Lois McMaster Bujold's Blog, page 28
February 19, 2019
One Drop of Rain
My niece Molly was (somewhat belatedly) diagnosed with colon cancer on her 23rd birthday, two decades ago. What all she did next was... pretty McMasterish, really. She has finally put her story into print.
https://www.amazon.com/One-Drop-Rain-...
Kindle and print-on-demand editions available here.
I read this memoir in an earlier draft. As both a first publication and an indie publication, it needs all the signal boost it can get, so if you think well of it, by all means pass the link along. Molly does make cancer awareness rock.
Ta, Lois.
https://www.amazon.com/One-Drop-Rain-...
Kindle and print-on-demand editions available here.
I read this memoir in an earlier draft. As both a first publication and an indie publication, it needs all the signal boost it can get, so if you think well of it, by all means pass the link along. Molly does make cancer awareness rock.
Ta, Lois.
January 25, 2019
PW kudo for Limnos
Ooh, nice placement and words for "The Prisoner of Limnos" in Publishers Weekly today --
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/b...
The review is spoilerific, but note that PW's main target audience is not end readers, but middle purchasers -- bookstore buyers, librarians, wholesalers -- who don't actually have time to read everything they must buy, but want guidance in selection.
Yay team at Subterranean Press, anyway.
Also viz "Limnos", DreamHaven Books & Comics here in Minneapolis also now has signed copies of the trade (regular) SubPress hardcover available, in-store or mail order.
http://dreamhavenbooks.com/
Ta, Lois.
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/b...
The review is spoilerific, but note that PW's main target audience is not end readers, but middle purchasers -- bookstore buyers, librarians, wholesalers -- who don't actually have time to read everything they must buy, but want guidance in selection.
Yay team at Subterranean Press, anyway.
Also viz "Limnos", DreamHaven Books & Comics here in Minneapolis also now has signed copies of the trade (regular) SubPress hardcover available, in-store or mail order.
http://dreamhavenbooks.com/
Ta, Lois.
Knife Children is up!
It’s alive!
First, a brief technical note. One does not need to own a Kindle device to download and read Kindle books, and I believe the same holds true for Nook and iPad. (Anyone who uses those systems is invited to chime in with details in the comments.) Simply download the free Kindle app onto any device – such as the one you are reading this blog post on right now – and it can be up and you can be reading in minutes. ( https://www.amazon.com/b/ref=ruby_red... )
So, “Knife Children”. What would be the back cover blurb, if ebooks had back covers, goes,
“Lakewalker Barr Foxbrush returns from two years of patrolling the bitter wilds of Luthlia against the enigmatic, destructive entities called malices, only to find that the secret daughter he’d left behind in the hinterland of Oleana has disappeared from her home after a terrible accusation. The search for her will call on more of Barr’s mind and heart than just his mage powers, as he tries to balance his mistakes of the past and his most personal duties to the future.
A stand-alone story set in the world of The Sharing Knife.”
Barnes & Noble link:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/book...
Amazon US link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N4854NX/
iTunes link: at last! : https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/knif...
Not the link we're waiting for, but my iTunes page, which I've been checking for the new entry, looks like this:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/lo...
B&N was first out of the gate this morning. I will add the other two vendors’ links when they go live, at some random hour later on. iTunes may be up already (or they may lag, I never know) but I have no luck getting its search function to cough up book titles, so if anyone else has it, put it in the comments and I’ll transpose it.
Ta, L.
First, a brief technical note. One does not need to own a Kindle device to download and read Kindle books, and I believe the same holds true for Nook and iPad. (Anyone who uses those systems is invited to chime in with details in the comments.) Simply download the free Kindle app onto any device – such as the one you are reading this blog post on right now – and it can be up and you can be reading in minutes. ( https://www.amazon.com/b/ref=ruby_red... )
So, “Knife Children”. What would be the back cover blurb, if ebooks had back covers, goes,
“Lakewalker Barr Foxbrush returns from two years of patrolling the bitter wilds of Luthlia against the enigmatic, destructive entities called malices, only to find that the secret daughter he’d left behind in the hinterland of Oleana has disappeared from her home after a terrible accusation. The search for her will call on more of Barr’s mind and heart than just his mage powers, as he tries to balance his mistakes of the past and his most personal duties to the future.
A stand-alone story set in the world of The Sharing Knife.”
Barnes & Noble link:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/book...
Amazon US link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N4854NX/
iTunes link: at last! : https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/knif...
Not the link we're waiting for, but my iTunes page, which I've been checking for the new entry, looks like this:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/lo...
B&N was first out of the gate this morning. I will add the other two vendors’ links when they go live, at some random hour later on. iTunes may be up already (or they may lag, I never know) but I have no luck getting its search function to cough up book titles, so if anyone else has it, put it in the comments and I’ll transpose it.
Ta, L.
January 21, 2019
essay on The Sharing Knife
If anyone wants more food for thought on the tetralogy, I was just reminded of this older essay --
https://bracketyjack.livejournal.com/...
Ta, L.
https://bracketyjack.livejournal.com/...
Ta, L.
January 15, 2019
Knife Children cover sneak peek
By artist Ron Miller, again. Hot off his electronic drawing board.
[image error]
The final-final-no-really-I-mean-it-stop-hah! edit is still in process, but it shouldn't be much longer. I still need to devise vendor-page ad copy that is informative without being spoilerific without edging into downright secrecy, which is a tricky balance.
Ta, L.
