Category: Blog

1. Remember that “Intelligent Design” will be retired from the Baen front page on Monday, August 15, to make way for a brand! new! story! Once it is retired, “Intelligent Design” will be added to the free eBook compilation of front page stories, which can be downloaded here.

2. “Kin Ties” will be available for free reading at Splinter Universe on August 12 (that’s Friday!). To help people who may not have read its elder brother, “Changeling,” we (that’s Steve and Sharon, acting as Pinbeam Books) are offering a more-or-less half-off coupon for the eBook. This coupon is Smashwords-specific. All you need do is go here, choose your preferred format and use coupon code KB93Q (not case sensitive) at checkout. The coupon will expire on August 12 (yep, that’s still Friday).

3. A friendly bookseller lets us know that Ghost Ship has hit the Bookscan Bestselling SF List for the week of August 1. Which isn’t too bad for a book with a pub date of August 2.

4. Speaking of Ghost Ship — there’s a nice review at SFRevu

5. Also! The editors at Amazon.com (why does a bookstore have editors? No, on second thought, I don’t want to know) have chosen Ghost Ship for inclusion in their Fall Reading Preview

6. Even cooler, Uncle Hugo’s has posted its bestsellers for July, with Ghost Ship at the top of the list — but that’s not the cool part. The cool part is that of the 12 bestselling trade editions for July, Lee and Miller books hold 11 spots, cheated — cheated, I say! — of a full house by the presence of Warrior Sheep #1. (Note to self: Get a copy of Warrior Sheep #1)

7. Proving that mere planetary divides such as oceans and hemispheres mean nothing to those who call deep space home, Ghost Ship appears on the besteller list at Galaxy Bookstore in Sydney, Australia.

8. We (that’s Steve and Sharon) are going to be traveling for a few days, with a WorldCon at the end of it. This means our access to Things Internetly will be limited, first by the conditions of the train and then because we’ll be enjoying the con. So! If you should see Ghost Ship or any other Lee and Miller book or story on a bestseller list, or see a review (Amazon reviews not counting), sing out, do!

. . .To the best of my knowledge at the moment, that’s all the news that’s fit to print. Now, I’m for the couch and the workshop papers, which I will finish today.

1. Pick up Hex’s ashes in Lewiston
1a. Prepare Cat Garden to receive same
2. Finish proofing the galleys for Mouse and Dragon
3. Finish critiquing the submissions for our section of the WorldCon Writing Workshop: 1, 2, 3
4. Do prep for the panel I’m moderating
5. Get a haircut
6. Make sure The Leewit has the latest edition of George on her SDcard, and the notes for “Guaranteed Delivery”
7. Write an essay — or is Steve writing the essay? Must check. Edited to add: Essay collaborative. How strange.
8. Complete various travel-related errands at Staples, the bank, Sign of the Sun, Hannaford, CVS and other fine merchants
9. Have and recover from pre-departure panic attack
10. Pack, which includes “do laundry”
10a. Find all pertinent wires
11. Upload “Kin Ties” to Splinter Universe
12. Make sure the vet has cat sitter’s name on file as holding Mozart and Scrabble’s power of attorney while we’re gone
13. Turn over keys, house, and felines to same cat sitter

…well, some progress there, anyway. And if worse comes to, which it so very often does, I can do panel prep on the train.

And now, having used the day in running errands, it’s to the couch — me, a red pen, a yellow pad, a grey coon cat, and a workshop submission.

Heh. Heh. Heh.

Thanks to everyone who chimed in with Droid apps and ideas!  I think I’m pretty well set for connectivity and entertainment on the Great Train Ride West.

The NPR Too-100 Science Fiction, Fantasy Poll is still on-going. Go on over and vote! for your Ten Most Favorite SF/F books/series, ever. Yes, The Liaden Universe® is a contender.

At Eagles Over the Kennebec there’s a poll and essay test ongoing.  The poll is open to “everyone,” but apparently LiveJournal means something different when it says “everyone” than I do.  In any case, if you can’t see the radio buttons, do feel free to leave a comment about your favorite title and why it’s your favorite.

