Writing – Page 18 – Sharon Lee, Writer

Bless your children, give them names

Words are being added to the manuscript, more slowly than I would like, but. . .words being added instead of subtracted has to be a good thing, amirite?

Checks are still AWOL, which is. . .unfortunate. Of the three still outstanding, we know the sums of two. The third will be. . .a surprise. I suspect not a pleasant one, but then I tend toward pessimism.

We are today awaiting the delivery of several boxes of hardcover books to sign. Or not.

In short, this is one of those days when one thinks fondly of day-jobs and berates oneself for having opted for an artistic life that is, um, free of constraints. This is nonsense, of course, and I strongly suspect that, had I remained at the last day-job, at least, I would have never written another word. Still, there’s something to be said for a Lack of Surprises.

Let’s see, what else?

The cats are taking up position for the Afternoon Melting. Belle felt that my desk chair would be perfect for her Melting. She has been persuaded otherwise. Windows are open, the sunlight is sharp edged and hard, but there’s a breeze, so that, at least.

The internet is full of outrage and stupidity — but you knew that.

I have too many t-shirts.

Still not king.

. . .I think that about covers it.

Hope everyone has a pleasant day, and a Blessed Midsummer to those who celebrate.

Progress on Book the Next
34,465/100,000 OR 34.47% complete

Val Con turned up the collar of his jacket as he followed the narrow, overgrown path, circling tighter and tighter in toward the center of the garden, of the House. One might even say the center of the clan, save one did not wish to encourage an ego that was sufficiently well-grown.

Today’s blog title brought to you by Bruce Springsteen, “Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street?” Here’s your link.

The root of all your problems is that you don’t look like me

Well, let’s see. . .

Several questions from the depths of the Roll Call, so! Answers.

*Book tours happen at the whim and/or planning of the publisher. If we have helpers on the ground, Steve and I will occasionally do a book tour, or visit a bookstore local to the vicinity of an SF convention or WorldCon. We were in Colorado some years back — 2006, I think — as GoHs at CoSine; and in Denver Itself for the WorldCon in 2008. We did not do a bookstore tour at either of those cons; the local bookstores being largely uninterested in having second-string scifi writers come to their stores. We are Further Constrained by the fact that we don’t fly, which limits the venues to which the publisher can economically send us. Which is to say: Unless we’re in Denver for Another Reason, and one or two or three of the local stores are willing to host a signing, our book tours, at least, will probably not reach Denver.

*I’m not certain I understand either the need or the desirability for a Collected Liaden Works for Kindle. That being said…to the best of my knowledge, Baen is selling two bundles of novels — Korval’s Legacy and Phase Change, but I think that only gets you ten or twelve. Surely, if one has a Kindle, there’s a way to make a category, say, LIADEN, and stick all your Liaden books under that category? Just a thought.

*The reason we have not Mentioned the Rest of the Geography, Fauna, and Population (if any) of Planet Surebleak is because! all the stories thus far have happened in the Port and the City, and neither Steve nor I feel like writing a Forbes Guide to the Surebleak Outback.

As reported elsewhere, you may now pre-order the Audible version of Alliance of Equals. Here’s the link.

Yes, we are aware that Audible has the book listed as AN Alliance of Equals; we have written to them on the topic.

It’s a warm and pleasant day here at the Confusion Factory. I have vacuumed, and done a blankie run, the latter no doubt being the reason why I have three Large Cats asleep on my desk, all within the reach of my hand. The coffeepot is hissing through its cleaning cycle; and I need to sort laundry. After lunch, I will make a Sincere Effort to actually add words to the working manuscript.

I hope everyone is having a fine and relaxing day.

Today’s blog title is brought to you by Julie Brown, “Brand New Girl.” Here’s your link.

The hurrier I go…

. . .the behinder I get.

Yeah.

So! Book the Next has shrunk again, as last night I Officially Removed that questionable 5,652 words, and placed it in a file named “Five of 5.”

This brings the word count for Book the Next right down to 32,777. As a colleague said, “It would be so much easier, if writing a novel were only about stringing words together until you have enough.”

So, that.

One more question from the Roll Call: Will there be a Jethri and Tan Sim story?

