Lois McMaster Bujold's Blog, page 4
November 8, 2024
Dealing With Dragons play in MPLS in January
My friend Pat Wrede informs me:
"The Phoenix Theater in Minneapolis is doing a production of Dealing with Dragons! Tickets at
https://www.phoenixtheatermpls.org/
--you currently have to scroll right a ways, because the play runs January 17-Feb 2, and tickets are general admission for $22 for adults, cheaper for kids."
Anyone who plans to be in Minneapolis in late January, take note! It looks like it's going to be great fun.
If you've not yet read The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede, give yourself a treat, in any location at any time. It's a 4-volume series, starting with the above mentioned Dealing with Dragons.
Ta, L.
"The Phoenix Theater in Minneapolis is doing a production of Dealing with Dragons! Tickets at
https://www.phoenixtheatermpls.org/
--you currently have to scroll right a ways, because the play runs January 17-Feb 2, and tickets are general admission for $22 for adults, cheaper for kids."
Anyone who plans to be in Minneapolis in late January, take note! It looks like it's going to be great fun.
If you've not yet read The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede, give yourself a treat, in any location at any time. It's a 4-volume series, starting with the above mentioned Dealing with Dragons.
Ta, L.
October 26, 2024
VK series musings
The conclusion of this year's Plot Trysts exploration of the entire Vorkosigan series ( https://plottrysts.wordpress.com/meg-... ) has me thinking about the work as a whole, seen as a single creation greater than the sum of its parts. I think I would add two remarks to my otherwise pretty complete author's reading-order guide. ( https://vorkosigan.fandom.com/wiki/Th... and also the more spoilery but inclusive https://vorkosigan.fandom.com/wiki/Vo... )
It was brought home to me what a profoundly different reading experience one gets from The Warrior's Apprentice depending on whether one has read the Shards of Honor - Barrayar duology first or not. Not necessarily better or worse, but it sure changes the progression and direction of suspense and surprise.
And the other was that one really, really needs to not leave out the 3-novella collection Borders of Infinity (including the frame story.) Those stories are short, not minor, and have knock-on effects through all that follows. At the latest, BoI should be read before Brothers in Arms. I'd been saying for a while that Brothers in Arms, Mirror Dance and Memory made a three-volume arc that should go in that order, but I now really think BoI should go first as the introduction of that arc.
Comments on your experiences of different first-reading orders welcome below. With 17 volumes total (including the BoI triple collection as a novel, which I do) and the two stray uncollected novellas there are a lot of options...
Ta, L.
It was brought home to me what a profoundly different reading experience one gets from The Warrior's Apprentice depending on whether one has read the Shards of Honor - Barrayar duology first or not. Not necessarily better or worse, but it sure changes the progression and direction of suspense and surprise.
And the other was that one really, really needs to not leave out the 3-novella collection Borders of Infinity (including the frame story.) Those stories are short, not minor, and have knock-on effects through all that follows. At the latest, BoI should be read before Brothers in Arms. I'd been saying for a while that Brothers in Arms, Mirror Dance and Memory made a three-volume arc that should go in that order, but I now really think BoI should go first as the introduction of that arc.
Comments on your experiences of different first-reading orders welcome below. With 17 volumes total (including the BoI triple collection as a novel, which I do) and the two stray uncollected novellas there are a lot of options...
Ta, L.
October 23, 2024
art in Louisiana
Now with new link that should work for folks besides me -- let me know --
Starting soon:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Bt9c...
If you are in the Lafayette - Arnaudville area starting Oct. 26th, swing by and take a look! I understand the Art and Nature Halloween Festival this coming weekend is a lot of fun.
Ta, L.
Starting soon:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Bt9c...
If you are in the Lafayette - Arnaudville area starting Oct. 26th, swing by and take a look! I understand the Art and Nature Halloween Festival this coming weekend is a lot of fun.
Ta, L.