WorldCon prep is starting to heat up.  I need another week, but I ain’t gonna get it.  Before we leave, I need to:

1.  Pick up Hex’s ashes in Lewiston
1a. Prepare Cat Garden to receive same
2. Finish proofing the galleys for Mouse and Dragon
3. Finish critiquing the submissions for our section of the WorldCon Writing Workshop
4. Do prep for the panel I’m moderating
5. Get a haircut
6. Make sure The Leewit has the latest edition of George on her SDcard, and the notes for “Guaranteed Delivery”
7. Write an essay — or is Steve writing the essay? Must check
8. Complete various travel-related errands at Staples, the bank, Sign of the Sun, Hannaford, CVS and other fine merchants
9. Have and recover from pre-departure panic attack
10. Pack
10a. Find all pertinent wires
11. Upload “Kin Ties” to Splinter Universe
12. Make sure the vet has cat sitter’s name on file as holding Mozart and Scrabble’s power of attorney while we’re gone
13. Turn over keys, house, and felines to same cat sitter

Eep.

So! Who’s going to WorldCon?

Wow, is that a classy headline, or what?

Anyhow — remember ‘way back the beginning of the summer when NPR asked everybody within the sound of their pixels to nominate books-and-series for their Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Book List? Well! They’ve whittled the first list of 5,000+/- titles down to the top 250 and now they need your help again. Go here and choose your personal top 10 from the list provided. Full disclosure: Yes, “The Liaden Universe by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller” is on the list.

OK, that. What’s next? Droid apps! Actually, Droid app. Those of you who use your Droid to make notes-to-self — which app do you use? I had just about settled on one that looked to be everything I wanted and more! (having narrowly talked myself out of the one that takes notes in 18th century copperplate), but upon reading the fine print, it would appear that this particular app prevents the phone from going to sleep, which means, as I understand the matter, the phone will chew through its battery faster. Yes, the Droid does have the increased capacity battery (the first thing I do for my gadgets, after they’ve taken the Oath of Fealty, is fix ’em up with the high-capacity battery and more memory, if applicable), but I’m going to be traveling by train, and power outlets are not always as plentiful as one would wish.

How’m I doing here? One more topic to cover.

Who can help me with LJ-Book? I…can’t seem to get a book out of it. It’s probably something very, very simple that I’m doing wrong, but at this point it seems pretty clear that I’m not going to find it on my own.

In other news from around the Cat Farm, yesterday was the Official! Ghost Ship Release Day. The sales numbers on Barnes and Noble have been dancing around in the 400 and 500s, which is pretty dern awesome; and in the 700 to 900 range at Amazon.com, which also Isn’t Too Bad.

It’s been difficult to work without Hexapuma keeping a watch over my keyboard, but I have been paying attention to the submissions for the writing workshop Steve and I are leading on WorldCon Thursday, and also to George. That last is going a little less quickly than I want, but I’m at one of the anchor scenes, and it has to be right — set deep and straight.

The WorldCon dance card is filling right up. Looks like I’m going to sprint out to the museum for mummies on Wednesday morning before the con starts — which, for us, will be Wednesday at 3:45, at the Sierra View Library. Still have to locate a laundromat for…Sunday sometime, that looks like. Except for those two outside excursions, it’ll be All Con, All the Time.

Today…can’t figure out if it’s going to rain or just be cloudy, cool and damp. I can go with either of those, frankly, because? I’ll be at the dining room table, staring at a blank page until the drops of blood break out on my forehead.

Wish me luck.

Progress on the Book Presently known as George
45,844 words/100,000 OR 45% complete

“You see them don’t you?” she whispered, her breath hot against his cheek and smelling faintly of mint. “You see them, inside the darkness. They’re waiting for us, eh? Aren’t they? Waiting to eat us, and spit out our souls.”

 

Yesterday was Steve’s birthday; a quiet birthday. We had lunch at Selah Tea in Beautiful Downtown Waterville, did a small ride, with milkshakes, came home for a pizza and wine and a chapter of Explorer.

This morning was about lining up the bills to be paid while we’re traveling. More bookkeeping to do tomorrow morning, thank ghod. I’d hate to run out of stuff to do. It now being after lunch — a reprise of Steve’s spicy black beans and rice from Friday — it’s time to get to the couch and with George. The idea here is to try to institute a schedule that caters to the writing brain’s preference not to work early in the day and! which allows us to go to bed before 3 a.m. Going to bed at 3 a.m. does not find All That Much favor with Certain Physicians, which is a damned shame, but there you are.

