

Since we had never seen the show before, we deliberately bought tickets to a show where the Opera House stated in its literature that props were not to be brought in. It turns out that many of the theater-going public in Waterville cannot read, or reasoned that there are no Opera House Cops and so they could safely ignore this plea for courtesy.

Steve had the worst of it; he was sitting next to a guy who apologized ahead of time for that fact that he was going to be Very Loud in his call-backs, this despite the rules, and he proceeded to enjoy himself hugely at the expense of our being able to, oh, actually hear what was going on. If I’d been sitting next to him, I’d’ve slugged him, reasoning that there are, after all, no Opera House Cops, and so I could do whatevertheheck I wanted to do in protection of my own experience of the play.

I’m told that we should have watched the movie first, rather than going to the play, but since we had, indeed, purchased tickets for the Rocky Virgin Show, I think we did due diligence.

In any case, because of prior exposure, I did, indeed enjoy myself, and very much pity the actors who have to put up with having things thrown at them, and call-backs and all the other. . .stupidities we observed (yes, yes, I know it’s “fun”; I’m an old fuddy-duddy, is all). Had I known that the no-props rule would be so completely violated, however, I would have stayed home.

EDITED TO ADD: Steve reminds me that I have forgotten to report that he won a door prize at the show last night, which was sponsored in part by local radio station MIX (107.9) and adult emporium, Treasure Chest II.

Let me let Steve himself tell you about his prize basket: So, since Rocky Horror is a Halloween thing, and 13 is a Halloween number (It is?) I think they gave away 13 prizes all together. Our little package was a purple mini-milk-crate, brimming with stuff. Whips (very vanilla whips, really)…, no chains, Motion Lotion, Swiss Navy gels, a power stroker, yes, and enough vibrating power to open a paint-mixing shop. But you know how it is — we really were front row center in the balcony … I left the lid on the treasure chest we won and didn;t do more than peek at it. The next closest winner appeared to have a glow-in-the-dark rendintion of Dr. Frankenfurter’s equipment, which she de-packaged and handed around to be handled by her friends …

So, that.

Someone over on LiveJournal (my blog posts first on Blog Without a Name on sharonleewriter.com and is mirrored at Eagles Over the Kennebec on LiveJournal) wanted to know The Rest of The Story, after we had moved to Maine and found all of our arrangements in shambles (for those who missed that post, here’s your link).

The answer to that is. . .there was a Period of Confusion, in which we learned a lot in a very short time, and were helped out by some kind people.

First off, we pulled into the now-disappeared (there’s a Wal*Mart on the site) Skowhegan Motor Lodge, where we rented a cabin for us and three cats. We unloaded the rental truck into a storage unit (happily, we had only just been managers of a storage unit facility, so had some expertise in packing the space efficiently), and returned it (the truck, not the storage unit) to Augusta, which was much further away than we had imagined. When we returned to the Motor Lodge, the live-in managers told us that they were starting to shut down for the winter — which meant putting each cabin into mothballs, draining the pipes, and whatnot — but that they would leave our cabin ’til last, to give us time to regroup.

This was fortunate, because I was nursing the Cold From Hell, and probably should have — in retrospect — gone to the hospital, but — we had no money. We also walked All Over Skowhegan, Maine, looking for a place to live, and, as a by-product of that, introducing ourselves to the neighbors. It turned out that somebody knew somebody else, who knew that the accountant had just finished renovating a farmhouse-and-attached-barn (called in Maine, “a regular house”) on Busy Route 2 into teensy, tiny little apartments, like Mainers like to do, and we went and talked to him, and we were personable and “older” (i.e. not 18), and so we found an apartment. Then Steve got a job at the local Cumberland Farms Store on the midnight shift, and somebody else had heard about a temp opening in the Number Two Paper Machine for day-work, and I got hired on there. And then the revisions came in for Carpe Diem, and a guy I had worked with at a game company in Maryland, who had moved on to a start-up in New Hampshire, remembered that I had been a science fiction writer, and we got a gig writing a narrative for a computer game, and eventually — I don’t quite remember how — I got a job as a clerk at the daily newspaper in Waterville, and we eventually rented a house just a couple blocks away from that job, so I didn’t have to drive 20 miles after midnight in the treacherous Maine winter, Steve got a job as the children’s librarian at the Oakland Library, Del Rey turned down our option novel, we taught writing by mail with the British-American School of Writing. . .

