Category: Shameless Self-Promotion

A Draft Declared! and other news of note

Last night, I finished the Good Enough Draft of Salvage Right (the 25th novel in the Liaden Universe®, built and maintained by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, publishing since! 1988, with a brief hiatus because Big Publishing), which presently weighs in at +/- 106,000 words.

Am I going to leap Right Into revision? you ask.

I am not.  I have done, and doubtless with do again, but this time? The book is due to Madame in June.  Which means I have the Incredible Luxury of taking two weeks off to rest my brain and Think About Other Things before I leap into Revisionland.

Why does my brain need rest? Aren’t I a writer?  Isn’t Making Stuff Up(tm) What I Do?

My brain needs rest because writing is hard.  One definition of Writer is “someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people;” I am definitely a writer.  And while Making Stuff Up is cool, then you have to Keep Track of It.

Tinsori Light has been eating my brain since — checks notes — November 15, 2021.  Six months of riot, bedlam, and derring-do.  Jeez, no wonder I’m tired.

But most of it’s on the page now, and my head feels weirdly empty, as it does when a long project is complete.

So, today, instead of choosing faces, or leaping into the fray with Jen Sin, I will be doing housework, and hope to make a good start clearing six month’s worth of Chore IOUs.

In other news — I did promise other news — Steve is simultaneously working on a commissioned short story and the next Jethri novel — Trade Lanes.

We will be attending the ChiCon 8, the World Science Fiction Convention to be held in Chicago September 1-5. We have purchased train tickets and reserved a hotel room. No word yet on if either of us has been chosen for panels. Be sure that we’ll publish our schedule in All The Usual Places, once we have one.  Yes, we are hoping to host a Friends of Liad breakfast.  More news on that front as we have it, as well.

Fair Trade, which came out in hardcover and ebook* just last Monday, continues to do well.  If you’ve read the book, please consider posting a review in the venue of your choice.  Reviews not only drive the Algorithm Engines at the Big Stores, but they also help other readers make Important Buying Decisions.

And here we are, all caught up.

Now I need to clean the bathroom.

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*Nope — no word on an audiobook.  The person at Baen who is responsible for this aspect of things is reportedly “working on it.”

 

 

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

 

That was the week that was

When last we heard from Yr Hmbl Narrator, she was looking forward to eight glorious, empty days, with nothing to do but play on Tinsori Light.

And that’s sorta what happened.  To a point.

I knew going into the week that I needed to complete my application to take part on panels at ChiCon 8, which is ohsomuch more complicated than you’re envisioning, and with a deadline involved, but I figured to pursue that project during my writing breaks.

It started out well.

Steve had a dental appointment on Monday, but my services as a chauffeur were not needed, so I stayed home and — wrote.  Tuesday was also pretty good, right up to the point where we heard from the narrator for Liaden Universe® Constellation, Volume Two (coming soon from Tantor!  link), who was requesting a Weird Word List and a recording of same.

This was great news!  Only — Weeding through more than a dozen stories for the Weird Words consumes Serious Time, and — book isn’t going to write itself.  Happily, I hit on the notion of asking for volunteers, and giving each of them one story to read.  And — long story short — many hands quickly returned separate lists of Weird Words, which I was able to compile into a list over the next few days.

Meanwhile, in Wednesday, we took Belle to the vet for her annual wellness check, and, later that same day, Steve and I got long overdue hair cuts.  The day was further livened by the arrival of 12 cases (240 books) hardcover edition of Fair Trade, for us to sign, repack and get ready to be picked up by UPS on Monday and given a ride to Uncle Hugo’s in Minneapolis.

While 240 isn’t a lot of books (back in the Meisha Merlin days, we signed thousands (yes, it’s true) and mailed them, too), but it’s a goodly number, plus I’m not a young thing of 50 anymore.  So, we took some time to sign books, and box them back up — all done by Saturday evening, when I bore down and finished the ChiCon survey.

While Steve was signing the last two boxes of books, I recorded half of the Weird Word list for the narrator.  While I was signing the last &c, Steve recorded the other half of the Weird Word list for the narrator.

Then, he boxed up the signed books, sealed the cases, attached the UPS forms, and in short got everything ready for Monday’s pickup, while I?

Finally got back to work on the WIP.

And discovered that my laptop has died.

Today, I’ve been writing.  Sixteen hundred words on the day, so far, and Salvage Right has just broken 93,000 words.  Support at System 76 has gotten back to me with a suggested course of action for the laptop, which I’ll pursue this evening, and tomorrow! Between 12 and 5, UPS will swing by and pick up 12 cases of Fair Trade and take them to the Uncle.

So, next week’s looking pretty good for writing — there’s some phone calls and Real Life stuff to deal with, and a Zoom interview with Baen host Griffin Barber on Thursday night, but pretty clear.

*fingers crossed*

I want to say that the cats have been very supportive during these unscheduled rushes and boxings.  Trooper was particularly involved in the signing part of things.

