In which 42 is the answer

Where on earth has the woman been again? you ask.

Welp.  Avoiding the news, if you will have it.  Also — page proofs for the anniversary edition of Scout’s Progress landed and I’ve been going over those.  Finished Monday night and passed them to Steve for his go-over.

I managed to finally get the five boxes of “our papers” into a UPS truck — no thanks to UPS — and on their way to Northern Illinois University, where resides the Lee-and-Miller Archive, about which A Word.

At the NIU Rare Books and Special Collections Library, there is a corner reserved for the papers of SFWA members (that’s the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America).  Steve and I being SFWA members, we have the right to increase the amount of paper held in that collection.  So, there’s a Big Pile called SFWA under which there are separate piles by Author.  Our papers will be available for public viewing on January 1, 2024.  No, this does not mean that you can walk in and start taking papers out of boxes.  Those interested will need to interface with Special Collections staff in order to view the materials.

So, that’s how that works.

What else?  Oh!  Steve and I celebrated the 42nd anniversary of Doing the Legal with a very nice Italian dinner at Amici Cucina.  In further celebration of the day, I have a new mechanical clock (this makes number four in the house.  We may have a clock problem.).  It’s a very nice, reserved little Wythe Barrister shelf clock modeled on a design from colonial Williamsburg.

In other happy news, the D(elivery) and A(cceptance) money arrived from the publisher, and! the Jan-Jun 2022 eroyalties.  Those being the last substantial payments we expect this year, unless we get hit with a film option, which we don’t expect and neither should you.

As previously advertised, we have two books up for preorder.

In chronological order, these are!

From Every Storm:  Adventures in the Liaden Universe® Number 35 by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.  Included are two reprints, WSFA award nominee “Standing Orders,” “From Every Storm a Rainbow,” and original story, “Songs of the Fathers.”  You may preorder from your favorite bookstore.  Be aware that this is not the case if your favorite bookstore is Baen, which will have the book for sale on November 23, Release Day.

Also up for pre-order is Salvage Right, the 25th novel set in the Liaden Universe®, also by happy coincidence authored by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.  Salvage Right will be published on July 4th, 2023, and at the moment only the hardcover is available for preorder, from, again, All the Usual Suspects.

Now that Things have mostly settled down, I will again be getting back to the Redlands novel, and trying not to think too hard about my cataract surgery, upcoming in the first two weeks in December.

So, that’s where I’ve been, and what I’ve been doing.

To sum up:  We here at the Cat Farm and Confusion Factory are busy and mostly happy.

And hoping you’re the same.

 

Procrastinators take note!

In six days (US), it will be May 3.

Why do you care?

Because on that day, Fair Trade by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, the 24th novel set in their Liaden Universe®, will be published!

You are encouraged to take any — or all! — of the following actions before May 3.

1   Preorder the ebook from the vendor of your choice, and start May 3 with that little happy thrill you get when you see a new book has downloaded to your ereader.

2   Preorder a signed hardcover from Uncle Hugo’s.

3   Preorder a hardcover from the bookstore of your choice.

4   Block out time to read Fair Trade, and make sure there’s plenty of food in the fridge, favorite beverages and snacks on-hand, because once you start reading, you won’t want to stop.

Fair Trader cover art by David Mattingly

 

Trader’s Leap is shipping and! Ambient Conditions Update

Don Blyly at Uncle Hugos Bookstore is working from home after his store was burnt out.  He tells us that the exclusive to the Uncles signed-via-tipped-in-sheets Trader’s Leap, the twenty-third novel of the Liaden Universe® by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, has arrived and is being shipped as he has time — he’s already packed some Canadian orders as well as a bunch of US orders.

The official publication date for Leap is December 1, but since Baen doesn’t usually embargo books (and Don’s house can only hold so many books) he’s going ahead now. He mentions that he has more than enough for the 150 or so pre-orders, and he’ll ship new orders first-come basis after the pre-orders are done.  If you haven’t yet ordered your signed edition of Trader’s Leap, now is the hour.  Here’s your link.

In other news, I have pushed the button to start the publication process of the paper edition of Ambient Conditions:  Adventures in the Liaden Universe® Number 31 (yes, written by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller). It can take as long as 72 hours for print editions to make it through Amazon’s system, so patience is still in order.  I will post a buy link as soon as there is one.

The ebook edition of Ambient Conditions is still set to publish on November 27.

And that’s this morning’s news.

Reminder, this is YOUR reminder

This is your reminder that Offworld Designs is taking preorders for the I Dare tshirt in pink and black, unisex and ladies styles.  They are also having a sale on Dragon in Exile merch, including coffee mugs.  And YOU can find it all at this link.

Special Bonus Reminder:  If you want to own one of the I Dare tshirts, you must preorder by May 10 — that’s this coming Sunday, in the United States, it is Mother’s Day.

Here ends your reminder.