In case you haven’t seen it Elsewhere, we-as-Pinbeam-Books are offering a 50% off coupon on the electronic edition of “Changeling,” to help people prep for the August 12 publication of “Kin Ties.” All you need to do is go over to Smashwords, choose your preferred format (yes, Kindle (mobi) and Nook (ePub) are supported, DRM-free) and use coupon code KB93Q (not case sensitive) at checkout. The foregoing coupon is good until August 12.

“Kin Ties” will of course be available to read on August 12.

And now? To the couch!

See y’all later.

So, lemmesee.

Did some necessary chores today, including WorldCon planning with Steve. Wrote a new Lee and Miller bio, got a buncha bills lined up to pay. Going to have to do some more set-up over the next little while so things can get paid while we’re away. Man, bill-pay is the best!

Still hacking away at the Big Pile o’Email. This could take some time.

It’s remotely possible that I’ve actually fixed the RSS feed problem for Splinter Universe. Which would mean that anyone who subscribed should have gotten a notification that the page has been updated to warn people that the last chunk of The Cards of Fortunate Destiny splinter is available here

Remember! “Kin Ties” goes up on August 12!

Continuing the to-do theme, I added a page to the Pinbeam Books site.

What else?

Oh, did I remember to say here that there are pdfs of flyers available off of Welcome to Liad — here, in fact — so, if you’re going to a convention or a library event, or if you belong to a reader’s group — feel free to print out the flyers for the freebie table, or other distribution? Consider it said.

In other news, it’s been threatening to rain here all day, and hasn’t spat out a drop yet. Maybe tonight. At least, she said, rapping her knuckles firmly on the surface of the dining room table, the Big Heat Wave seems to be over.

Thanks to the folks who suggested LJ-Book for taking my journal entries off of LJ. I had tried to use it…some while back, and it didn’t seem to work — i.e., it took the information and spun in space, then confessed that it couldn’t actually make a book. Does anyone know what’s with that? I’m pretty sure the blog’s in UTF-8.

And now? To the couch!

For the last four-and-a-half years, this poem was taped to the day-job’s office door, right over the knob, where I could see it every day as I inserted the key into the lock.

Either you will
go through this door
or you will not go through.

If you go through
there is always the risk
of remembering your name.

Things look back at you doubly
and you must look back
and let them happen.

If you do not go through
it is possible
to live worthily

to maintain your attitudes
to hold your position
to die bravely

but much will blind you,
much will evade you,
at what cost who knows?

The door itself
makes no promises.
It is only a door.

–Adrienne Rich, Prospective Immigrants Please Note

I peeled the paper off the door today and brought it home, where I write to you from the dining room table, lighter by a couple keys and a whole lot of anger.

Life is good.

First, the advert: Looking for something excellent to read? Of course you are! Like to sample an intriguing title before committing to a purchase? Have I — and SFNovelists — got a deal for you.

The First! Ever! SFNovelists sample chapter eBook, Opening Acts, 25 Science Fiction & Fantasy First Chapters. Totally free, totally cool. Here’s the Table of Contents:

7th Sigma by Steven Gould
Bone Shop by T.A. Pratt
Bones of Faerie by Jenni Lee Simner
The Brahms Deception by Louise Marley
Carousel Tides by Sharon Lee
The Cloud Road by Martha Wells
Dangerous Water by Juliet E. McKenna
The Dread Hammer by Trey Shiels
Flesh and Fire by Laura Anne Gilman
Fright Court by Mindy Klasky
The Heretic by Joseph Nassise
House of the Star by Caitlin Brennan
Indigo Springs by A.M. Dellamonica
Jade Tiger by Jenn Reese
Kat, Incorrigible by Stephanie Burgis
Medium Dead by Chris Dolley
Midnight at Spanish Gardens by Alma Alexander
Play Dead by John Levitt
Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready
The Snow Queen’s Shadow by Jim C. Hines
Spellcast by Barbara Ashford
The Spirit Lens by Carol Berg
TruthSeeker by C.E. Murphy
Up Against It by M.J. Locke
With Fate Conspire by Marie Brennan

You can’t resist this. Really. And did I mention that it’s free? Right now, SFNovelists member Simon Haynes is graciously allowing interested readers to download the sampler in the format of their choice from his site. Eventually, Opening Acts will also be available through Smashwords.
Here ends the advert.