October 10, 2024
McMaster interviews McMaster, 1959
In my recent Plot Trysts interview ( https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog... ) I'd remarked about a recording my father had made of my grandfather in 1959, talking mostly about his childhood in Washington, Pennsylvania in the 1890s. Commenter Brad longed to see a transcript. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology and my son's IT support, I'm able to go that one better. The actual interview is now posted here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/10JBj...
And should be publicly listen-able.
This recording has a precarious history. It was originally made on my dad's old (then new) 7" reel tape recorder, up in his home office up on the second floor of our Columbus, Ohio, house, resulting in a reel of tape I rescued at some point after he passed away. It was by then (late 80s) moldy and disheartening, but I somehow got the great folks at Reader's Chair, my then-audiobooks company, to clean it up and re-record in on a CD and some mini-cassettes. Mini-cassettes are now also obsolete, but I still have the CD, which still plays in my Blu Ray player. I'd been wanting to get it into a shareable audio file for some time, and this gave me the push. (Thanks, Brad and Rachael!)
I'd meditated in my Plot Trysts interview on the elastic nature of time, that in the course of 130 years, which seems, or used to seem, like a long time, three people spanning the whole could still at one point talk to one another. We can't do that anymore, but at least now anyone can listen.
Ta, L.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/10JBj...
And should be publicly listen-able.
This recording has a precarious history. It was originally made on my dad's old (then new) 7" reel tape recorder, up in his home office up on the second floor of our Columbus, Ohio, house, resulting in a reel of tape I rescued at some point after he passed away. It was by then (late 80s) moldy and disheartening, but I somehow got the great folks at Reader's Chair, my then-audiobooks company, to clean it up and re-record in on a CD and some mini-cassettes. Mini-cassettes are now also obsolete, but I still have the CD, which still plays in my Blu Ray player. I'd been wanting to get it into a shareable audio file for some time, and this gave me the push. (Thanks, Brad and Rachael!)
I'd meditated in my Plot Trysts interview on the elastic nature of time, that in the course of 130 years, which seems, or used to seem, like a long time, three people spanning the whole could still at one point talk to one another. We can't do that anymore, but at least now anyone can listen.
Ta, L.
September 28, 2024
Renegades starts Oct. 1 with episode on Judy-Lynn Del Rey
The link is now live!
https://www.pbs.org/video/judy-lynn-d...
Not only did they use two sentences out of my hour of recording, they showcased some Miles Vorkosigan books, yes! I'm so pleased.
So...
By an unexpected chain of recommendations, I was invited to contribute to a PBS documentary series on high-achieving Americans with disabilities, of which the first of five episodes features science fiction editor Judy-Lynn Del Rey, co-founder of Del Rey books and a powerhouse editor in the 70s and 80s. I'd never actually met Judy, and did not know she was afflicted with dwarfism, because no one in SF who talked about her work ever thought it important to mention. Granted, pre-internet, editors were invisible anyway. (And writers weren't all that visible either. Ah, those were the days.)
Anyway, this past spring PBS sent a camera and lighting crew out to my house for an interview. The camera guy was there in my living room, the director was on the east coast, and the interviewer on the west coast, all communicating via laptop. It was all technologically fascinating, from my point of view. We recorded for about an hour. If they use more than one sentence from me out of all that, I'll be surprised. Hope it's a useful one... (I haven't seen the final yet, and have now forgotten everything I said, typical for me with oral interviews.)
Trailer for this digital production here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MivLn...
Ta, L.
https://www.pbs.org/video/judy-lynn-d...
Not only did they use two sentences out of my hour of recording, they showcased some Miles Vorkosigan books, yes! I'm so pleased.
So...
By an unexpected chain of recommendations, I was invited to contribute to a PBS documentary series on high-achieving Americans with disabilities, of which the first of five episodes features science fiction editor Judy-Lynn Del Rey, co-founder of Del Rey books and a powerhouse editor in the 70s and 80s. I'd never actually met Judy, and did not know she was afflicted with dwarfism, because no one in SF who talked about her work ever thought it important to mention. Granted, pre-internet, editors were invisible anyway. (And writers weren't all that visible either. Ah, those were the days.)
