The Uncle reports that all (but four) of the pre-ordered, signed and/or personalized copies of Carousel Sun have shipped as of noon, today-Monday.
If you preordered a copy, it should be with you very soon now.
Thanks again to everyone who took the time to preorder!
We are having Weather. Rain, freezing rain, ice pellets. Our cars are coated, as is the driveway and the road. When the town plow went by, a couple hours ago, it sounded like it was plowing glass.
So, staying in is the plan, here at the Cat Farm. Tomorrow’s plan had involved a drive in a southwardly direction, but that may have to be put on hold, dernit. Never mind the ice (the weatherbeans had been calling for 45F/7C today, and it hasn’t gotten much above 35F/2C — and that’s an important 10-or-5 degrees) — but there are flood warnings all over the state.
Argh.
In slightly more cheering news — frequent readers of this blog will recall that, through sheer stubborness and not a little good luck, Steve and I enrolled in the Federal Government’s Health Marketplace (Maine being one of those states with a Republican governor, who steadfastly refuses to allow a state exchange, because Socialism). We’re paying $200-ish less each month in premiums for what looked like, on paper, to be superior coverage.
Today, I had my first test-drive of the new coverage. Two drugs that I take daily had to be renewed, so I called the drugstore and did the deed. Since I had new insurance, the pharmacy aide had to look up some things and make a couple phone calls, but at the end of all that is this. . .
The total for filling my two prescriptions at my local drugstore, for a 90 day supply of each, which is what I always get, and which, under the $700-ish/month Anthem plan used to cost me a total of $136.92, today cost me $60.50.
So far, I’m a satisfied customer.
At 10:13, all ten ebooks have been claimed. Actually, they were all claimed by 10:06; it’s just taken me some time to get over here.
Check your email within the next half-hour to find out if you’re one of the lucky winners!
Thank you all for playing, and for the pleasant notes. This was a charming way to start the work day.
Wow. Except for moving it in and out of the driveway at the whim of the plowguy, I haven’t driven my poor little car since the day before the Christmas Ice Storm. This morning, I had to scrape the inside of the windshield, then rock the car gently to break the ice binding it to the driveway, before I could drive to town and walk across the glassy tundra that are Waterville’s sidewalks, to go to gym, another badly neglected activity.
It’s a bright, sunny day, 13F/-11C, with a breeze, so driving was pleasant, if walking was not. I was glad to have remembered to wear my dorky fleece-lined ear-flap cap.
Fans of Mozart will be interested to hear that we are, at the suggestion of the vet, reducing his dose of pain medication to once a day. We’re only a day into this new regime, but he’s already polished off one can of Fancy Feast and made serious inroads into a second. I wish I knew what was causing the pain, but the vet seems to consider that a secondary issue.
Steve and I have received our schedules for Boskone, which is being held February 14 through 16 (Valentine’s Day and President’s Day — two holidays bracketing an SF convention. What’s not to love?). Guests of Honor are Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant, David Palumbo, Ginjer Buchanan, and Bill Roper, plus All of the Usual Suspects. If you’re on the fence about committing to Boston in February, allow me to persuade you to attend. Boskone’s always a good time.
For the purposes of planning, and also so I have this all in one place, here is the Lee-and-Miller Boskone Schedule:
5 — 5:50
The Fine Art of Murder
What is it that fascinates us about murder mysteries? How do you create a captivating crime? Is it possible to make a satisfying whodunit or locked-room mystery in a setting where technology or magic eliminates too many constraints and presents the potential to do anything?
Sharon Lee (M), Leigh Perry, Dana Cameron, Charlaine Harris, Vincent O’Neil
6:00 — 6:50
Bleeding Hearts
A Valentine’s Day panel about romance in science fiction, fantasy, and horror. What are some of our great love stories for the ages? What stories turned out to be tragedies — or worse? Panelists will discuss how love can turn a character’s world upside-down.
Darlene Marshall (M), Ellen Asher, Leigh Perry, Steve Miller
8 — 8:50
Good vs Evil: The Great Divide
Fantasy often incorporates pure goodness and pure evil, foregrounding them as serious character motivations or actually giving them bodily form. How does the battle of good and evil stay relevant in a world filled with shades of gray? What value does purity, for good or ill, lend to fantasy?
