Marie Brennan's Blog, page 190
January 31, 2013
Portrait of the Novelist as a Neurotic Wreck
We interrupt whatever it is you're doing right now to bring you this snapshot of what it is to be a mature, experienced, professional novelist.
<ahem>
I WANT MY BOOK TO BE OUT NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW WHY ISN'T IT TUESDAY YET WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
You may now return to your regularly scheduled programming.
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<ahem>
I WANT MY BOOK TO BE OUT NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW WHY ISN'T IT TUESDAY YET WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
You may now return to your regularly scheduled programming.
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/573316.html. Comment here or there.
January 28, 2013
Tour schedule for next week
I also posted this to my site, but here it is for more noticeable access:
Wednesday, February 6, Seattle, WA
7 PM -- reading and signing at University Book Store
Thursday, February 7, Portland, OR
7 PM -- reading and signing at Beaverton Powell's
Friday, February 8, San Diego, CA
7 PM -- reading and signing at Mysterious Galaxy
Sunday, February 10, San Francisco, CA
3 PM -- reading and signing at Borderlands Books
And then April 20-21, I'll be at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. As for my convention plans for the rest of the year, I need to sort those out . . . .
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/572931.html. Comment here or there.
Wednesday, February 6, Seattle, WA
7 PM -- reading and signing at University Book Store
Thursday, February 7, Portland, OR
7 PM -- reading and signing at Beaverton Powell's
Friday, February 8, San Diego, CA
7 PM -- reading and signing at Mysterious Galaxy
Sunday, February 10, San Francisco, CA
3 PM -- reading and signing at Borderlands Books
And then April 20-21, I'll be at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. As for my convention plans for the rest of the year, I need to sort those out . . . .
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/572931.html. Comment here or there.
January 24, 2013
CP4 TOC
I still have to revise the book, of course -- or I should say, finish revising; I've been working on that as I go along -- but I have enough brain and breathing room now to catch up on a few things that slipped through the cracks while I was busy.
First up! I sold a story! To Mike Allen! For Clockwork Phoenix 4! (Maintaining my streak: Tanith Lee and I are the only ones with a story in every CP anthology to date.) You may remember this as a Kickstarter project a while ago; well, the project was a success, and now the anthology is underway. The finished TOC consists of:
Yves Meynard, “Our Lady of the Thylacines”
Ian McHugh, “The Canal Barge Magician’s Number Nine Nicole Kornher-Stace, “On the Leitmotif of the Trickster Constellation in Northern Hemispheric Star Charts, Post-Apocalypse”
Richard Parks, “Beach Bum and the Drowned Girl”
Gemma Files, “Trap-Weed”
Yukimi Ogawa, “Icicle”
A.C. Wise, “Lesser Creek: A Love Story, A Ghost Story”
Marie Brennan, “What Still Abides”
Alisa Alering, “The Wanderer King”
Tanith Lee, “A Little of the Night”
Cat Rambo, “I Come from the Dark Universe”
Shira Lipkin, “Happy Hour at the Tooth and Claw”
Corinne Duyvis, “Lilo Is”
Kenneth Schneyer, “Selected Program Notes from the Retrospective Exhibition of Theresa Rosenberg Latimer”
Camille Alexa, “Three Times”
Benjanun Sriduangkaew, “The Bees Her Heart, the Hive Her Belly”
Patricia Russo, “The Old Woman with No Teeth”
Barbara Krasnoff, “The History of Soul 2065″
Mike Allen has more to say about it here. My story, "What Still Abides", is the one I was complaining about before, saying that it was trying to kill me; well, it failed, and then it sold, so at least I got something for my suffering. :-)
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/572678.html. Comment here or there.