…one assumes that this is not a request for slash, but for a novel, and the answer is — Don’t know. It’s not on the current list, but we’re pretty sure to have another list, sometime in future. What we chose to write about is predicated on a number of factors, the most important of which is — What do we feel like writing? As people frequently mention, it takes us a long time to write a book — far too long, in fact, to live with characters we dislike or a story we didn’t really want to write.

Several people in a number of venues have asked where they can find more of Tolly Jones. This is pursuant to yesterday’s posting of “Wise Child” (which is here, if you missed it). Tolly, of course, makes an appearance in Dragon in Exile, and is also present in Alliance of Equals and! Book the Next.

There is some curiosity about Where Disian Came From. First I heard of her was in Book the Next, when Tolly casually said something, and I was like, “Wait, what?”

Folks also want to know the “rest” of Disian’s story — which, she having arrived fully formed, so to speak, I happen to know! Sorta. What I don’t know yet is where that story belongs. And, no (to forestall a frequent variation on a theme) I won’t just tell you. Just telling you is not a story, but it very well may ruin the story, in that, having just told you, I’ll be bored, and won’t write it.

Writers are twisty wights, no getting around it.

Steve and I have had a go at putting together a blog tour for Alliance, and our first stop was at YA Authors You Never Heard Of.

He’d asked Disian, once, how moving through Jump looked to her. And she’d waxed rhapsodic enough that he’d decided right then and there that a man might have no better use of his time than to seek out the Uncle and offer to do whatever it took, so long as he ended up downloaded as the main brain of a spaceship.

Be chivalrous to strangers you meet along the road

In which we prove that writing is a science.

Or not.

Astute readers will recall that I reported having broken 40,000 words on Book the Next on Monday evening.

Yesterday, I had what we’ll call A Better Idea, ripped out about 6,000 words, wrote 4,000 new ones, cut/pasted/re-worked a few existing bits, and! Realized a net loss of only 1,800 words.

Result: Book is stronger (I think), but 40,000 is once again ahead of me.

Answers to more questions received in Roll Call.

*I can probably Reveal the raw number of Roll Call answers at the end of June

*Roll Call is pinned to the top of Blog Without a Name until the end of June in order to give everyone who reads a chance to see it and respond, if they so desire. Some folks only check in once a week or twice a month, and we are at summer (for some of us), and people are on vacation

*The Roll Call was not mirrored on LJ because LJ has ongoing problems with spam, and I have had to sternly restrict the list of people who can post there. And, yanno, I wanted all the answers in one place. Thank you for your patience and understanding

*Nope, you are in no way obligated to read Blog Without a Name instead of Eagles Over the Kennebec. In most cases, content appears on both sites

*Returning for a signing at the Uncle’s in Minneapolis is, perhaps, in the future. Steve and I will be guests of honor at Marscon in Bloomington, next March and have been talking with Don about when would be best for us to come visit him while we’re in the area

In theory, yes, the new story goes live on Baen.com today. I stress that this is Only A Theory; I have not have confirmation of this from the folks who would know best. Also! I am scheduled to vanish into my volunteer gig for most of the day, so will be out of pinbeam range. So — you’re kinda on your own, here. Happy hunting.

Progress on Book the Next
38,191/100,000 OR 38% complete

The delmae, like Liadens had it. Smart woman, as far as he’d ever heard. Haz had a high opinion, but then, Captain Robertson, as she’d once been, was twice a hero in battle, and that was the kind of thing that would count for somebody with Haz’s bringing up.

Today’s blog title brought to you by Warren Zevon, “Ourselves to Know,” because, really, who can resist a rock song about the Crusades? Here’s your link

And I think to myself, What a wonderful world

Thanks to everyone answering the roll call. As I said in the original post, I am keeping the responses private. That means they won’t show up on the blog page.

Many people have taken the time to write me a note, or ask a question. Below are answers to those questions, in no particular order.

*Yep, still have the stone turtle; he hasn’t gotten any bigger, though.

*The book format that earns us the most is a moving target. By contract, we are paid royalties at a rate of 50% of cover, for ebooks; 25% of cover for hardcovers; 8% (I think — too lazy to get up and open the file cabinet) for mass markets to a Certain Point, when it goes up to 10%, and, at another Certain Point, rises to 12%, where it remains Forever; and I forget for trade editions.

*No, I don’t necessarily demand an answer every time “you” click onto the blog. In fact, I don’t demand any answers, really. Except for certain Special Projects, of which this Roll Call is one.