[image error]
The final-final-no-really-I-mean-it-stop-hah! edit is still in process, but it shouldn't be much longer. I still need to devise vendor-page ad copy that is informative without being spoilerific without edging into downright secrecy, which is a tricky balance.
Ta, L.
January 14, 2019
The Prisoner of Limnos in print!
I received my author's copies of the Subterranean Press hardcover edition of the latest Penric & Desdemona novella "The Prisoner of Limnos" on Saturday, and Uncle Hugo's order arrived today. Owner Don Blyly was kind enough to schlep out their cartons for me to sign this afternoon, so 80 copies later Hugo's now has signed trade (regular) copies ready to go for mail order. (And in-store, of course.)
http://www.unclehugo.com/prod/index.s...
(Not to be confused with the signed deluxe leather-bounds I did for SubPress, also now available at a different price.)
Uncle Hugo's still has signed copies of most of the earlier titles in the series as well. (Though not the first, "Penric's Demon", alas.) The trio of "Penric's Mission", "Mira's Last Dance", and "The Prisoner of Limnos" do make a nice sub-series, however.
It looks like Subterranean's own website may be shipping now, too -- at least it is listed as "in stock".
https://subterraneanpress.com/prisone...
Ta, L.
http://www.unclehugo.com/prod/index.s...
(Not to be confused with the signed deluxe leather-bounds I did for SubPress, also now available at a different price.)
Uncle Hugo's still has signed copies of most of the earlier titles in the series as well. (Though not the first, "Penric's Demon", alas.) The trio of "Penric's Mission", "Mira's Last Dance", and "The Prisoner of Limnos" do make a nice sub-series, however.
It looks like Subterranean's own website may be shipping now, too -- at least it is listed as "in stock".
https://subterraneanpress.com/prisone...
Ta, L.
December 25, 2018
new Lakewalker novella impending
I am pleased to report that I have finished the first draft of a new novella in the world of The Sharing Knife. Functionally a novella, anyway; its length, at the moment, is a tad over 49,000 words, so it's technically a short novel. This falls in an odd limbo in categorization -- the official cap for a novella is 40k or 45k words, but the minimum contractual length for a commercially published novel is usually 100k. (It was 80k back when I started, but word-count inflation has occurred since then.) Since it's headed for original e-publication, I don't have to care, so the main concern is to label it so readers won't charge in expecting something twice as long.
The working title was "Barr & Lily", which is also its subject matter, being a sort of slice-of-Lakewalker-life character study. However, that won't do for the final, since it sounds a bit too much like the name of a tea company. The current front-runner is "Knife Children", but I'm not sure yet if that is going to stick.
It takes place about a dozen years after the events of the tetralogy, but should be perfectly readable as a stand-alone. (Old readers will gratify me if they can refrain from fending off potential new readers by telling them they have to read four other books first.)
I won't claim there's no action, *cough*, but the cadre of readers who process only physical violence as "action" may find a sad lack of climactic boss fights. This story has other kinds of business to attend to.
Once my eyes recover from the final push, there's still some editing and proofreading to go, plus arranging for a suitable e-cover. So I'm guessing publication sometime in late January. I will of course post updates here when things are finalized.
Happy holidays to all --
Ta, L.
The working title was "Barr & Lily", which is also its subject matter, being a sort of slice-of-Lakewalker-life character study. However, that won't do for the final, since it sounds a bit too much like the name of a tea company. The current front-runner is "Knife Children", but I'm not sure yet if that is going to stick.
It takes place about a dozen years after the events of the tetralogy, but should be perfectly readable as a stand-alone. (Old readers will gratify me if they can refrain from fending off potential new readers by telling them they have to read four other books first.)
I won't claim there's no action, *cough*, but the cadre of readers who process only physical violence as "action" may find a sad lack of climactic boss fights. This story has other kinds of business to attend to.
Once my eyes recover from the final push, there's still some editing and proofreading to go, plus arranging for a suitable e-cover. So I'm guessing publication sometime in late January. I will of course post updates here when things are finalized.
Happy holidays to all --
Ta, L.
December 22, 2018
another nice Limnos review
...by the ever-amusing James Nicoll.
https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/s...
The ebook and the audio editions of "The Prisoner of Limnos" are of course out now; Subterranean's collectable hardcover will be along at the end of January.
Ta, L
https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/s...
The ebook and the audio editions of "The Prisoner of Limnos" are of course out now; Subterranean's collectable hardcover will be along at the end of January.
Ta, L
December 14, 2018
old interview
I ran across this old interview from 2013 this morning, apparently reposted --
http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/non...
There's not much in its content that I would now take back, although since it was transcribed from a verbal interview, I twitch to copy-edit it. So it goes.
More interviews, if you don't already know, make be found on the Vorkosigan Wiki, here.
http://vorkosigan.wikia.com/wiki/Auth...
I believe the wiki mistress is open to help in building it up, last I heard.
Ta, L.
http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/non...
There's not much in its content that I would now take back, although since it was transcribed from a verbal interview, I twitch to copy-edit it. So it goes.
More interviews, if you don't already know, make be found on the Vorkosigan Wiki, here.
http://vorkosigan.wikia.com/wiki/Auth...
I believe the wiki mistress is open to help in building it up, last I heard.
Ta, L.
December 1, 2018
PW starred review for Limnos
...may be read here, if this link works.
https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781...
A bit spoilery, if you haven't already read the novella. But PW's target audience is purchasing librarians, bookstores, and vendors, not readers per se.
Ta, L.
https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781...
A bit spoilery, if you haven't already read the novella. But PW's target audience is purchasing librarians, bookstores, and vendors, not readers per se.
Ta, L.
