Lois McMaster Bujold's Blog, page 32
May 17, 2018
Flowers of Vashnoi spoiler thread
(...and typo reportage zone.)
Since there seem to be some speed readers out there (and the story is short), herewith the promised spoiler discussion space for persons who have already read the story and wish to talk about it with each other.
Have fun, be nice...
Ta, L.
Later: Hm, I observe there seem to be two entries for "The Flowers of Vashnoi" here on Goodreads. They should be combined or collated somehow. No idea how, as I have no idea how they even appear in the first place, but presumably someone must be doing something, somehow.
Later still: The duplication problem seems to have been fixed, with no more effort from me than venting my woes vaguely into the air. It's sort of like magic. Be careful what you wish for...
Pleased, L.
Since there seem to be some speed readers out there (and the story is short), herewith the promised spoiler discussion space for persons who have already read the story and wish to talk about it with each other.
Have fun, be nice...
Ta, L.
Later: Hm, I observe there seem to be two entries for "The Flowers of Vashnoi" here on Goodreads. They should be combined or collated somehow. No idea how, as I have no idea how they even appear in the first place, but presumably someone must be doing something, somehow.
Later still: The duplication problem seems to have been fixed, with no more effort from me than venting my woes vaguely into the air. It's sort of like magic. Be careful what you wish for...
Pleased, L.
The Flowers of Vashnoi goes live
It's up at Nook:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-...
And Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D4M7N3L/...
iBooks:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-...
Vendor copy goes:
"Still new to her duties as Lady Vorkosigan, Ekaterin is working together with expatriate scientist Enrique Borgos on a radical scheme to recover the lands of the Vashnoi exclusion zone, lingering radioactive legacy of the Cetagandan invasion of the planet Barrayar. When Enrique’s experimental bioengineered creatures go missing, the pair discover that the zone still conceals deadly old secrets.
This novella falls after Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance in the Vorkosigan series timeline, but may be read entirely independently. The Vorkosigan saga was the recipient of the first Hugo Award for best science fiction series in 2017."
***
Remember, people, this is a NOVELLA, officially defined as a story between 17,500 and 40,000 words (sometime 45,000.) At around 22,400 words, this one is about the same length as "Winterfair Gifts".
The only publicity this is going to get are these blog posts, so do feel free to mention and link it around in appropriate places. (Amazon always gets plenty of reviews; mention elsewhere would improve the spread.)
In a while, I'll set up a spoiler discussion thread. Those seem to have been fun in the past.
Ta, L.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-...
And Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D4M7N3L/...
iBooks:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-...
Vendor copy goes:
"Still new to her duties as Lady Vorkosigan, Ekaterin is working together with expatriate scientist Enrique Borgos on a radical scheme to recover the lands of the Vashnoi exclusion zone, lingering radioactive legacy of the Cetagandan invasion of the planet Barrayar. When Enrique’s experimental bioengineered creatures go missing, the pair discover that the zone still conceals deadly old secrets.
This novella falls after Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance in the Vorkosigan series timeline, but may be read entirely independently. The Vorkosigan saga was the recipient of the first Hugo Award for best science fiction series in 2017."
***
Remember, people, this is a NOVELLA, officially defined as a story between 17,500 and 40,000 words (sometime 45,000.) At around 22,400 words, this one is about the same length as "Winterfair Gifts".
The only publicity this is going to get are these blog posts, so do feel free to mention and link it around in appropriate places. (Amazon always gets plenty of reviews; mention elsewhere would improve the spread.)
In a while, I'll set up a spoiler discussion thread. Those seem to have been fun in the past.
Ta, L.
May 14, 2018
Flowers of Vashnoi cover sneak peek
Just finished this morning. I'm visiting the artist so I got to watch!
Ta, L.
Ta, L.
May 10, 2018
Flowers of Vashnoi for SubPress
I'm pleased to report that Subterranean Press has contracted to do a nice collector's hardcover edition of the short novella "The Flowers of Vashnoi", much like the Penric stories. It's much too early for publication information, as the ink is barely dry on the contract, but when there is some, I'll pass it along. Though since the story has dropped into their publication queue without warning, I'm thinking 2019 is more likely than 2018.
