Barbara Hambly's Blog, page 3

A big THANK YOU to all the people who are organizing and ...

A big THANK YOU to all the people who are organizing and running the COVID vaccine Point of Dispersal sites! AMAZINGLY well-organized - I was in the slow-and-go drive-through line at Cal State Northridge for about 45 minutes (WAY less than I've experienced getting into the RenFaire!). Everybody knew what they were doing, there were enough people to make it go smoothly, I got my shot without getting out of my car, they made me stay a little extra time because I have food allergies and the concept of an allergy of any kind made them extra cautious, and I didn't even get the headache they promised me.

Glad I got it yesterday, because it's supposed to pour like Noah's Flood this afternoon.

All is well.

Two of George's best short stories, downpriced on Open Ro...

Two of George's best short stories, downpriced on Open Road Media, 99 cents Saturday, January 30, US and Canada. I can't quite tell whether it's 99 cents apiece for "The Aliens Who Knew, I Mean, EVERYTHING," and "Target Berlin," or 99 cents for an omnibus mini-volume containing both... but in either case, well worth the price. Both from his early, silly days - the first s-f (more or less) and the second pretty much straight silly fantasy. What a mind that man had!
I, meanwhile, continue to have weird issues with my computer. I SO look forward to getting my vaccine shot (this afternoon, IF the drive-up site doesn't get rained out!), so I won't be terrified to have Mr. Computer Guy come in and deal with it.
Wish me luck!

More from Open Road Media!The Rainbow Abyss - the first h...

More from Open Road Media!
The Rainbow Abyss - the first half of the Magic Nazis duology Sun-Cross - will be downpriced to $1.99 on January 16th, US and Canada (and I assume the second book, Magicians of Night, will follow shortly...)
Several of George's books will be downpriced also. The Budayeen Cycle - When Gravity Fails, Fire in the Sun, and The Exile Kiss - will be $3.99, US and Canada, on January 17... Just in time for George's birthday, which was on the 10th. Two of his short, strange early fantasies - Heroics and Those Gentle Voices - as well as the collection of his short stories, Live From Planet Earth, will be $1.99 apiece, US and Canada, on the 16th. (All I remember about Heroics was that somebody had coated the Great Plains in Teflon... for what reason I am at a loss to recall).

Three weeks til classes start, so I will be putting in most of my time for the next week making sure everything is prepped and ready to go!

Stay safe out there!

Sorry - again - for the lag in posting; it's been difficu...

Sorry - again - for the lag in posting; it's been difficult to get work done over the past week or so.

Silicon Mage - probably one of my all-time favorites of the books I've written - on sale, digital, US and Canada, $1.99, tomorrow, Jan 10 (Sunday). Open Road Media.

And a happy New Year! Thank you, to all of you who've stu...

And a happy New Year! Thank you, to all of you who've stuck with me through what has been a strange and tiring year.

I turned in the manuscript for the Hollywood murder mystery that will probably be called "Scandal in Babylon" - a new mystery series whose heroine, Emma, an English WW-1 widow, acts as secretary and dog-brusher to her gaudy and extravagant sister-in-law Kitty (a.k.a. silent film vamp Camille de la Mare)... it's good to be writing about 1920s Hollywood again, though this is straight mystery, no fantasy.

I've turned in outlines for another Ben January book and a second book in the Hollywood series, though I won't hear anything on them for awhile.

I've been spending part of each day prepping for the history class I'll be teaching in Spring: MUCH more work, as it's a live-online, streaming-over-Zoom.

And I've been working on a couple of further adventures, though it's been difficult going, with all else that's going on.

I'm planning an extremely quiet New Year's Eve, even by my standards - and I habitually leave whatever party I'm at at 10:30, so I can be home well before midnight.

To all of you, a safe New Year's Eve, and a happy and prosperous New Year.

Here's hoping everyone had a peaceful and gentle holiday....

Here's hoping everyone had a peaceful and gentle holiday. Family Zoom and Christmas movies; evening before the fireplace with the cats.

The third book of George's Budayeen trilogy - the Exile Kiss - on sale (digital) from Open Road Media, Tuesday, Dec. 29, $1.99.

Also on sale, same day (Dec. 29) Dog Wizard, the third book of my Windrose Chronicles - and one of my all-time favorites of my own books - also $1.99.

Both books, US and Canada.

And for a little Christmas Present from Open Road Media: ...

And for a little Christmas Present from Open Road Media: Dragonsbane, digital, US and Canada, $1.99.

One of my all-time favorites, though it was one of the most difficult to write.

A happy holiday to all!

A whole slew of downpriced digital offerings this week fr...

A whole slew of downpriced digital offerings this week from Open Road Media: US and Canada.

Friday, December 18: $1.99 apiece - Dog Wizard (among my very favorites of my own books - Book 3 of the Antryg Windrose series), and, George Effinger's The Exile Kiss, Book 3 of his Budayeen series. (Is there a special on Book 3's for some reason?)

Saturday, December 19: also $1.99 apiece - The Witches of Wenshar (Book 2 of the Sun Wolf and Starhawk series) and two of George's lesser-known short novels, Death in Florence, and Relatives.

Wishing everyone beautiful holidays. It's still cold and dry as the surface of Mars here, and I'm spending many quiet evenings sitting in front of the fireplace. It's a gas fire, so essentially I'm gazing into a very large stove burner, but it's pretty, it's warm, and I don't have to clean it. The semester is over, so I will spend the next several days grading exams. O, tidings of comfort and joy.

Not sure if I hit the right button to copy the link, but....

Not sure if I hit the right button to copy the link, but...
George's book "When Gravity Fails" made the Top Ten list of sf-noir mysteries - available digitally through Open Road Media. (Please note, the last book on the list has a cover by my good friend - and brilliant artist - the late Glen Orbik!)

https://theportalist.com/sci-fi-noir-books?utm_source=AuthorContentNotification

I just received - and have been listening to - the new un...

I just received - and have been listening to - the new unabridged Blackstone audio book of Free Man of Color. Although it makes me feel VERY strange to hear my own writing read out loud by somebody else, it's a lovely recording. Ron Butler has a pleasant voice to listen to - I'm not a judge of audio recordings, but this one impresses me.

It appears to be available from Amazon - $13.99, and less if you get a trial with Audible (which I don't have) - it isn't really clear to me how that works. It looks like they've done Fever Season as well (which I haven't got on disc yet) - supposedly they will eventually do the first eleven of the series (Free Man, Fever Season, Graveyard Dust, Sold Down the River, Die Upon a Kiss, Wet Grave, Days of the Dead [one of my favorites of the series], Dead Water, Dead and Buried, The Shirt On His Back [another of my absolute favorites], and Ran Away - at least that's my understanding, off the top of my head. No idea of the scheduling on any of those, and of course everything is taking much longer these days.

But, I'm very pleased.

AND, George's book "Fire in the Sun" is on special from Open Road Media - digital, US and Canada, $2.99, this Sunday, Dec. 6th.