First up! I sold a story! To Mike Allen! For Clockwork Phoenix 4! (Maintaining my streak: Tanith Lee and I are the only ones with a story in every CP anthology to date.) You may remember this as a Kickstarter project a while ago; well, the project was a success, and now the anthology is underway. The finished TOC consists of:
Yves Meynard, “Our Lady of the Thylacines”
Ian McHugh, “The Canal Barge Magician’s Number Nine Nicole Kornher-Stace, “On the Leitmotif of the Trickster Constellation in Northern Hemispheric Star Charts, Post-Apocalypse”
Richard Parks, “Beach Bum and the Drowned Girl”
Gemma Files, “Trap-Weed”
Yukimi Ogawa, “Icicle”
A.C. Wise, “Lesser Creek: A Love Story, A Ghost Story”
Marie Brennan, “What Still Abides”
Alisa Alering, “The Wanderer King”
Tanith Lee, “A Little of the Night”
Cat Rambo, “I Come from the Dark Universe”
Shira Lipkin, “Happy Hour at the Tooth and Claw”
Corinne Duyvis, “Lilo Is”
Kenneth Schneyer, “Selected Program Notes from the Retrospective Exhibition of Theresa Rosenberg Latimer”
Camille Alexa, “Three Times”
Benjanun Sriduangkaew, “The Bees Her Heart, the Hive Her Belly”
Patricia Russo, “The Old Woman with No Teeth”
Barbara Krasnoff, “The History of Soul 2065″
Mike Allen has more to say about it here. My story, "What Still Abides", is the one I was complaining about before, saying that it was trying to kill me; well, it failed, and then it sold, so at least I got something for my suffering. :-)
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/572678.html. Comment here or there.
Aaaaaaand that's a draft.
I may not have a title yet, but I do have a book.
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/572629.html. Comment here or there.
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/572629.html. Comment here or there.
January 23, 2013
comic books for young children?
Question on behalf of friends:
They are looking for comic books suitable for their five-year-old daughter to read. She reads at the level of an eight- or nine-year-old, in terms of vocabulary and comprehension; however, she does not have the emotional or psychological development of a kid that age. In particular, she has recently started to grok what death means, and is deeply upset by it; ergo stories that involve death are (at present) Right Out. (Even in a therapeutic, coming-to-terms-with-it way. The parents are handling the issue, but for now they don't want to give her stories that will trigger a meltdown.) Ergo, they're looking for lighthearted things with content suitable for a five-year-old, even if the language is more sophisticated than that.
Suggestions? My own knowledge of comic books is pretty narrow, and in terms of age suitability doesn't go any younger than, oh, Elfquest. They want comic books because although their daughter's reading comprehension is great, she's much more interested in stories that have pictures than those without. And, y'know. The parents are geeks, too, and it's never too early to indoctrinate your child!
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/572206.html. Comment here or there.
They are looking for comic books suitable for their five-year-old daughter to read. She reads at the level of an eight- or nine-year-old, in terms of vocabulary and comprehension; however, she does not have the emotional or psychological development of a kid that age. In particular, she has recently started to grok what death means, and is deeply upset by it; ergo stories that involve death are (at present) Right Out. (Even in a therapeutic, coming-to-terms-with-it way. The parents are handling the issue, but for now they don't want to give her stories that will trigger a meltdown.) Ergo, they're looking for lighthearted things with content suitable for a five-year-old, even if the language is more sophisticated than that.
Suggestions? My own knowledge of comic books is pretty narrow, and in terms of age suitability doesn't go any younger than, oh, Elfquest. They want comic books because although their daughter's reading comprehension is great, she's much more interested in stories that have pictures than those without. And, y'know. The parents are geeks, too, and it's never too early to indoctrinate your child!
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/572206.html. Comment here or there.
January 22, 2013
Recent offerings from Book View Cafe
book not done book not done book not done <pant pant pant>
But I'm surfacing long enough to post something I've had sitting around for weeks, which is the list of recent offerings from BVC. Before I get into the full list, I want to call out this one particularly:
Bloodchildren: Stories by the Octavia E. Butler Scholars, edited by Nisi Shawl
Every year, the Carl Brandon Society, whose goal is to increase diversity in the field of science fiction, presents scholarships to two students of color accepted to the prestigious Clarion and Clarion West writers’ workshops. The scholarships, named in honor of the brilliant African-American writer Octavia Butler, pay workshop tuition and housing fees for the recipients. Since 2007, they have made it possible for eleven students to attend the workshops.
Give a little, get a free ebook.
If you contribute a mere $8.01 to the scholarship fund, you can download Bloodchildren: Stories by the Octavia E. Butler Scholars, an ebook anthology of science fiction and fantasy stories by these students — the voices of the new generation of writers of color in speculative fiction.
This special ebook is available only until June 22, 2013, Octavia’s birthday. She would have been sixty-six this year.
Octavia taught at Clarion and Clarion West, and provided enormous support there — and elsewhere — to other writers of color. Through these scholarships, she continues to do so.
Help continue Octavia’s work.
The Meri, by Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff
Glad Yule, by Pati Nagle
The Pure Cold Light, by Gregory Frost
Space Magic, by David D. Levine
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/571919.html. Comment here or there.