. . .in other words, Life Happened.

As it still is.

Today! Bread is rising. I need to get with the manuscript and do some serious work, having goofed off so well these last couple days, and!

. . .that’s all the news that’s fit to print.

Here’s a picture from this morning (a repeat for the FB peeps, but still better than big G+ graphic): Trooper and Sprite having a Saturday morning cuddle in the comfy, unmade bed:

Books read in 2015

38. The Chocolate Thief, Laura Florand
37. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, E.L. Konigsburg
36. The Paper Doll Museum, Abigail Padgett (e)
35. The Princess Bride, William Goldman (re-re-read; and–it’s official–I definitely prefer the movie)
34. The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
33. Cooking the Books, Kerry Greenwood (e)
32. Forbidden Fruit, Kerry Greenwood (e)
31. Maisie Dobbs, Jacqueline Winspear
30. Trick or Treat, Kerry Greenwood (e)
29. The Golden Hawk, Frank Yerby (reread; six pages fell out at various spots during this reading; it was reread many times, when I was 14)
28. The Wave in the Mind, Ursula K. Le Guin
27. The Boy from the Burren, Sheila Gilluly (e)
26. Dead Heat, Patricia Briggs (e)
25. Girl Genius: The Beast of the Rails, Kaja and Phil Foglio
24. A Bollywood Affair, Sonali Dev
23. Who Buries the Dead, C.S. Harris
22. Killer Instinct, Zoe Sharpe (e)
21. Devil’s Food, Kerry Greenwood (e)
20. The Making of a Marchioness, Frances Hodgson Burnett (e)
19. A Little Princess, Frances Hodgson Burnett (e)
18. Geekomancy, Michael R. Underwood (e)
17. The Perfect Rake, Anne Gracie
16. The Martian, Andy Weir
15. Blaze of Memory, Nalini Singh
14. Tracker, C.J. Cherryh (read out loud with Steve)
13. Chanur’s Legacy, C.J. Cherryh (re-read, read out loud with Steve)
12. Chanur’s Homecoming, C.J. Cherryh (re-read, read out loud with Steve)
11. The Kif Strike Back, C.J. Cherryh (re-read, read out loud with Steve)
10. Why Kings Confess, C.S. Harris
9. Chanur’s Venture, C.J. Cherryh (re-read, read out loud with Steve) (Note: the publisher’s note at the end of the book states that the next-in-series is Chanur’s Revenge. This is false. The next-in-series is The Kif Strike Back.)
8. Angels’ Blood, Nalini Singh (read out loud with Steve)
7. The Pride of Chanur, C.J. Cherryh (re-read, read out loud with Steve)
6. What Darkness Brings, C.S. Harris
5. When Maidens Mourn, C.S. Harris
4. Where Shadows Dance, C.S. Harris
3. What Remains of Heaven, C.S. Harris
2. Where Serpents Sleep, C.S. Harris
1. When Gods Die, C.S. Harris

The drillin’ in the wall kept up but no one seemed to pay it any mind

This was not the day I had planned.

I had planned to do some business emails, then get with the manuscript, and finish the squaring up of the Big Narrative Lump, and indeed, the day went agreeably in that direction for about two hours. Then, I noticed that Belle’s back foot was bleeding. Steve and I did an examination, and determined that, yes, this was a matter for the vet, so we called, and achieved an appointment for 2:30 today.

After that, it was my turn to call The Guy From Dead River (for those coming in late, the whole house generator was installed yesterday, so yay! However, the generator needs propane to operate, and, as reported earlier, siting the propane tanks was apparently going to be A Big Problem). This would have been, you understand, on the order of the sixth phone call we’d made to the office since the site visit.

I actually reached someone who could help me. She informed me that this project was going to be Very, Very Difficult, involving two guys for six hours and a ditch witch, it was going to cost A Bundle of Money, and! — insult to injury — the work can’t be done until November 16. At 8 a.m., naturally enough.

This is the point where you’d walk away and call the next vendor on the list. Sadly, there is no next vendor, so I agreed to Terms, and ask you please to all join me in hoping that the damned ground doesn’t freeze before November 16.

Grr.

I did a little more work, Steve made us a lemon and chicken soup for lunch, and at precisely 2:30, we were at the vet’s, who was saying, “Good grief, what happened?”

As near as we can figure, Belle tried to get into the drop ceiling in the basement — a favorite hangout for Cat Farm Coon Cats, though they really are Far Too Big to get into the drop ceiling in the basement — missed her jump — or insisted that she had so made the jump — and in the process ripped a claw out of her back right foot.

The vet cleaned the wound, prescribed antibiotics (because Belle weighs very nearly 17 pounds, Belle gets to take Dog Drugs, which is to say 1/4 of a dog-sized antibiotic), and sent us on our way with instructions to watch the foot, and Belle’s behavior, and call if anything changed for the worst.

I will note that Belle was a perfect lady on the ride to and from, and at the vet’s. Though her foot must have hurt a lot, she didn’t utter a single curse, nor tried to discipline the doctor or her assistant. I expect Maine coons to be mellow, but this was really above and beyond.

Home again, I did the dishes, and got back to work for another hour. My concentration, however, is not what it ought to be going into this section, which needs a bunch of description, and is also somewhat scrambled on the Who Said What To Whom front. Which is to say, the kind of stuff you need to bear down and micro-concentrate on.

So! That will be Saturday’s job, since tomorrow, day-time, is filled with appointments, and that evening with the Rocky Horror Show.

* * *

In other news, I have been remiss in reporting the anniversary of our 27th year in Maine. We crossed the border on, I believe, October 3, 1988, and commenced an exciting day, indeed, in which we found in short order that we had no place to live (because the daughter of the owner of the house in Skowhegan we had rented long-distance, had left her husband in the time it had taken us to drive from Maryland to Maine, and moved into “our” house); Steve’s job, also arranged long-distance, had evaporated; that the Skowhegan library had on its bookshelves in 1988, SFBC editions of books that hadn’t gone out since 1977, and the librarian of same advised me, earnestly, that, if I was a reader, I should go to the high school library to borrow books.

Yes, it was epic, that day; one of the Great Ones that you look back upon in calmer times and wonder how you had held your hand from murder and mayhem.

Still on topic — in another three weeks, Steve and I will be celebrating the 35th anniversary of our marriage. We moved to Maine together, where we knew no one, save Tom Easton and Barry Longyear, through SFWA, when we had been married less than eight years. In retrospect, I’m not sure if that was heroic or stupid.

Whichever, it turned out all right in the end.

* * *

Yesterday, I did go elsewhere to work, and got a bunch of redlining done on the threads which are not the Big Narrative Piece. In the morning, since it was sunny, and windless, I went out to Oakland, and worked at a picnic bench at the Messalonskee Lake Public Boat Landing. I was wearing good Maine layers — long-sleeve tshirt, long-sleeve denim shirt, long-sleeve fleece hoodie, jeans, and wool socks — and it was actually quite pleasant for a couple hours, until the wind picked up. Later in the afternoon, I moved my base of operations to China Lake, where I lunched, and worked in the car.

* * *

Today’s blog post is brought to you by Bob Dylan by way of Tom Russell, “Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts.” Here’s your link.

* * *

Here’s a shot of yesterday’s temp office at Messalonskee Lake:

In which you may now pre-mug

Offworld Designs has added pre-orders for the Brand! New! 11 oz Liaden mug to their Liaden Universe® Store!

Here’s your link.

Yes! You can have your very own tree-and-dragon ceramic mug in time for the winter holidays! I gotta tell you, hot chocolate tasted great in the previous iteration of mugs, and I’m betting? That it’ll taste even better in the new mugs!

You will also find in the Offworld Designs Liaden Universe® store the opportunity to order tree-and-dragon denim, polo, and t-shirts. Remember that these items are printed/embroidered in batches, so plan ahead for gift-giving.

* * *

In other news, we will tomorrow! entertain the Generator Guys. They plan to arrive at a Truly UnGhodly Hour — I believe Seven-Thirty A M was quoted — and go to it, making lots of noise and turning the electricity on and off. Steve mentioned that, all this being so, I might want to arrange to work Somewhere Else tomorrow, and so I shall do.

