Category: Blog

“Intelligent Design” has been transmitted to Toni at Baen. Man, I love me some email submissions.

“Intelligent Design” final draft
11,878 words

1. Spent last night in the Sleep Lab, getting fitted for a mask and then being experimented upon to find the optimum flow of air to keep the passages open. Not as easy as I expected. My body considers forced air an intruder at best; an enemy to be actively beat off at worst. Also, panic attacks in the Sleep Lab? Not recommended.

2. It snowed last night. And today.

3. The mass market edition of Mouse and Dragon has been added to the Big Pile of Lee and Miller books coming out this year — October.

4. The proofs for the mass market edition of Saltation have landed.

5. But before I do them, I do the last pass through “Intelligent Design,” which has only now come back to me from Steve.

So everybody knows the story, how ‘way back in twenty-aught-oh-six our publisher of dern near a decade stopped paying us and we were Forced to Improvise like mad, improvisational things. It is well here to pause and recall that writers are people who live by their wits. For good or ill.

So, the combined wits of Steve and myself revealed that Maine gets damned cold in the winter and that we would object to living under a bridge in Maine winter conditions almost as strenuously as the cats would object to the loss of their floofy blankets and penthouse catboxes. This meant that we needed — anyone?

Right.

We needed A Plan.

In fact, we needed A Two-Pronged Plan, and Four would be better.

The prongs we came up with were: (1) Write a Liaden story and give it away on the web for free, while asking those who had a little change jingling in their pockets to donate, and (2) Get a day-job to keep the cash flowing and the health insurance covered.

That met the minimum, Prong-wise, and so we started.

A couple months into 2007, Madame the Agent produced Prong the Third — a contract for two dark fantasy novels, Duainfeyand its sequel, Longeye, to be written on really short deadline.

Nothing we had discussed between us said that the Plan had to be easy, and, we knew that, if we were going to rescue our careers as writers, we had to start building a new backlist right now, so we took the contract, and we wrote the books, which made three in 2007 — insanely quick for us.

Baen did its part by editing, promoting, publishing — all those things that publishers do, and in September 2008 Duainfey hit bookstores in hardcover, followed by Longeye, in April 2009.

The mass market edition of Duainfeywas published in February 2009, and today I see that Amazon is shipping the mass market of Longeye.

And there we are. This is the backlist that we started growing anew, right now in 2007.

Raises a glass to Becca and to Meripen Longeye.

Fair seeing, the both of you.

Yes, I’m reading the Chronicles of Wooster. Rereading, actually, thanks to Project Gutenberg. I first read them out of the public library when I was no doubt “too young” to do so. However, I was more than tall enough to get them down from the shelves, I could fit my entire given name, in cursive, on a library card, and my mother was on record with the librarian as stating that she didn’t give a damn’ what books the kid checked out, as long as she didn’t incur any late fees.

One of those rare and blessed cases in which everyone wins.

So, anyway, on the Nook — hight Paladin, which I think I forgot to report; who can pin down the reference for that? — is Right Ho, Jeeves, which I’m reading now (and from which I gain the Interesting Information that Bertie’s school friend Sipperly had at one time been trying to get himself engaged to Elizabeth Moon), and, in reserve, a collection of short stories, My Man Jeeves. I will, as time permits, peruse the lists to see if any more of the novels have been converted; I can see where they’re going to come in Very Handy in the coming months.

I think I may have also forgotten to report that I got my hair cut at the local posh salon, mostly to trim off the more egregious points and angles, and get the bangs out of the eyes so I’m not a danger on the roads. While I was there, I had a bottle of purple ink up-ended over my head. I’m not entirely purple, which I think would be a bit much, but I do have definite purple stripes. Which pleases me.

The young woman who took me in hand at the salon — and who was enthusiastically in favor of the purple — interestingly said, “Your haircut is too simple for who you are,” which may be so, but, given my Utter Lack of Talent in the fixing of my own hair may also be wise. Anyhow, interesting, as was the venue — a big open room with large windows and skylights, a few artfully worn oriental carpets scattered about a hardwood floor. Full length mirrors enclosed in wide floral antiqued frames, leaning casually against the wall. It looked nice, but was noisy as heck. They need draperies, or pennants or something to muffle the racket of hairdryers and voices.