*Yay! The extra foreign language editions have found a good home in a school.

* No, I am not going to be shutting the blog down anytime in the near future.

*I’m not really sure that Theo would enjoy lace on her sleeves. She doesn’t strike me as a lacy-sleeve kind of girl.

*I doubt that Maine Life will commission Jen to do a piece about Archers Beach, as the author has Her Reasons for keeping those two Maines separate.

*No, I haven’t seen the video of the Buggati changing colors. I’ll look for it; sounds cool.

*Haven’t given any thought at all to the “next set of five.” We still have two books left on this set of five, and then two books on the next contract. We’ll see where we are when those obligations are met.

In other news, “Wise Child,” a Liaden Universe® novelette is, I believe, scheduled to appear on Baen.com this week. Possibly on Wednesday. So, yanno. Watch the Skies.

With the end of today’s work session, Book the Next has broken 40,000 words, which is pleasant to contemplate, at least for a couple minutes.

Tomorrow is primary elections, here in the State of Maine. Why, yes, we did long ago caucus for the presidential candidate; our primaries apparently address in-state housekeeping. Or do I mean house-cleaning?

Also, I am surrounded by coon cats. Who are asleep. I’ll foil their nefarious scheme by removing to the kitchen for the evening meal.

Progress on Book the Next
40,004/100,000 OR 40% complete

“Will you stare all day, sir?”
“May I?” he returned, opening his eyes wide.

Today’s blog post is brought to you by Louis Armstrong, “What a wonderful world.” Here’s your link.

Captain Jack was a young man, when he went to sea

Well, we were going to go to the ocean today, but — rain. Also, exhausted. Maybe Thursday.

In the meanwhile, I do believe that all the train tickets and motel rooms have been reserved for the Big Northern Kingdom Alliance of Equals Book Tour. Details here.

Steve is in the Comfy Chair, reading The Gathering Edge, ably assisted by Belle. I have Trooper and Scrabble assisting with travel arrangements in my office. Warrior Princess Jasmine Sprite, Scourge of Field Mice, Suzerain of Toys, and Mistress of the String is, I believe, downstairs in her Princess Tower.

After lunch I’ll sit down with Book the Next (previously Fourth of Five), now that all of the various lines are sorted to my satisfaction. There’s maybe 5,000-ish words that might belong in Five of Five, but I’m going to keep them, until I’m surer of directions. In Theory, Next is due to Madame on August 15, which means I have most of June, and most of July before me. August is pretty much cut up with traveling There and Back Again, with a WorldCon in the middle. Well. We’ll see how matters progress over the next four weeks.

And, apropos of nothing other than my magpie mind, I need to find a ribbon or a piece of leather cord. At BaltiCon, a friend gave me a tile necklace that has a graphic of a dragon on one side, and, on the obverse, my favorite side, the Shakespeare quote, “Come not between the dragon and his wrath.” However, it’s only strung on a piece of green bakery twine, which you just know is gonna break, and I won’t know it, and I’ll lose the tile.

adds ribbon to list

So! back to the word factory.

Progress on Book the Next
37431 / 100000 (37.43%)

“So he’s been downgraded from menace to joke?”

Today’s blog post comes from one of songs that was the inspiration for Carousel Seas, “Captain Jack and the Mermaid.” Here’s your link.

Part of the water garden at McKelden Plaza, Light Street, Baltimore

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. . .

Some days I feel like my shadow’s casting me

So! Last night we turned The Gathering Edge in to Madame the Editor. It weighs in at just about 111,800 words, and is All Theo, All the Time, which makes Edge the direct sequel to Dragon Ship, with the action taking place concurrently with that described in Dragon in Exile and Alliance of Equals.

~~No, we don’t know when the book will be published.~~

UPDATE: Madame tells us that Edge is tentatively scheduled for publication in May 2017.

Turning in a book, of course, means that I Never Have to Write Again. That being so, I took some time this morning to update a few webpages.

At sharonleewriter.com, these pages have been updated: Which Book is Which; Publications List; Reading Order.

At korval.com, these pages have been updated: Which Book is Which, and Correct Reading Order. Still to go — the publication list, which I’ll get to, bye-n-bye.