I'm hoping to get the e-edition up by late next week, though that's still a bit speculative due to not all the pieces being in hand yet. I will, of course, also report here when there's firm news. (Ditto viz audio; it's only just submitted, but you'll get news if I do.)
I'm going to be offline for about a week, so there will be a delay in my answering questions, comments, or email for a bit. I'll report in when connected again.
* * *
Long ago, The Farside cartoon had a panel about "No News Day Farm", where they raised the two-headed calves and peculiar vegetables. So for your no-news day, I shall post a reminder of this much-neglected print-on-demand paper title:
We put it up through distributor Ingram's, so it should be orderable through any bookseller that deals with them, and of course online, ferex, https://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Ring-Lo...
(The e-edition is of course also up at the usual three vendors, Nook, iTunes, and Kindle.)
See you later,
Ta, L.
I'm hoping to get the e-edition up by late next week, though that's still a bit speculative due to not all the pieces being in hand yet. I will, of course, also report here when there's firm news. (Ditto viz audio; it's only just submitted, but you'll get news if I do.)
I'm going to be offline for about a week, so there will be a delay in my answering questions, comments, or email for a bit. I'll report in when connected again.
* * *
Long ago, The Farside cartoon had a panel about "No News Day Farm", where they raised the two-headed calves and peculiar vegetables. So for your no-news day, I shall post a reminder of this much-neglected print-on-demand paper title:
We put it up through distributor Ingram's, so it should be orderable through any bookseller that deals with them, and of course online, ferex, https://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Ring-Lo...
(The e-edition is of course also up at the usual three vendors, Nook, iTunes, and Kindle.)
See you later,
Ta, L.
May 2, 2018
Penric calligraphy
By permission, calligraphy artist Ariela Houseman has produced this charming illumination:
https://geekcalligraphy.com/art-print...
Very appropriate art for Penric! And his god-infested world.
Ta, L.
https://geekcalligraphy.com/art-print...
Very appropriate art for Penric! And his god-infested world.
Ta, L.
April 29, 2018
The Flowers of Vashnoi bloom in May
I am pleased and somewhat surprised to report that a new Vorkosiverse novella is upcoming, probably in late May.
Title is “The Flowers of Vashnoi”, cover label is going to be “an Ekaterin Vorkosigan novella”, and the length is about 22,400 words, roughly the same as “Winterfair Gifts”.
As usual, no pre-order will be set up; you can just buy it when it goes live, at our usual three online vendors Kindle, iTunes, and Nook. I will certainly post the news when that occurs.
Final revisions are almost complete – it’s down to the stage where I spend all morning adding two sentences and all afternoon taking them back out, which is generally a sign to stop. The other part to be nailed down is the e-cover, still in development, so no sneak peek yet.
Possibly my shortest novella, this one has, oddly, taken the longest of anything to complete. My computer files claim I started the first draft back in November, 2011. (I could not even remember.) It ran along well for a while, then hit a brick wall and died on impact, I thought. I believed it was buried forever, but apparently it was just cryofrozen, because it came back to life a couple of months ago when I was trying and failing to boot up a new adventure for Penric and Desdemona. When my backbrain hands me a gift like that, I’ve found it’s better not to refuse it.
Like starting any car that’s been in storage too long, there were snags. At first I thought it needed a new viewpoint added, but I tried a scene that way and it just didn’t fit in. There were some other issues, including confusion as to length. I’d thought it was supposed to be much longer; it turned out the key was to let it be shorter. Then, at last, it began to move. I knew I was getting somewhere when the real title finally fell into place. Ah. Aha. So there.
Figuring out the best time to announce an e-publication is an on-going experiment. Too early, and people will have forgotten it by pub date; too late, and there isn’t time for word to get around. One week’s notice, last time, seemed too tight. I shall try 3 – 4 weeks this outing and compare. (I’m sure someone with a much larger data set than mine has an algorithm for this.)