* * *

LiveJournal is still down, alack and alas. I suppose it will eventually rise again from its own ashes. In the meantime, I’ve been keeping busy outlining the next (after “Kin Ties”) story to be uploaded to Splinter Universe, which is entitled “Guaranteed Delivery.” The plan is to write that on the train to Reno. We’ll see how well that plan works out.

I’m re-reading the first 45,000+/- words of George in order to get back with those characters and plotlines. I also have some workshop submissions to read over and comment on.

You’d think that’d be enough to keep me out of trouble for awhile,and so it ought, which is why the back-brain helpfully came up with the three (relatively) tiny changes that need to be made in The Cards of Fortunate Design in order to allow the narrative to move forth. While it’s lovely that the back-brain is being so diligent, this really does sorta fall under the heading of Useless Information, since pay copy comes first.

Sigh. Writer’s brains are scary, scary things.

Speaking of which, tomorrow I’m for the day-job.

Only two more days of school.

And! Cowboys and Aliens opens on Friday.

Life? Is sweet.

 

 

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Yesterday, we drove around in the pretty day, looking at houses and trying to revision the future. You’d think, with us being scifi writers and all, that this would be easy. You’d be wrong. There’s something about revisioning your own future that puts a little bit of wistfulness into the exercise.

So, anyway, our explorations took us into deepest Waterville, then down to the big city of Bath. While it would be Very Cool Indeed to live in the City of Ships, I’m not sure Bath has my wholehearted backing. It’s busier than Waterville — that would be the fault of Bath Iron Works, from which those ships in the city tagline emerge — has an actual downtown, and runs on just slightly more than half the population. Bath seems to look to Brunswick for most of its important services, so perhaps we ought to do likewise.

My long-held dream of living at the ocean seems to be receding beyond recall, which is sad, but not tragic. I got to have a pretty major dream fulfilled in my lifetime, and lots of people don’t even get that.

At the moment, I’m still hoping for sea air, but I suspect we’ll wind up moving into Waterville at the last, if we can find something that meets the points on The List. Which we haven’t yet, so — still looking. Which means that, as of right now, anything is still possible.

My big projects for the morning, besides trying to figure out a way to keep Scrabble from drinking out of my water glass when I leave my desk, was to draft an InfoDump, which is now in Steve’s hand; clarify the bios at korval.com so that people (hopefully) no longer have the notion that there will be two more books on the shelves of whatever bookstores happen to be left by the first quarter of 2012.

(Just to save y’all the trouble of jumping over to korval.com to look, we have two books due at Baen by the first quarter of 2012, those being Dragon Ship and George. Due at Baen is not even remotely “will be published.” Figure at the very least, a year between turn-in date and publication date.)

After lunch, I’m to the couch for a plotting session — outlining the next short story so I can write it on the train to Reno, and also getting some forward motion on George.

I still have Stuff to do for WorldCon; hoping to get all that together and into the mail to Willing Volunteers sometime toward the…end of this week/beginning of next week.

In the meantime, I have reports that the RSS feed is “not working” at Splinter Universe, which I take to mean that the page doesn’t update to those subscribed to the feed when I add a new note to it. The construction and care of RSS feeds are a Mystery to me (see Luddite Author) — if WordPress says the page has an RSS feed, then I take it at its word. I understand that this may not be wise. If someone who knows from RSS feeds can help, that would be super.

If the RSS feed can’t be made to work, we may have to abandon the website idea and go to a subscription situation for the upcoming stories. Something where subscribers would sign into an email list for $X and I would email stories to the members of the list only. I’d rather not do that, since it doesn’t suit all of my nefarious purposes, besides involving a Lot More Record-keeping (I’m getting out of the record-keeping bidness, here), but it can be done, I guess.

And now?

It’s time for lunch.

[/nocrosspost]