But I'm surfacing long enough to post something I've had sitting around for weeks, which is the list of recent offerings from BVC. Before I get into the full list, I want to call out this one particularly:
Bloodchildren: Stories by the Octavia E. Butler Scholars, edited by Nisi Shawl
Eleven original stories by recipients of the Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship (2007 through 2012), plus a reprint of "Speech Sounds" by the scholarship's namesake, Octavia E. Butler. This anthology also includes a brief memoir of Butler by her Clarion classmate Vonda N. McIntyre and an introduction by Nalo Hopkinson.
Every year, the Carl Brandon Society, whose goal is to increase diversity in the field of science fiction, presents scholarships to two students of color accepted to the prestigious Clarion and Clarion West writers’ workshops. The scholarships, named in honor of the brilliant African-American writer Octavia Butler, pay workshop tuition and housing fees for the recipients. Since 2007, they have made it possible for eleven students to attend the workshops.
Give a little, get a free ebook.
If you contribute a mere $8.01 to the scholarship fund, you can download Bloodchildren: Stories by the Octavia E. Butler Scholars, an ebook anthology of science fiction and fantasy stories by these students — the voices of the new generation of writers of color in speculative fiction.
This special ebook is available only until June 22, 2013, Octavia’s birthday. She would have been sixty-six this year.
Octavia taught at Clarion and Clarion West, and provided enormous support there — and elsewhere — to other writers of color. Through these scholarships, she continues to do so.
Help continue Octavia’s work.
The Meri, by Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff
The Mer Cycle begins…
In the twenty-fifth year of the reign of Cyne Colfre, a fifteen year-old girl named Mereddyd-a-Lagan sought to wield powers reserved, until now, for men. Would she attain the station of Osraed … or die a heretic like the one who went before her?
Glad Yule, by Pati Nagle
Midwinter, a time of darkness, a time to release past sorrows…
Lord Paethor, young and haunted, accepts a mission from his king: to retrieve the enchanted sword Farslayer – or die in the attempt.
“Glad Yule,” a fantasy novella, first appeared in the anthology An Armory of Swords, edited by Fred Saberhagen and set in his Swords of Power universe.
The Pure Cold Light, by Gregory Frost
What terrible knowledge did he possess that had to be destroyed?
The Fantasy…The Memory…The Box: A catatonic spacer has experienced it. He can reveal nothing.
The Fire…The Pain…The Dead: The mega-corporations nurture it–to maximize profits and enslave a planet. They will reveal nothing.
The Scent…The Visions…The Secret: Guerrilla activist and rebel journalist Thomasina Lyell has discovered it–and the conspiracy threatening the basis of human civilization. She must experience it herself, its destructive, mind-shattering power. She must reveal everything!
The Future Before Her Eyes. The Story of a Lifetime, a World gone Mad. Her Doom…and the Death of Humankind.
Space Magic, by David D. Levine
This Endeavour Award-winning collection pulls together 15 critically acclaimed science fiction and fantasy stories that take readers from a technicolor cartoon realm to an ancient China that never was, and from an America gone wrong to the very ends of the universe. Including the Hugo Award-winning “Tk’Tk’Tk,” the Writers of the Future Award winner “Rewind,” “Nucleon,” “The Tale of the Golden Eagle,” and many other highly-praised stories, Space Magic shows David D. Levine’s talents not only as a gifted writer but as a powerful storyteller whose work explores the farthest reaches of space as well as the depths of the human heart.
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/571919.html. Comment here or there.
January 18, 2013
Something more like a book
After yet more whinging and moaning and telling myself I earned a break with yesterday's work, I made myself put my butt in the chair and start typing . . . and two thousand words later, I have hit the mighty 80K mark, which is the point at which this starts to feel like a Real Book to me.
Of course, this isn't the Onyx Court: I'm aiming for 90K total, rather than the nearly 160K that With Fate Conspire ended up clocking. So that particular boundary lies quite close to the Finished Book line right now. I still have various things that need fixing -- in fact, I've been revising as I go for a while, settling the characters who kept changing their names, putting guns on mantelpieces after I realized I needed to fire them somewhere in the 70K stretch, etc -- but I'm going to arrive at the end of this month with a passably decent draft, I think.
And that, my friends, is victory.
Edited to add -- bonus (spoiler-redacted) quote, to celebrate my achievement, and the fact that two finished copies of A Natural History of Dragons showed up today:
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/571823.html. Comment here or there.