Jack M. Haringa(M), Jeffrey A. Carver, Steve Miller, Steven Popkes
11 — 11:50
Autographing — Sharon Lee & Steve Miller and Charles Stross
12:00 — 12:50
Writers on Writing: Character Versus Characterization
The success of any story relies upon its characters. But writers can get confused between establishing a character and characterization. What’s observable? What’s hidden? What do we see on the page, and what do we feel when reading about this character as a whole? Writers discuss ways to more deeply develop characters, and how characterization can either get in the way or be used successfully.
Jeffrey A. Carver (M), Sarah Beth Durst, Steve Miller, Greer Gilman, Steven Sawicki
2:00 — 2:50
Kaffeeklatsche — Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
4:00 — 4:25
Reading — Steve Miller & Sharon Lee
5:00 — 5:50
The Long Series — How We Did It
Experts in the long multibook series share their secrets for keeping it alive and interesting. How do you prevent characters and storylines from feeling tired after the third or twelfth or even nineteenth book? How do you keep all those characters and histories straight when coming up with new ideas? Can fandom affect series development? Finally, when — and how — do you bring things to a satisfying end?
Ginjer Buchanan (M), Melinda Snodgrass, Sharon Lee, Charlaine Harris
11:00 — 11:50
Ezines, Fanzines, and Blogs, Oh My!
Fanzines, ezines, and blogs come and go, and return again in new and different forms. What is it about fanzines that gives them such resiliency when so many readerships remain in perpetual flux? What are the advantages of these forms? What do their readers — and writers — get out of each?
Steve Davidson (M), Joe Siclari, E. C. Ambrose, Steve Miller
12:00 — 12:50
Reboots: New Chances for Old Stories?
Are do-overs only for television programs, movies, and comics, or can we hit the dreaded reboot button on written fiction as well? Which classic stories should be preserved untouched in SF/F/H’s hallowed halls? Which might gain fresh life – and new readers — from judicious technological or social updating? Once you start changing things, how far should you go?
Steve Miller (M), Shahid Mahmud, Beth Meacham, Alexander Jablokov, Ellen Asher
It’s silly season in the SF/F world; the season when All the Writers remind All the Readers, and especially those who vote on the Hugo Awards, which of their works are eligible for Hugo consideration.
The 2014 Hugo Awards, for works published in 2013, will be presented at the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention, LonCon 3, to be held in London, England, August 14-18, 2014
If you’re not sure if you’re eligible to nominate and/or vote in the 2014 Hugo Awards, here’s the link to the rules.
If you are eligible to nominate, I will now mention that Sharon Lee and Steve Miller published several works in 2013, which are eligible for consideration. They are:
Novel:
Necessity’s Child, Baen, February 2013
Trade Secret, Baen, November 2013
Novelette:
“Eleutherios,” Baen.com, January 2013
“Moon’s Honor,” Splinter Universe, February 2013
Short Story:
“Out of True,” Baen.com, October 2013
When nominating, please keep our work in mind.
Thank you for listening.
Y’all have been following the Writing for the Long Haul blog series that Janni Lee Simner’s hosting over at Desert Dispatches, right?
Right!
There’s been a lot of interesting reading going on, by writers, about why they write, why they continue writing, how to write when there’s so little time, and a bunch of other topics of interest to those interested in the process, and the life, of writing.
If you haven’t been following along with the latest installments, what with the holidays and all, today’s a good day to get caught up.
Here’s a link to today’s entry, by Sharon Lee.
#SFWAPro
It’s 43F/6C here at the Cat Farm this morning. Also? It’s raining. This is a mixed blessing.
On the one paw, it looks like most the trees I can see from my office window have lost their sheathing of ice.
On the other paw, much of the snow cover has been washed away, leaving a Whole Lotta Ugly on display, as layers of mud and cinders and dead vegetation are revealed. Also, I can now see exactly how many birch trees we lost to the ice.
*winces*
Oh, and our driveway? A sheet of ice. And me without skates.