Today turned into a Day Off, by which I mean, no writing/editing/revision happened. Mundane errands — including a doctor’s visit, and grocery shopping — took place. We also snuck in a ride through the rapidly falling fall, and a pleasant lunch at the Flatlanda. I still need to clean out the cat fountain, while Steve preps the Engine Room for the arrival of the Generator Guys, and then this day is over. I’ll hit the couch with my book, and plan an early night, given the projected Moment of Arrival for our guests.

I did make a discovery today in the doctor’s waiting room. Television is really irritating. So, OK; I knew that. But, honestly, three grown women going on and on about whether or not they would permit their husbands/SOs to have a “work wife?” Please. I wanted to read my book, obviously, but the volume was such that reading. . .was difficult.

So, I’ve added to my list of necessities when visiting doctors/hospitals/waiting rooms in general — earplugs.

As reported elsewhere, yesterday, The Gathering Edge now stands at 39,525 (which is to say it has gained about 4,590 words; I’ve Outright Removed about 500, and played fast and loose with a bunch of sentences and paragraphs, which is the nature of revision). I have another 20 pages of the Big Narrative Lump to go through and bring up to trim, and then I believe we may proceed in a forwarder direction with style and confidence.

. . .and I think that’s all the news that’s fit to print.

Trooper and Sprite, sharing the bookshelf in my office:

Alliance of Equals, by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

This is in the way of being a Public Service Announcement.

Alliance of Equals, the nineteenth novel in Sharon Lee and Steve Miller’s long-running space opera set in the Liaden Universe®!

Alliance of Equals, I say, has a (hardcover) publication date of July 5, 2016. Yes, that is nine months from now. No, there’s not really anything we can do to “pressure” (cue laugh track) the publisher into releasing the novel earlier. No, we will not sell you our final manuscript (to be fair, no one has asked to buy the Alliance manuscript, yet, but we’ve had such “offers” in the past, and, in the spirit of forestalling any more. . .).

And honestly, even if there was a way to “pressure” the publisher into releasing the book early? We wouldn’t do it, because — we’d like our book to get a calm editorial reading and a thorough edit — and so would you.

Now, yes, Baen does often release eArcs of new novels ahead of the hardcover publication date, but they don’t release the eArcs six months ahead. And what if they did, and you got the book now? Have you really thought this out? Because if you got Alliance of Equals, now? You’d be in the same pickle, only worse, for The Gathering Edge, which we’re writing, now; and which is scheduled to be handed in on February 15, 2016. Figure 11 months out for hardcover publication — that’s January 2017, at the earliest. So, really, do you even want to go there?

Anyhow, we were given a general rule of thumb from the publisher, which is: Expect the eArc (if any) to be released around the time you, the authors, receive your authors’ proofs. We receive our authors’ proofs anywhere from two to three months ahead of the hardcover publication date, so, counting backward from July: June. May. April. . . .with April being the soonest you might see an eArc and mid-May about the latest.

Now! Baen does release sample chapters on the Baen website when a book becomes available for preorder. I actually don’t know when books typically go up for preorder; historically, Amazon has been the driver, and Amazon used to put books up for preorder as soon as they heard a whisper of even a tentative pub date from a publisher, never mind a final schedule.

Steve and I are in something of an odd geography in this whole situation of release dates and reader demand. On the one hand, it’s lovely that people are eager for our newest work. Really, it is. But, the wheels of publishing grind as they do. Baen publishes authors other than Lee and Miller, who also deserve to have their books receive a calm editorial reading and a thorough edit. And even if we “quit trad publishing and go indie,” as has been suggested by some avid fans — we probably wouldn’t write any faster. In fact, I’m betting our production would slow down, because we’d have to do all the stuff that the staff at Baen does for us, in addition to writing the novels.

While I accept that there are folks out there who can write a strong, salable book in an afternoon, and writers who consistently write and see published four or six books a year with no reduction of quality — Lee and Miller are not those authors. We have never been those authors*. A book a year is a comfortable writing pace for us; a pace that allows us to reflect, and to layer in the details and back-stories that readers have told us make the Liaden Universe® novels “special” and “very re-readable.” We value these things about our work, as you do, and we don’t want to slight the characters, our readers, or ourselves.

So. . .thank you for reading our work; thank you for supporting our work; thank you for recommending our work to your friends and colleagues. Thank you for treating the release of every new Liaden novel and story as a cause for celebration — we feel that way, too.