Here’s a picture of Trooper, supervising Steve:

 

 

 

 

And here’s a picture of Trooper being removed from the signing table by Yrs Trly.  For scale, I am six foot tall, and weigh 165 lbs.  Trooper weighs just a thought over 17 lbs.

 

 

 

 

So!  Now we’re all caught up.  If you preordered a signed copy of Fair Trade from Uncle Hugo’s, you may commence waiting for delivery on May 2.

 

 

Fair Trade, the 24th Liaden Universe® novel

Fair Trade, by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, the 24th novel set in the Liaden Universe®, a space opera geography of their own devising will be published on May 3.

What, you may ask, does this mean?

I will tell you.

It means that on May 3, the book will be simultaneously published as a hardcover and an ebook, and you — yes, you! — will able to buy it at the vendor of your choice.

Before May 3, you may:

1   Preorder the hardcover from the bookseller of your choice

1a  If you want a SIGNED copy of the hardcover, you may preorder it from Uncle Hugo’s only.  Here’s your link.

2   You may preorder the ebook edition of Fair Trade from Amazon, BN, and other ebook vendors.

None of the above precludes any of the others.  They exist simultaneously in time, space, and probability.

For those who consume audiobooks:  No audiobook edition of Fair Trade has been scheduled.  The person responsible for these negotiations tells us he’s working on it.

And that’s the entire contents of my head regarding Fair Trade, except, yanno — buy it, enjoy it, tell your friends!

 

New news! Getcher new Lee & Miller news right here!

I will be covering in this post a number of subjects, including!

  1. Publication dates for upcoming Liaden Universe® novels
  2. Upcoming audio releases
  3. Lack of news re possible audio releases

Deep breath.

Everybody ready?

Here we go:

Three Liaden Universe® titles to be released by Baen in 2023
Scout’s Progress will be reissued in a new mass market/ebook edition March 2023
Salvage Right* will be published in Summer 2023
Trade Lanes** will be published in Fall 2023

Liaden Universe® Constellations audiobook editions
Tantor Media will be releasing the first four Liaden Universe® Constellations, starting in June.  Go to this link, and click on the individual titles to preorder.

Trade Lanes audiobook edition
We are in contact with our publisher and hope to have news regarding the Trade Lanes audiobook edition soon.  As soon as we have it, you’ll have it.  Promise

_________________
*Salvage Right is set on Tinsori Light after the events described in Neogenesis. The cast of characters includes, but is not limited to: Jen Sin yos’Phelium, Seignur Veeoni, Tocohl Lorlin, Lorith, Tolly Jones, Hazenthull nor’Phelium, Theo Waitley

**Trade Lanes is the fourth book following the adventures of Jethri Gobelyn ven’Deelin, who made his first, admittedly awkward, bow in Balance of Trade; his second, somewhat more nuanced, in Trade Secret, and Astonished the Universe in Fair Trade.

 

Liaden Universe® Updates

Presented in order of Temporal Proximity.

First!  We have a book coming out on May 3!  Fair Trade, the third account of the loves and adventures of Jethri Gobelyn ven’Deelin, Trader Extraordinaire, will be available in hardcover, and electronic from all of the usual vendors.  Right now, you may preorder the hardcover from those same usual suspects.

There are Notes, to wit!

Note A:  YES, you will be able to buy this novel electronically on the release date.  NO, you may not preorder it.  This is how our publisher does things, and is above our pay grade.

Note B:  If you want a signed copy of the hardcover Fair Trade, you can preorder one right here

Note B1:  Personalizations are not available this time.  Uncle Hugo’s is just getting settled into their new space, and there was some concern about Mistakes Being Made.  Nobody wants mistakes, amirite?

Note C:  We have heard nothing about an audiobook edition.  This, too, is above our pay grade.  Please be assured that, should we hear something, we will shout it from the rooftops.

Second!  Salvage Right, a Liaden Universe® novel set on Tinsori Light, will be handed in to Baen in June.  Trade Lanes, the fourth Jethri Gobelyn ven’Deelin novel, has a September deadline.  That’s right, we’re turning in two books in 2022.

Third!  Title TBA, a Liaden Universe® novel that will probably continue the story from the Redlands.  This could change, so, yanno, don’t mark in down in ink.  That book is due at Baen in June 2023.

Fourth!  And, may I just say, the reason I’ve called you all together today — Lee and Miller have signed a three-book contract with their long-time publisher Baen Books.  The contract’s call-name is Traveler’s Trio, and we have no idea where those novels will take us, yet, but we do have delivery dates.  Those are:

Traveler’s Trio ONE:  September 2024
Traveler’s Trio TWO:  September 2025
Traveler’s Trio THREE:  September 2026

Note A:  In September 2026, I will be 74 years old.  Steve will have celebrated his 76th birthday three months prior.  This by way of reassuring those folks who have been worrying about our retirement that, err — writers don’t retire.  At least, writers at our level of the game don’t retire.

Here ends the Updatery.