Also, while I was not-writing, I vacuumed the house, including! taking the vacuum cleaner completely apart to find out why it wasn’t suctioning. I never did find a blockage, but apparently the mere act of taking it apart and putting it back together again was sufficient to fix whatever the problem was.

What else? Oh. Of possible interest, and as reported elsewhere:

Fun facts!
The Gathering Edge is the. . .
72nd collaborative work by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
20th novel-length Liaden Universe® Adventure
24th collaborative Lee & Miller novel
29th novel by Sharon Lee

The rest of the day involves some more cleaning of the actual house. I don’t know how it is that writing a book in the back of the house results in the front of the house looking like a bomb hit it, but there it is. I’ve seen it many times. Also, I should probably get all this. . .stuff off of my desk before the cats clear it for me.

Oh! As a reward for having fought Theo to a standstill and handed in the book, Steve and I this morning Ceremonially De-Boxed Visitor, which we may now read together.

And that? Is all I’ve got.

Today’s blog post title brought to you by Warren Zevon, “My Dirty Life and Times.” Here’s your link.

Y’know? They’re growing mechanical trees. They grow to their full height; then they chop themselves down

So lately, most of the energy around the Cat Farm and Confusion Factory has been focused on The Gathering Edge, and I would just like to say that, by my stars and garters, I am never, ever again participating in a Theo book!

I feel so much better.

Even if it is an empty threat. Sigh. Theo is, I fear, going to have to be in the next book. But! The next book is not going to be a Theo book.

*glares at Theo*

*Theo glares back*

Yeah, well. . .

In other news, and in addition to the deadline we’re racing — there is a deadline approaching for you! Yes, you, too, over there in the corner.

What deadline you ask? Why, the deadline to pre-order a personalized hardcover copy of Alliance of Equals from Uncle Hugo’s SF Bookstore in Minneapolis. If you want a signed-and-personalized book, you have until June 1 to preorder.

Here’s your link.

This will be the last reminder you’ll get from me on this topic, because — BaltiCon.

Yes, we will be at BaltiCon. Will you? Here’s the link.

This morning, I took a break from glaring at Theo to go into town and have my hair cut, mail a package at the post office, get rid of some old meds at the police station, and to take on groceries. Because I had cleverly (sigh) made the appointment for my haircut for nine o’clock a.m., I ate breakfast in town, after, at Toast Xpress. If you’re ever in the area, I recommend the blueberry crepes, though there many, many delicious things to choose from.

I came home to find that my new corset had arrived. I asked Belle if she’d model it for y’all, but she’s busy, so you’ll just have to wait ’til BaltiCon to see it.

And that? Is all I’ve got. It bodes well to be a Crazy Few Days here on the Confusion Factory side of things, so I’ll just wish everybody a pleasant weekend.

Today’s blog title comes to you courtesy of Laurie Anderson, “Sharkey’s Day.” Here’s your link.

Sunny on Sunday

Today’s mail — or, possibly, yesterday’s, or indeed, both. . .A lot of people seemed to want to be certain that I knew about this, in any case.

So! The mail brings news of a new SF/F award in town. Twenty-nine years in the making! The Dragon Awards. You can read all about them, here , and also here . Eligible works will have been published/screened/made generally available between April 1, 2015 and July 25, 2016.

In a startling turn of events, this means that both Dragon in Exile and Alliance of Equals are eligible for nomination, in case anyone is thinking in that direction.

The nominating categories are available here.

The Dragon Awards are open to all fans, everywhere. There is no cost to nominate, and you may start your engines now.

###

Here at the Confusion Factory, we are completing the proofing of Alliance of Equals. I want to thank everyone who has pitched in with this rather difficult project. I did try to acknowledge each email, but probably managed to miss one or two people. I love you all; I’m just a. . .little harried, and forgetful at the moment.

We are also still hammering away at The Gathering Edge, which is due at Baen before we leave for RavenCon, on April 27. And we’ve got that short story to write and hand in on May 15.

Speaking of cons, Steve and I have tacked another onto the 2016 schedule. We will be at the Rhode Island ComicCon, in November. Including that convention, we will be traveling in books for 44 days this summer and fall, starting with RavenCon.

I’d say that I feel like a rock star, but I remember Janis Ian laughing at me, back a few years, when I was complaining that Steve and I had been on the road for 60 days that year. So, I’ll just say that, for a pair of SF writers, we’ll be traveling a lot this year.