But, we really are writing as fast as we can; the publisher is publishing as fast as they can. We’re all hostages to the constraints of linear time.
_____________
*Back in 2007, we were those writers, briefly. We wrote six books in 18 months, while I was working a full-time job. It was an insane, stressful time, when the only thing we did was write, eat cheese sandwiches at the computer, snatch three hours of sleep before going to the day-job — and at the end of it, neither one of us had an ounce of creative energy left. I have no idea how people work to that level, constantly — all honor to them. What we learned from that experience was — we can write books fast, briefly, or we can write books at a more leisurely pace, for years to come. We chose the latter.

Placeholder picture of Belle, for the Facebook peeps:

Books read in 2015

37. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, E.L. Konigsburg
36. The Paper Doll Museum, Abigail Padgett (e)
35. The Princess Bride, William Goldman (re-re-read; and–it’s official–I definitely prefer the movie)
34. The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
33. Cooking the Books, Kerry Greenwood (e)
32. Forbidden Fruit, Kerry Greenwood (e)
31. Maisie Dobbs, Jacqueline Winspear
30. Trick or Treat, Kerry Greenwood (e)
29. The Golden Hawk, Frank Yerby (reread; six pages fell out at various spots during this reading; it was reread many times, when I was 14)
28. The Wave in the Mind, Ursula K. Le Guin
27. The Boy from the Burren, Sheila Gilluly (e)
26. Dead Heat, Patricia Briggs (e)
25. Girl Genius: The Beast of the Rails, Kaja and Phil Foglio
24. A Bollywood Affair, Sonali Dev
23. Who Buries the Dead, C.S. Harris
22. Killer Instinct, Zoe Sharpe (e)
21. Devil’s Food, Kerry Greenwood (e)
20. The Making of a Marchioness, Frances Hodgson Burnett (e)
19. A Little Princess, Frances Hodgson Burnett (e)
18. Geekomancy, Michael R. Underwood (e)
17. The Perfect Rake, Anne Gracie
16. The Martian, Andy Weir
15. Blaze of Memory, Nalini Singh
14. Tracker, C.J. Cherryh (read out loud with Steve)
13. Chanur’s Legacy, C.J. Cherryh (re-read, read out loud with Steve)
12. Chanur’s Homecoming, C.J. Cherryh (re-read, read out loud with Steve)
11. The Kif Strike Back, C.J. Cherryh (re-read, read out loud with Steve)
10. Why Kings Confess, C.S. Harris
9. Chanur’s Venture, C.J. Cherryh (re-read, read out loud with Steve) (Note: the publisher’s note at the end of the book states that the next-in-series is Chanur’s Revenge. This is false. The next-in-series is The Kif Strike Back.)
8. Angels’ Blood, Nalini Singh (read out loud with Steve)
7. The Pride of Chanur, C.J. Cherryh (re-read, read out loud with Steve)
6. What Darkness Brings, C.S. Harris
5. When Maidens Mourn, C.S. Harris
4. Where Shadows Dance, C.S. Harris
3. What Remains of Heaven, C.S. Harris
2. Where Serpents Sleep, C.S. Harris
1. When Gods Die, C.S. Harris

Gang agley

So, yesterday was a wash. Woke up with a headache, and decided that I’d take two aspirin and soldier on. Turns out that the headache was tougher than that, and! tougher than everything else in hand, so — long story short — I didn’t dare go in to the manuscript, because my brain actually hurt. I took a nap, did some lightweight research, and sorted out some stuff I’d been meaning to get out of the recipe file. Then I went to bed early, weighted down with coon cats. Not my most productive day ever.

While I was napping the Guy from Dead River — which is not the title of a novel by Edna Ferber, though it ought to be — came by to scope out the placement of the propane tanks while will provide juice to our generator when it is installed.

Now. . .we call this the House of Negative Feng Shui for a reason. The people who built the place had a Positive Genius for Wrong Placement. The living room and kitchen are placed so that they will catch the full fury (insomuch as Maine has such fury) of the summer sunshine, and! most of the snow winds. This means that the front of the house (pre-roofed-deck, thank you, Todd) was a broiler in the summer, with the added bonus of not being to get out the kitchen (main) door in the winter, because the wind dumps All The Snow exactly in front of the door.