In other Interesting News, Steve lets me know that we have this moment in time 333 pledges for signed copies of Ghost Ship. This means we have surpassed the lower limit, and that there Will Be Signed Books. As there is no upper limit, we are continuing to take pledges (not orders — orders come later; we’ll tell you when) until April 1. At that time, we will send The Number to Uncle Hugo’s. Uncle Hugo’s will speak with Baen and a print-run for signed books will be set.

People have asked when Ghost Ship will be published — that would be August first-ish.

People have asked what Ghost Ship is about — it is the sequel to I Dare in the Agent of Change Sequence and the sequel to Saltation in the Theo Waitley Sequence.

People have worried that non-US residents will not be able to order books. Non-US residents may of course order books, when the time comes to order. Uncle Hugo’s ships worldwide. When the order webpage goes live, it will have a postage component. I cannot tell you what the postage will be at this time (and neither can Uncle Hugo’s) because. . .wait for it. . .Ghost Ship hasn’t been printed yet and therefore no one knows how much it weighs.

If you’re coming late to the party, and want to pledge for a first-run hardcover copy of Ghost Ship signed by both authors, instructions for doing so are here

And, now, “Intelligent Design” having passed out of my hands and into Steve’s, it’s time for me to do some chores.

This weekend has got to be a working weekend. But I’m telling you — the pull of that triple-full-moon? Attracts the Rolanni every bit as much as the tides.

At the moment, up here in the mid-country, we have wind — gusts up to 53 miles per hour. That’s some Serious dust in the air. Not to mention the widow-makers that are getting shaken out of the trees. Oh, look, the wind is combing the forest’s hair…

For the coming week — I have a rematch scheduled at the sleep lab on Monday night, this time to fit a mask and ascertain the proper and necessary air pressure. What fun. That means I’ll be late to work on Tuesday, but, happily, Spring Break starts tomorrow. Not, yanno, that I get time off, but the students will be off-campus, and the faculty will scatter like mice. Good time to catch up the work that I had to let slide through at the beginning of the semester.

Hmmm. I wonder if there’s enough time to take a nap before bedtime…

American Rose, Karen Abbott
The Bull God, Roberta Gellis (e)
Sin in the Second City, Karen Abbott
Of Blood and Honey, Stina Leicht (e)
The God Engines, John Scalzi (e)
Or Else My Lady Keeps the Key, Kage Baker (e)
Unseen, Rachel Caine
Total Eclipse, Rachel Caine
Weight of Stone, Laura Anne Gilman
The Story of Chicago May, Nuala O’Faolain

Dear Friends of Liad, and all the Ships at Sea:

Those of you who have been with us for a long time recall that our former publisher made signed editions of first-run hardcovers available to readers by pre-order only. A good number of you used to take advantage of this, and from time to time (to time to time) we hear from some of you, wondering when this will be available again.

Well. . .we and Uncle Hugo’s Bookstore have an idea about that, just in time for GHOST SHIP. But we need your help.

The scheme: Baen will tip-in (which is to say, they’ll bind in a special, extra page) signature sheets for GHOST SHIP, to meet pre-orders only. The orders will be placed with, and filled by Uncle Hugo’s Science Fiction Bookstore in Minneapolis, one of the great indie SF bookstores in the country. Sharon and Steve will sign as many signature pages as there are pre-orders to match.

The catch: Baen needs a guarantee of at least 100 pre-orders; it’s not cost-effective to bind in the extra page for less than that number.

This is where you — yes, YOU; we know who you are — come in.

We need a preliminary count, so we can show Baen that this Crazy Idea is gonna work, and to give Uncle Hugo’s an idea of what they’re getting into, here.

So! The Call To Action!

If you — if you really, truly, cross-your-heart-and-hope-to-die will order a first-run hardcover of GHOST SHIP signed by both authors, please send an email to this special address — ghost_shipATkorvalDOTcom (where The Usual replaces AT and DOT) and tell us how many you’ll buy.

NOTE: Cover price for GHOST SHIP is $25. Uncle Hugo’s offers a flat $6 shipping fee in the US; two GHOST SHIPs travel for the same six bucks as one GHOST SHIP. Overseas orders will have to have their postage figured on a case-by-case basis, just like we’ve been doing here at the Confusion Factory.

If we get promises for at least 100 signed copies of GHOST SHIP, the project will go forth. If we fall below that number, no copies will be available. If we go above that number — that would be awesome.

We know that this is a lot of info, so below is a recap in bullet-points:

*If you will buy a signed copy of GHOST SHIP by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (no fibbing, now), write to ghost_shipATkorvalDOTcom and *say so* BEFORE APRIL 1, 2011

*If you have questions about this Crazy Idea, write to fledglingATkorvalDOTcom

*This is a preliminary count only. Do not sent shipping info to this address. See next point.

*Once we have a count, and assuming that count equals or exceeds 100 books, Uncle Hugo’s will set up a pre-order webpage. We will publish the URL of this webpage in all venues available to us, just like we’ve posted this InfoDumpling. You will have to go to this page and ACTUALLY ORDER your book(s). Your credit card will not be charged until your book has actually shipped.

*If the initial promise does not meet the 100 book mark, there will be no signed copies available.

*Signed copies of GHOST SHIP will not (that’s NOT) be available directly from Lee and Miller.

Phew.

Thanks so much for listening, and for your support of our work across the years.

Sharon and Steve

Oh, it’ll be back, likely spinning some unbelievable-but-amusing vignette of the plot-line that got away. It’s done this before.

In the meantime, I have two loaves of bread in the oven — I must say that the cold-rise bread is tasty. And so easy! Well. Except for the part where Hexapuma tries to leap into the oven to help me set in (or take out) the pans. Blackened Coon Cat is so not on the menu.

It was snowing today when I came home from the day-job. Big, sloppy, wet flakes that splattered on the windscreen when they struck. How big were those snowflakes, you wonder? They were each the size of a chickadee. Six of them were a white-out.

Once home, I paid bills, and did a bit of overdue bookkeeping. And now? I’m beat, and foresee an early bedtime.

However, before I go, I did want to tell those who may not have seen it elsewhere that the SFSite has posted the results of its readers’ poll for Best Ten Books of 2010. I love this list, which, by the time you count the Honourable Mentions becomes the Twenty-Six Best Books of 2010. And! Not only is it generous in measure, it’s a really good list of books you might want to check into, if you, like me, are constantly behind the year in your reading.

Anyhow, on that list, over at the SFSite, we have Saltation by Lee and Miller tied at Number 10 with Changes, the 12th Harry Dresden novel by Jim Butcher.

But wait, I’m not finished yet!

Down in the Honourable Mentions, Mouse and Dragon by Lee and Miller is tied with Horns by Joe Hill for the Number 15 slot, while Carousel Tides by Sharon Lee is tied with Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord for Number 18.

Three books in a Top 26 list? Not too shabby, says I.

And, now — the bread is done. Gotta race Hex to the oven.

. . .shamelessly stolen from matociquala — first lines from “my” works in progress.  I’ll note that my list is much shorter than hers, so if you want more tasty nuggets, hie yourself over to her LJ.

“Intelligent Design”
It was, Er Thom yos’Galan Clan Korval thought, an entirely unsubtle letter.

The book currently known as George:
Inside the duct, it was hot and wet — nothing new there, thought Kezzi, shifting her weight carefully.

Untitled Kate Archer short story:
When I was a kid, my grandmother had a dog.

The Bull God, Roberta Gellis (e)
Sin in the Second City, Karen Abbott
Of Blood and Honey, Stina Leicht (e)
The God Engines, John Scalzi (e)
Or Else My Lady Keeps the Key, Kage Baker (e)
Unseen, Rachel Caine
Total Eclipse, Rachel Caine
Weight of Stone, Laura Anne Gilman
The Story of Chicago May, Nuala O’Faolain