Ta, L.
Title is “The Flowers of Vashnoi”, cover label is going to be “an Ekaterin Vorkosigan novella”, and the length is about 22,400 words, roughly the same as “Winterfair Gifts”.
As usual, no pre-order will be set up; you can just buy it when it goes live, at our usual three online vendors Kindle, iTunes, and Nook. I will certainly post the news when that occurs.
Final revisions are almost complete – it’s down to the stage where I spend all morning adding two sentences and all afternoon taking them back out, which is generally a sign to stop. The other part to be nailed down is the e-cover, still in development, so no sneak peek yet.
Possibly my shortest novella, this one has, oddly, taken the longest of anything to complete. My computer files claim I started the first draft back in November, 2011. (I could not even remember.) It ran along well for a while, then hit a brick wall and died on impact, I thought. I believed it was buried forever, but apparently it was just cryofrozen, because it came back to life a couple of months ago when I was trying and failing to boot up a new adventure for Penric and Desdemona. When my backbrain hands me a gift like that, I’ve found it’s better not to refuse it.
Like starting any car that’s been in storage too long, there were snags. At first I thought it needed a new viewpoint added, but I tried a scene that way and it just didn’t fit in. There were some other issues, including confusion as to length. I’d thought it was supposed to be much longer; it turned out the key was to let it be shorter. Then, at last, it began to move. I knew I was getting somewhere when the real title finally fell into place. Ah. Aha. So there.
Figuring out the best time to announce an e-publication is an on-going experiment. Too early, and people will have forgotten it by pub date; too late, and there isn’t time for word to get around. One week’s notice, last time, seemed too tight. I shall try 3 – 4 weeks this outing and compare. (I’m sure someone with a much larger data set than mine has an algorithm for this.)
Ta, L.
April 24, 2018
Chesley Bonestell biopic
My old friend and sometime e-cover artist, Ron Miller, tells me he's off to LA this week to see the first showing of the new Chesley Bonestell biopic --
http://www.chesleybonestell.com/home....
On which Ron helped work. More info and a trailer at the website.
Anyone in the LA area might even get a chance to get out and see the premiere in person.
Ta, L.
http://www.chesleybonestell.com/home....
On which Ron helped work. More info and a trailer at the website.
Anyone in the LA area might even get a chance to get out and see the premiere in person.
Ta, L.
April 14, 2018
March 31, 2018
World of the Five Gods makes Hugo ballot
So, the 2018 final Hugo ballot, for F&SF works published in 2017, was announced today. I am pleased to report that the World of the Five Gods series, aka the Chalion series, was nominated in the Best Series category.
The full list is reported in many places, including Tor.com --
https://www.tor.com/2018/03/31/2018-h...
More information on this year's Worldcon, to be held in August in San Jose, CA, here:
https://www.worldcon76.org/
Ta, L.
The full list is reported in many places, including Tor.com --
https://www.tor.com/2018/03/31/2018-h...
More information on this year's Worldcon, to be held in August in San Jose, CA, here:
https://www.worldcon76.org/
Ta, L.
March 25, 2018
Bujold at Southeast Library, MPLS, April 7th
I will be participating in a chat on the subject of the Penric & Desdemona novellas at the Rivendell Discussion Group on Saturday, April 7th, at 1:30 PM, here in Minneapolis at the Southeast Library. The meeting is open to the public.
Particulars here:
http://rivendellergroup.com/next-rive...
More info on the group here:
http://rivendellergroup.com/
Whether it ends up as a round-table discussion or more of an author Q&A will depend on how many people show up, and if there's a blizzard that day, but I'm sure it will all work out somehow.
Ta, L.
Particulars here:
http://rivendellergroup.com/next-rive...
More info on the group here:
http://rivendellergroup.com/
Whether it ends up as a round-table discussion or more of an author Q&A will depend on how many people show up, and if there's a blizzard that day, but I'm sure it will all work out somehow.
Ta, L.