On top of this, the house is sited too close to the road, and too close to the eastern boundary, which is the only rational place for a garage, since all the doors are on that side of the house.

Anyhow, yesterday, and the Guy From Dead River — who discovers that the the Only Possible Place (by Code) to site the propane tanks is where the propane tank for our stove is now — on the farthest side of the property from the generator. And? Yep, you got it; there’s only one place where the generator may (by Code) be sited.

“Gonna have to do a lot of trenching,” said The Guy.

On the other hand, he didn’t say that it couldn’t be done.

Though he did say that he needed to talk to his boss.

*sigh*

In other news, frequent auditors of this journal will recall that Belle had been limping off her right leg, and we took her into the vets a few weeks ago to be sure she hadn’t sprained or broken a paw/leg. At that point, the vet found no indication of a break, but suspected soft tissue trauma. She prescribed three days of pain killers, and warned us that soft tissue injuries take a Very Long Time to heal.

The limp hasn’t slowed Belle down; and, if it’s gotten no better; it hasn’t seemed to get any worse. So, we decided to Be Aware, but not panic.

Fast forward to Monday, when I was grooming the cats. I took hold of Belle’s right leg, stretched it out along my arm, and pressed her foot pad to shoot her claws. I cut the first claw on the right foot — and when I moved on to the second claw, Belle let out a scream, and jerked forward, as if she was going to bite me — and then dropped back, looking Very Embarrassed, indeed, while being Not At All Interested in having me touch her paw again.

“I think I found the problem,” I told Steve, after we’d all gotten settled down.

“Right,” he said, and phoned the vet for an appointment.

Which was for today, at 8:30 am. A thorough exam was made, including x-rays of both feet, and — diagnosis still inconclusive. There does seem to be tenderness in the right foot, but no evidence of infection, or of a break. We have glucosamine to put in her food, to see if that helps with the situation.

Belle rode to and from the vet on my lap, wearing the Royal Ruff, which is Standard Traveling Livery for all the coon cats here at the Cat Farm. None of them cares to travel in the palanquin, so they’ve learned to tolerate a small dog harness with a clip-on leash, and the ruff. Both Trooper and Sprite drool in the car — less on my lap than in the carrier — and the ruff helps them preserve their dignity, not to mention keeping most of the cat spit off my hands. Belle is a neater traveler, but this was her first time on my lap, and we wanted to be sure.

She did fine on the ride to and from, and at the vet’s, and is now sleeping the sleep of the Justly Exhausted on the copilot’s chair in my room.

Now, it’s time to get to work.

Here’s a picture of Sprite, wearing the Royal Ruff:

What on earth has the woman been doing?

. . .mostly, I’ve been going through the manuscript of The Gathering Edge, fixing sentences, doing continuity checks, breaking long chapters into short chapters, moving a chapter up, sharpening dialogue, and layering in details. At the moment, the word count stands at 36,777, with a net gain of about 2,000 words.

“Net gain” is of course a moving target. Whole paragraphs have been removed from the playing board — and replaced with other paragraphs. I have wantonly removed maybe 300 total words of an explanation that will be needed later, but happened not to be in the right place. Maybe a couple thousand “new” words have been written, but there’s really no way to quantify that. “Word count” as an indicator of progress is really only (sort of) useful in the active drafting phase; there’s no good indicator of progress being made in the revision/squaring-up phases of the work, except maybe, “Yes; that’s better!”

At the moment, the manuscript is in the form of one Largish Lump of narrative, following one set of characters, and several Smaller Lumps of narrative, following other characters. These will have to be woven together at some point, but, at just over a third of a book, word-count-wise, we don’t have enough material to begin that particular process.

So! That’s what I’ve been doing. I’m a little over half-way through revising/sharpening/squaring-up the Largish Lump. Today, after I get through Various Mundane Chores, I’ll sit down with my red pen and the other half of the LL and get to work.

In other news, the GoFundMe project for replacing Larry Smith’s van (for those coming in late, ref here and here), is $5,292 short of the $30,000 goal. If you can, please donate; if you can’t donate, you can still help by spreading the word. Thanks so much.

Here’s a picture of Sprite in one of her favorite places, overlooking the Cat Garden.