In keeping with my promise to let y’all know when there was motion on the audiobook edition of Fair Trade, I am happy to announce that!
Audible has assigned a reader. Steve and I will be talking with her at the end of next week.
“Eight Mile and the City,” by Steven Harper, published in When Worlds Collide, Zombies Need Brains LLC (2021), won the 2022 WSFA Small Press Award, presented last evening at CapClave.
Congratulations to Steven and to ZNB’s publisher Joshua Palmatier. You may read the rest of the complete awards story at File770
Here at the Cat Farm and Confusion Factory, we continue to live the halcyon lives of working writers. Steve continues to spar with Jethri, while I run interference between the Master Trader’s trade team and The Redlands. Also on-going is packing up some of our so-called “papers” for shipment to the Lee-and-Miller archive at Northern Illinois University.
We also need to start thinking about our story for Solar Flare, due to editor Joshua Palmatier in December.
Last week was slightly interrupted by medical concerns, involving blood panels, xrays, and various whatnot in order to give the doctors their Data. Data now mostly in, it seems that things are in basically good shape, but a visit with the cardiologist is upcoming in order to file off the rough edges.
What with One Thing and Something Else, we realized that Pinbeam Books (the Lee-Miller indie publishing arm) hasn’t put out even one chapbook in 2022 (the energy that would have gone into a chapbook or even two went instead into surprise book, Salvage Right, coming to a bookstore near you in 2023).
However! We do intend to publish a Yule Chapbook this year — Adventures in the Liaden Universe® Number 35: TITLE TBA. This chapbook will contain two reprints: WSFA Small Press Award Finalist “Standing Orders,” and “From Every Storm a Rainbow,” which appeared on Baen.com December 2021 – January 2022; and! one never-published work concerning the life and times of Lomar Fasholt, who has been missing for some time, to the great concern of her friends.
More news on that project as we move forward.
Those who indulge may purchase the eARC of Chicks in Tank Tops from Baen Books. Or! You may preorder it from the bookstore of your choice for a January delivery.
. . . and I think that’s all the news for right now.
Everybody stay safe.
For those who indulge, the eARC of Chicks in Tank Tops, edited by Jason Cordova, cover by Dave Seeley, published by Baen Books, is now available, here.
Sharon Lee and Steve Miller have a story in this anthology, joining a list of awesome writers — Jody Lynn Nye, Esther Friesner, Joelle Presby, to name but a few.
For those new to the game — eARCs are electronic Advanced Readers Copies. The eARCs usually come out at the same time the authors get their galley copy for review, so you know that there are errors present.
On the other hand, you get the story/ies sooner.
Pilot’s choice.
On Thursday — that’s tomorrow — Sharon Lee and Steve Miller will have their first panels as Virtual ChiCon attendees.
At 5:30 Central/6:30 Eastern, Sharon will be participating in the Improbable Research Dramatic Readings.
At 7 Central/8 Eastern, Steve will be hosting a Table Talk.
Sharon’s complete con schedule can be found here
Steve’s complete con schedule can be found here
In addition to our WorldCon duties, we will be signing in person at Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shop in Topsham Maine, on Saturday, September 3, from 11 am until 1 pm. Hope to see you there!
So, yesterday, Steve and I arrived early for our 1:00 pm signing at Sherman’s in Damariscotta. This was According to Plan. We had a small walk, and a pre-event picnic, did some surprise shopping at Reny’s — I can’t actually remember the last time I went into a store to just wander around and see what’s there — and it was time to perform.
We arrived to find the table set up for us. We were greeted by Megan, who provided drinks, and left us to it.
What a grand, busy bookstore Damariscotta has! Even better, it seems that its patrons appreciate it, and are happier for its presence in their lives.
We were positioned right at the front door, and our come-on was “Would you like a free bookmark?” I think every person we offered a bookmark to said at least, “No, thank you,” and many people were much kinder — “Your books? Well done, you.” Lots of people took bookmarks.
And a couple dozen people stopped to talk, not just about our books. We had several wide-ranging conversations — about bookstores in general, about writing, about the difference between the game extension and the core game, about what it was like being the “Play-Doh engineer” at Loring, about being in the entertainment business . . .
One person did stop by the table to ask me if “we” had a Unicorn Department, and I sadly had to explain that I didn’t work at the bookstore, but that I had seen a unicorn plushie in the section behind where we were sitting.
In addition to people, we met several very personable dogs. I have long been low on Vitamin Dog, so that was an unexpected benefit on the day.
We sold about a dozen books, and gave away a zillion bookmarks/postcards/cards — so, a successful day on many, many fronts. We’re very grateful to Sherman’s for hosting us in our first book signing since, well Forever.
We stopped at Roundtop on the way home for milkshakes, then Steve brought us home via Route 218. Windsor Fair was on, so instead of cutting that corner, we went out to Augusta to make the right, stopping at the Hannaford on the corner to take on fruits, veggies, and pizza.
If you missed us yesterday, we’re going to be at Sherman’s in Topsham next Saturday, September 3, from 11am-1pm.
In the meantime, here are some photos from yesterday.
Saturday, August 27, from 1-3 pm, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller will be signing books and talking trash at Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shop, 158 Main Street, Damariscotta, Maine 04543.
We hope to see you there!
Sharon Lee and Steve Miller will be signing books — and talking trash, because, really, you can’t stop us — in person at the following venues on the dates shown:
Saturday, August 27 1-3 pm
Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shop
158 Main St.
Damariscotta, ME 04543
Saturday, September 3 11 am-1 pm
Sherman’s Book Shop
65 Topsham Fair Mall
Topsham, ME 04086
Yesterday on Facebook, fearless editor Jason Cordova revealed the not-quite-final cover of the upcoming Chicks in Tank Tops (Baen, January 2023), and the Table of Contents.
Lee and Miller have a story in this anthology, and so do a bunch of other talented writers, which adds up to quite a TOC.
Don’t take my word for it, though, have a look for yourself.
Chicks in Tank Tops Table of Contents:
“Gadreel’s Folly” by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
“Hold the Line” by Kevin Ikenberry
“A Girl and Her K’t’ank” by Jody Lynn Nye
“Airborne All the Way” by David Drake
“Airborne: The Next Mission” by David Drake
“Goddess of War” by A. C. Haskins
“Barbie and Gator Ken versus the Hurricane” by Joelle Presby
“Jeanne d’Architonnere” by G. Scott Huggins
“Operation Dad Liberation” by Lydia Sherrer & David Sherrer
“Between a Knight and a Hard Place” by Philip Wohlrab
“Next Question” by Marisa Wolf
“Belle’s Fantastical Mechanical Beast” by Jason Cordova & Ashley Prior
“Mother” by Robert E. Hampson
“Tread Softly” by Esther Friesner
Below, the not-quite-final cover, art by Dave Seeley, inspired by the story “Goddess of War” by A. C. Haskins.