Of course, this isn't the Onyx Court: I'm aiming for 90K total, rather than the nearly 160K that With Fate Conspire ended up clocking. So that particular boundary lies quite close to the Finished Book line right now. I still have various things that need fixing -- in fact, I've been revising as I go for a while, settling the characters who kept changing their names, putting guns on mantelpieces after I realized I needed to fire them somewhere in the 70K stretch, etc -- but I'm going to arrive at the end of this month with a passably decent draft, I think.
And that, my friends, is victory.
Edited to add -- bonus (spoiler-redacted) quote, to celebrate my achievement, and the fact that two finished copies of A Natural History of Dragons showed up today:
This is how I marched out of [place] toward [place] with what, at first glance, might understandably be mistaken for a small invading army.
Fortunately, the confusion was resolved before anyone fired upon us.
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/571823.html. Comment here or there.
January 17, 2013
this is why the first rule is, put your butt in the chair and start typing
For a night when I really didn't want to start working and whinged and moaned about it and tried to convince myself I could get away with a night off (I really, really can't), those 3500 words sure fell out of my head awfully easy.
Especially given that my aim was only to write 2000 words tonight.
I could take the night off tomorrow, if I wanted. But I need to remember this part is fun, and also that getting the book done sooner rather than later is a good thing.
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/571502.html. Comment here or there.
Especially given that my aim was only to write 2000 words tonight.
I could take the night off tomorrow, if I wanted. But I need to remember this part is fun, and also that getting the book done sooner rather than later is a good thing.
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/571502.html. Comment here or there.
January 15, 2013
Worldbuilders
As in previous years, Patrick Rothfuss is running Worldbuilders, a charity auction/lottery to raise money for Heifer International.
He's been adding prizes in batches, and mine just went live. By donating, your name will go into the lottery, with a chance to win not only copies of Warrior and Witch, but a signed ARC of A Natural History of Dragons. Plus there's, like, a bazillion other awesome prizes -- you can check out the site for more.
Go forth! Donate!
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/571250.html. Comment here or there.
He's been adding prizes in batches, and mine just went live. By donating, your name will go into the lottery, with a chance to win not only copies of Warrior and Witch, but a signed ARC of A Natural History of Dragons. Plus there's, like, a bazillion other awesome prizes -- you can check out the site for more.
Go forth! Donate!
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/571250.html. Comment here or there.
January 14, 2013
Current and upcoming ANHoD stuff
First off, SF Signal is currently doing a Book Cover Smackdown!, Dragon Edition. Head over there to see the four covers A Natural History of Dragons is competing against, and vote for your favorite. (Hint, hint . . . not that I'm biased or anything.)
This and the reviews that have started popping up are the leading edge of the flood. ANHoD comes out February 5th, and starting then, I am going to be ALL OVER THE INTERNET. I'm not kidding; this blog tour we've got planned is srs bsns. I've done what I can to make sure I'm not horribly repeating myself, though, so at least you won't be seeing the same guest post in seventeen places.
But wait! There's more!
I am going to be traveling the weekend after the book's release, doing signings in Seattle (2/6), Portland (2/7), San Diego (2/8), and San Francisco (2/10). I'll post pretty soon with the details of those events, i.e. times and locations. If you're local to any of the four, please do stop by!
And, last but not least, I will be repeating the Month of Letters experiment from last year, this time with Isabella as your correpondant. So in February, you can write to her and receive a handwritten, wax-sealed letter in return. (I'd better start practicing my cursive again . . .)
Oh yeah, and I'm finishing the second book right now and will be revising it some time in the middle of all that stuff. Because I am not a sensible person. Whee!
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/570958.html. Comment here or there.
This and the reviews that have started popping up are the leading edge of the flood. ANHoD comes out February 5th, and starting then, I am going to be ALL OVER THE INTERNET. I'm not kidding; this blog tour we've got planned is srs bsns. I've done what I can to make sure I'm not horribly repeating myself, though, so at least you won't be seeing the same guest post in seventeen places.
But wait! There's more!
I am going to be traveling the weekend after the book's release, doing signings in Seattle (2/6), Portland (2/7), San Diego (2/8), and San Francisco (2/10). I'll post pretty soon with the details of those events, i.e. times and locations. If you're local to any of the four, please do stop by!
And, last but not least, I will be repeating the Month of Letters experiment from last year, this time with Isabella as your correpondant. So in February, you can write to her and receive a handwritten, wax-sealed letter in return. (I'd better start practicing my cursive again . . .)
Oh yeah, and I'm finishing the second book right now and will be revising it some time in the middle of all that stuff. Because I am not a sensible person. Whee!
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/570958.html. Comment here or there.