And? Tonight, the temperature is supposed to fall to 12F/-11C. And continue to rain. Tomorrow’s high is projected to be that same 12F/-11C.
Frequent readers of this venue will recall my feelings on shoveling snow. Still, I find that I’m agin warm rain in January.
Oh, well, at least it’s warm enough that I can open the window in my office. Trooper and Sprite are sitting on the top of the bookshelf, with their noses pressed to the screen.
In other news, I’ve been filling out the tax paperwork required by our accountant, a dab at a time, a dab being about all I can take at any time, and writing, and feeding Mozart gooshy food, and, y’know, pursuing the glamorous lifestyle of an internationally known writer of science fiction and fantasy.
Perhaps today, I’ll vacuum.
Hope everybody has a cheerful and fulfilling Monday.
Well, let’s see. . .
1. You still have time to pre-order signed copies of Carousel Sun from Uncle Hugo’s. Here’s the link. Uncle Hugo’s is the only bookstore offering autographed copies of Carousel Sun. They have autographed copies of some of our other work in stock, as well.
2. I supported Doug Thornsjo’s Kickstarter campaign, and just before Christmas, received my Majors deck of the Tarot of the Zirkus. These cards are amazing. Provocative art, good hand-feel and weight, slightly larger than my favorite deck, The Halloween Tarot. Take a look at the on-going project, and buy a deck for yourself, here.
3. Mozart continues to make gains. He’s eating wet cat food again, not just beef baby food, is sleeping well, and taking an interest in the various projects going on around him. Thanks to everyone for your good wishes.
4. There’s been some question about the release dates of upcoming publications. This is what we know:
January 7: Liaden Universe® Constellation, Volume 2, trade paper
January 15: “The Gift of Music,” free to read on Baen.com
February 4: Carousel Sun, trade paper
March 7: Necessity’s Child, mass market
Early 2015: Carousel Seas, trade paper
5. I wish to report that it is not snowing! It is, however, Pretty Darn Cold (for the purposes of this discussion, PDC is 3F/-16C).
Man it’s cold. Also, it snowed. Not, thank ghod, very much; somewhere over Massachusetts, the wind got tired of toting All That Weather, and let it go all at once. I hear they expect to have Boxford dug out by August.
Up here at the Cat Farm, we have about six inches/15cm of light, broomable snow. We have officially lost the bottom two stairs in the flight from the driveway to the deck. If it snows any more, we’ll lose the third. I expect that Snowplow Hill (being the hill made by the snowplow when it pushes all the snow from the driveway into one place) to come even with the decking today.
With the exceptions of sweeping whatever more snow settles on the deck and the remaining steps, and moving the cars for the plowman, when he cometh, I believe I’ll stay in.
What with the various catmergencies, I have been remiss in letting the world know that my author’s copies of Carousel Sun have arrived; and they’re beautiful! I’m guessing that means I can look for the pre-ordered books for Uncle Hugo soon — perhaps even today!
I have in hand from the Uncle a list of the people who wanted their books personalized, with personalizations, so that part of Our Clever Plan worked out Just Fine. Thank you all! And remember, you can still pre-order signed copies of Carousel Sun, right here.
Mozart thanks everyone for their well-wishes; he has been having some gooshy food, in-between naps, and seems generally pleased to be home. Even if Sprite wants to sleep on his head.
It’s been a leisurely start to the new year, including a long and far-ranging discussion with Steve over coffee, and Princess-snuggles. I revised yesterday’s pages, and now I need to move on to some other mundane chores before coming back later to open Chapter Eight. For those who keep track of such things, One of Five now stands just about 27,000 words high. That’s 106 manuscript pages.
For those who come to this blog entry from Facebook, remember that I will not see any comments left on my wall, since I must and will cut back on the time I’ve been spending there. You’re welcome to leave comments at The Blog Without a Name (this is a moderated venue, so it may take some for your comment to show up), or at Eagles Over the Kennebec, using either your FB or LJ logins.
I hope that you welcomed in the new year with joy and moderation, and that this first day of 2014 is the beginning of an entire year of health, prosperity, and happiness.
And yes, I did promise a muse, in the title of this blog post. Here is Trooper, editing One of Five:
