Liaden Universe® World Tour – Page 6

She thinks that happiness is a mat that sits on her doorway

Woke up ‘way too early in a panic, and despite the best combined efforts of Belle, Trooper, and Sprite, couldn’t make it back to sleep. Finally relocated to the living room, lest I wake Steve, and opened the window over the couch so I could listen to the rain.

Looking at the calendar, I see that we’re going to be busy, soon and briefly.

Monday-coming is July 4 (Independence Day, for those who do not partake of USian holidays), which doesn’t really have much to do with us, since we don’t plan on attending any fireworks displays this year. But! It does start off the rest of the week with a bang.

Tuesday, July 5, Steve and I will be in Albany, NY, for a release day party! for Alliance of Equals at Flights of Fantasy. The festivities start at 7 pm, and we hope to see a whole bunch of y’all there.

Wednesday, July 6, is Sprite’s fourth birthday, and we naturally have a full day of fun, magic, music, and napping planned.

Thursday, we get a little bit of breather before plunging into the weekend.

Friday, July 8, you’ll find us at Annie’s Book Stop of Worcester (despite the fact that we are not listed on the calendar), from 7-9 pm, talking books and signing them.

Then! on Saturday, July 9, we’ll be at Toadstool Books at Lorden Plaza in Milford NH from 2-4 pm to read from Alliance of Equals, answer questions and of course, sign books.

Sunday, I’ll believe we’ll sleep late, veg out, and maybe watch Tomorrowland, which we’ve had sitting around forever.

What else?

Ah. For those playing along at home, Book the Next did, last night, move a few words in a forwarder direction. So, yanno, yay.

Also, since it’s raining quite heavily, and Steve needs to be in one place, while I’m wanted someplace else — the omens all indicate that the books will arrive today.

. . .and that’s all I’ve got.

Who else has plans for next week?

Progress on Book the Next
37,228/100,000 OR 37% complete

“I see,” he said. “How will I know her?”

“She will know you.”

Almost forgot…Today’s blog post title comes to you courtesy of Matchbox Twenty, “3 AM.” Here’s your link.

I need a sign. . .

Mail arrived; no check. At this point, I’m expecting that it got on the bus to Massachusetts (Massachusetts being “MA” according to the Post Office and Maine being “ME”; many people unfamiliar with addressing envelopes Simply Assume that Maine is “MA”) and will be returned as “addressee unknown” to the agency in ten days or a month.

The betting pool is still open on whether or not the books arrive today.

Let’s see. . .

Answer to question from the Roll Call: Yes, we will be visiting Annie’s Bookstop in Worcester on Friday, July 8, at 7 pm. I talked to Trisha last night; she’s not sure what happened to the calendar listing, but states that It Shall Be Fixed. In the meantime, she sent along this link. Hope to see lots of you there!

Considering all the questions which have been asked in Roll Call, I have a Question of my own: Is it easier to ask a question where you know it won’t be seen by anyone except, in this case, me?

On the schedule today is a podcast interview, writing, and staring out the window.

Yesterday, I did not write, but opted to read and rest my fingers after paying the scariest of the bills on the desk.

They say partly cloudy today, here, with thunderstorms on the overnight.

. . .and that’s all I’ve got.

Everybody stay cool.

Today’s blog title is brought to you by Train, “Calling All Angels.” Here’s your link.

I can climb the highest mountain; I can cross the widest sea

No checks in today’s mail, either.

Well.

*looks at pile of bills on desk*

This is going to be interesting.

Moving on — Answers to questions from the Roll Call!

*Sword of Orion was written as a work for hire — that means the publisher owns the copyright, the ideas, and the characters. The publisher went out of business after releasing the first books in about six series, one of which was the Sword of Orion series. Therefore! No more Sword of Orion stories.

*Er, no, I actually wouldn’t move to Liad, if I could. For one thing, as a non-Liaden, I would be beneath most people’s notice, not to say contempt, except if I managed to insult somebody, which the odds are good that I’d do so within ten minutes of achieving the Port. I’d rather go someplace where my life expectancy would be longer than ten minutes.

*The Gathering Edge will not be published until May 2017, that is correct. In the larger scheme of things in publishing, that’s really hardly any time at all. No, I’m afraid we can’t write much faster than we already do.

Today, I learned things.

I learned that orange sticks (aka “cuticle shapers”) are now made out of plastic. They used to be made out of orange wood, but apparently not anymore.

I learned that I can prop my tablet up on the little ledge built into the treadmill at the gym and read as I walk. And! I don’t have to worry about walking into a wall, when I do.

I learned that Microsoft thinks that a $1,000 tablet can “replace” my laptop, which costs 1/3 of that amount. Research indicates that it does neither the dishes nor laundry, so I fail to see the advantage.

I also learned that my fingers — my fingers, not my wrists, which is usually the case — apparently took a beating yesterday, and if I’m a Schmott Guy, which really isn’t the way to bet, I’ll give them a break today.

Do I have any Hollywood historians here, or perhaps a Mae West aficionado? I was wondering if she actually needed the stick she often had with her, or if it was only a fashion accessory.

Don’t forget that Steve and I will be at Flights of Fantasy in Albany, New York on Tuesday, July 5 to celebrate Alliance of Equals’ book day! Be there or be somewhere else!

In other news, I wrote about 2,200 words yesterday, for a net gain to the manuscript of. . .33 words. I think that we are now at an end of Backward Growth, and will be proceeding from here on in a forwarder direction.

You heard it here, first.

Progress on Book the Next
36,569/100,000 words OR 36.57% complete

“I believe it wished me to know that Theo might be in a pickle.”

Miri snorted a half-laugh, and he smiled.

“Yes,” he said. “Precisely so.”

Today’s blog title comes to you courtesy of Mr. John Parr, “St. Elmo’s Fire/Man in Motion”. Here’s your link.

Updated Book Tour Dates

There has been a change in our book tour schedule. Short form: Pandemonium Books had a scheduling conflict, so we will not — that is NOT — be visiting them on this tour.

The new! improved! Alliance of Equals book tour looks like this:

July 5, 7 pm: Flights of Fantasy, Albany, NY
July 8, 7 pm: Annie’s Book Stop of Worcester, MA
July 9, 2 pm: Toadstool Books, Milford NH
July 14, 7 pm: Pandemonium Books, Cambridge MA Cancelled
July 16, 2 pm: Children’s Book Cellar, Waterville ME
August 14, 2 pm: Barnes and Noble, 1920 N. Rock Road, Wichita, KS

In which it’s time to start the next book

So, today I read what there is of Book the Next, formerly Fourth of Five.

. . .it’s not bad.

It is, of course, all in narrative chunks by character. Structure-wise, it may stay that way. Or not. I still have about a quarter-zillion pages of hand-written notes to go through, but the happy news is that the action in The Gathering Edge — which y’all won’t get to read until next May — actually fills a vexed hole in the story lines, instead of Making Moot All that Has Been Written. I really wish my back-brain would get me the memos on this stuff before I decide that I’m the least competent author in seven states.

In other news, it’s Quite Warm here at the Cat Farm and Confusion Factory. All three of the coon cats were in the living room with me, early, helping to read the manuscript. Because of the creeping warmth, I had revolving occupation of my lap, starting with Belle, who was replaced by Trooper, who was replaced by Sprite. Right now, Trooper and Sprite are assisting me in my office, where the lights are out, the fan is on, and the windows are open. The good news is that the weatherbeans are calling for a much cooler tomorrow, which is great, though I’ll note that the average daily temp for the next ten days is tending toward warmer, rather than cooler.

Oh, well. I suppose it has to be summer some day. Or even two.

In addition to reading the manuscript for the next book, Steve and I have been making plans and reservations for the Alliance of Equals Northern Kingdom Book Tour, in July.

For those who came in late, the schedule for that tour is:

July 5, 7 pm: Flights of Fantasy, Albany, NY
July 8, 7 pm: Annie’s Book Stop of Worcester, MA
July 9, 2 pm: Toadstool Books, Milford NH
July 14, 7 pm: Pandemonium Books, Cambridge MA
July 16, TBA: Children’s Book Cellar, Waterville ME

Also! Because people have been asking — “Wise Child,” a new Liaden Universe® novelette, will be published to Baen.com on or around June 15.

Because we haven’t done enough driving in the last four days, I’m toying with the notion of driving down to the ocean on Tuesday, in order to stay out of range of Politics. Right now, though, Tuesday’s weather downcoast includes thunderstorms, but, yanno — it could change.

In the meanwhile, I guess I’d better take a look at those notes. . .

Poor man wanna be rich; rich man wanna be king

So, Steve and I went to BaltiCon 50, to join in the celebration. As one friend said, “Parts of it were good; many parts were excellent. We’ll put the rest out of our minds.”

It was, as one might expect, with such a massive list of returning guests, and the 50th writer Guest of Honor being George RR Martin, something of a zoo to schedule. Kudos to the scheduling gurus, and to the guest liaisons for their help and their continued good humor in the face of the many challenges that presented during the course of the con.

Steve and I signed a bazillion books, had dinner and drinks with various of our colleagues and friends, did a couple of readings and a presentation; and participated in a. . .demonstration called “Story and Song.” This was a very interesting proceeding and I hope to see it done again at many cons in future.

Basically, the idea is that an author will read a passage from a book known to have been filked. A filker will then sing the song that was inspired by that scene/book.

We read the scene from Agent of Change where Val Con is on the Clutch ship and trying to figure out why the so-called “survival loop” appears to have lost its mind. This was followed by Bill Roper (one of the filk guests of honor) singing Lee Gold’s “Agent of Change.” Connie Willis read from The Doomsday Book, followed by “Lost in Time.” (I’m not going to remember the names of all the performers. This is because I have a memory like the clerical hat for the order of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.) Roberta Rogow sang “Get Them Lizards Every One,” in celebration of Harry Turtledove’s (see? nor all the names of the works); and Gary Erlich sang “The Last of Pierson’s Puppeteers,” following Larry Niven’s reading from Ringworld, regarding Teela Brown, the girl who was bred for luck.

In all, a very enjoyable time.

Now, one of the. . .features of the scheduling program being used by BaltiCon this year was that! If there was conflict? Say, two panels scheduled for the same time in Room A? The program would helpfully hide one of the conflicting items. Yes, you read that right. The program did not simply flag the problem, it fixed the problem.

Sort of.

For instance. I had originally been scheduled to talk about the carousel books in the room where the “Story and Song” presentation took place. “Story and Song” was scheduled to last two hours, and my presentation fell immediately in the middle of it.

Therefore, my presentation disappeared, and, given the lack of data to the contrary, I figured it had been cancelled.

I am very grateful to Joni Dashoff, who caught me as I was leaving the filking item, and insisted that my talk was still on. I walked back to the room, just in case there were people waiting for me. There were, and I proceeded to give my talk (though, since I’d left my notes at home, it was more like proceeding to babel for 50-ish minutes.)

Between us, Steve and I figured we missed some panels we were supposed to have attended; if we shorted you, or didn’t show, please accept our apologies.

We left Baltimore City (which, lest it be forgot, is my own, my native land) at 4 a.m. yesterday, Tuesday, and made it home in one, marathon drive, clocking a smidge over 700 miles on the day. Let it be known that I prefer Maine (It’s so green! Also? Quiet.)

I don’t have very many pictures from the con (if you have pictures, especially of Steve or of me, please feel free to share), but I do have this one of Steve and me, dressed for Opening Ceremonies, and long-time Friend of Liad Deb Matsuura. For those who keep of track of such things, that silver-and-black thing I’m wearing is, indeed, the New Corset.

Also! Just to bring this up to date, we went out mid-morning to take on groceries. Shortly after we returned home, a UPS truck pulled up and off-loaded thirty copies of this:

Congratulations; you are now caught up.

Still on my plate today is ordering and submitting our receipts, and — a nap with Trooper. I promised.

Today’s blog post brought to you by Bruce Springsteen, “Badlands.” Here’s your link.

Lee & Miller BaltiCon Schedule

Scheduling seems to be a little fluid yet, so I’m posting what we know, as of now.

BaltiCon 50 is being held at the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel, 202 East Pratt Street, in my old hometown of Baltimore, Maryland. Here’s your link for more information.

So, the Lee-and-Miller general con schedule, as it is currently configured.*

FRIDAY
7-9 pm Opening Ceremonies, Renaissance Ballroom
9-10:30 Friday Face Time, Renaissance Ballroom

SATURDAY
Time and place TBD: Friends of Liad Breakfast**
2-3:45 Baen Traveling Roadshow Salon B

SUNDAY

9-9:50 Do We Need Old Age Homes for SF Practitioners? Kent
Steve Miller (M), Todd Brugmans, Robert Chase, Mur Lafferty, Gay Haldeman

10-11:50 Story and Song Kent
Many works of science fiction and fantasy have inspired songs both serious and funny. In this session, we highlight a few of these songs and works. Each song will be preceded by a short reading from the work that inspired it. Lee & Miller will be reading a selection from Agent of Change, followed by a performance of Lee Gold’s “Agent of Change.”

11-11:50 A Ride on the Carousel***
Sharon Lee talks about the merry-go-round that is the writing life. After, perhaps we can convince her to give us a reading from her Carousel fantasy series.

4-4:45 Scout’s Eye View of the Liaden Universe® Parlor 11029
Sharon and Steve offer a tour of the Liaden Universe, as only those who spend much of their life there can give us!

MONDAY
8-8:25 Steve Miller reading Pride
9:30-9:55 Sharon Lee reading Pride

This is what we know as of This Minute, which is 2:45 pm on Tuesday May 24. Check the program schedule when you get to the con for up-to-the-date info. That’s what we’ll be doing.

Footnotes:
*If neither name is listed, both of us will be at the event

**If somebody local would like to help us find a venue for the FoL Breakfast, please drop me a note at rolanniATgmailDOTcom. Thanks!

***Yes, I’m aware that the Story and Song session is scheduled for 110 minutes, from 10-11:50, in Kent, and that the Carousel panel is scheduled from 11-11:50, in Kent, but that’s the information I have in hand. Doubtless, my talk will be relocated. It’s much easier to relocate one writer and a couple books than it is to evacuate a whole room full of filkers, their instruments, and their audience. Check the program schedule when you get to the con.

Black and white and red all over

The Baltimore Sun has done a nice piece on BaltiCon, for its 50th anniversary. Here’s your link.

We do also have a very preliminary schedule. We’re awaiting confirmation from Programming before posting details. So!

Watch this space.

Today, we do laundry

We are back from RavenCon, where we were feted and treated like sci-fi royalty. Despite the 1900 mile round-trip from Maine to Williamsburg and back again, we arrived home fresh and bouncy and ready to deal with the laundry. Or maybe not.

If you get a chance to go to RavenCon, do it! Splendid con, well-run, and offering something for everyfan. Kudos to Chair Mike Pederson, and his staff (whom I will not name, for fear of inadvertently leaving someone out). And a special shout-out to Ginny Barnett, who volunteered to be our minion for the weekend, and did a superb job.

The week going forward includes the writing of a short story, now that a workable idea has, however belatedly, finally shown up; finishing The Gathering Edge, which no, is not playing nice, but which will, byerlady, be off our desks before we leave for BaltiCon, or I’ll know the reason why.

Steve will be leaving for Portland and the Maine Democratic Convention on Friday; I plan to join him on Saturday morning, for a full day of Democracy. Since Bernie won Maine in the caucuses, I remain somewhat baffled as to the purpose of this particular exercise, but I suppose All Will Become Clear in time.

In other news, Baen has republished in ebook form Janet Kagan’s Mirabile and also Hellspark. Those who read here regularly know that Hellspark is one of our — that’s Steve and me — favorite books in any genre; and between us, we’ve read a LOT of books. Here’s your link to Baen’s Janet Kagan page; I hear that Mirabile has made it into Amazon’s catalogue, but that Hellspark has yet to make an appearance. (And, forestalling the inevitable — No, Baen was not able to acquire Uhura’s Song, which was of course, written as a work for hire in the Original Trek tie-in series.

In other, other news, we came home from RavenCon to find that the house-sitter had taken delivery of a case of Dragon in Exile mass markets. They’re pretty!

And that? Is all the news that’s fit to print.

What did y’all do while I was gone?

Lee and Miller RavenCon Schedule

RavenCon, held in Williamsburg, Virginia, at the Doubletree Hilton, starts on Friday, April 29 and runs until Sunday after, May 1. Everything you need to know about the convention is right here.

Steve and I will be Writer Guests of Honor at RavenCon. Reproduced below, for your listening pleasure, is our schedule.

Friday

5 pm (FHC) Six Decades of Electing Elsewhere / Room L Steve Miller
7 pm (Opening Ceremony) Large Auditorium Steve Miller, Sharon Lee, and a Cast of Dozens
8 pm (Panel) The Magic of Collaboration / Room 8 Sharon Lee, Steve Miller, Peter Prellwitz (M), Joelle Presby

Saturday

11 am (Reading) Lee and Miller / Room 8
Noon (Signing) Lee and Miller / Room 8
3 pm (Interview) Mike Pederson interviews Lee and Miller / Room 8
4:30 pm – 6 pm (Presentation/Workshop) Baen Traveling Roadshow / Room 8

Sunday

8:30 am Friends of Liad breakfast in the Hilton restaurant (NOTE: This is what we called in my youth “Dutch Treat.” That means that everyone who attends pays for their own breakfast. Including Sharon and Steve.)
Noon (Talk) Learning to Write: Recommended Workshops, Books and Classes Lou Antonelli, Meriah L. Crawford, Larry Hodges, Steve Miller
1 pm (Soapbox) Believable Characters / Room F Sharon Lee

Also look for us at the art show, in the dealers room, and sitting in a lobby, talking with other fans, or even reading a book.

Looking forward to seeing you — yes, you! — there!