Anyway, this past spring PBS sent a camera and lighting crew out to my house for an interview. The camera guy was there in my living room, the director was on the east coast, and the interviewer on the west coast, all communicating via laptop. It was all technologically fascinating, from my point of view. We recorded for about an hour. If they use more than one sentence from me out of all that, I'll be surprised. Hope it's a useful one... (I haven't seen the final yet, and have now forgotten everything I said, typical for me with oral interviews.)
Trailer for this digital production here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MivLn...
Ta, L.
September 24, 2024
Plot Trysts finishes with new Bujold interview
Now up here:
https://plottrysts.wordpress.com/cate...
I've very much enjoyed listening to all these episodes this year. My interview was recorded some months back, before I'd got to hear all the episodes, but it seems to have come out pretty well despite that.
A more direct link here:
https://plottrysts.wordpress.com/2024...
One can actually find the podcast at a number of different sites, so if the first one doesn't work for you, scout around.
Ta, L.
https://plottrysts.wordpress.com/cate...
I've very much enjoyed listening to all these episodes this year. My interview was recorded some months back, before I'd got to hear all the episodes, but it seems to have come out pretty well despite that.
A more direct link here:
https://plottrysts.wordpress.com/2024...
One can actually find the podcast at a number of different sites, so if the first one doesn't work for you, scout around.
Ta, L.
September 18, 2024
VK series relaunches in Italian
Just drifted in yesterday from my agent were my author's copies of the big new omnibus edition of Falling Free, Shards of Honor, and Barrayar, a very nice Vorkosigan series starter set.
Mondadori's website entry here:
https://www.mondadoristore.it/L-inizi...
Also available, apparently, as a Kobo ebook:
https://www.mondadoristore.it/VORKOSI...
Although a search of the Kobo website does not immediately turn it up. (My search-fu may be defective.)
It pops right up on Kindle, though:
https://www.amazon.com/VORKOSIGAN-Lin...
Ciao! L.
Mondadori's website entry here:
https://www.mondadoristore.it/L-inizi...
Also available, apparently, as a Kobo ebook:
https://www.mondadoristore.it/VORKOSI...
Although a search of the Kobo website does not immediately turn it up. (My search-fu may be defective.)
It pops right up on Kindle, though:
https://www.amazon.com/VORKOSIGAN-Lin...
Ciao! L.
September 11, 2024
new VK editions of old titles
There are now my indie (Spectrum) editions of the last 3 Vorkosigan books, with Ron Miller's coordinated e-covers, available in the North American market. (We've had them up in the UK and World markets for quite some time.)
Cryoburn:
https://www.amazon.com/CryoBurn-Vorko...
Captain Vorpatril's Alliance:
https://www.amazon.com/Captain-Vorpat...
Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen:
https://www.amazon.com/Gentleman-Jole...
You may have to hit the "see all formats and editions" button to make them come up, if your search pulls up the earlier versions. (Apart from maybe a slightly different set of typos, the text is the same as prior editions.) They are not up on all our vendors yet, but we're making progress.
Ta, L.
Cryoburn:
https://www.amazon.com/CryoBurn-Vorko...
Captain Vorpatril's Alliance:
https://www.amazon.com/Captain-Vorpat...
Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen:
https://www.amazon.com/Gentleman-Jole...
You may have to hit the "see all formats and editions" button to make them come up, if your search pulls up the earlier versions. (Apart from maybe a slightly different set of typos, the text is the same as prior editions.) They are not up on all our vendors yet, but we're making progress.
Ta, L.
September 4, 2024
VK songvid
I am very fond of songvids of my favorite visual media stories. Some of these creative and tech savvy fan folks have done some fine things with manga stills. (So beyond my skills!) But it is very hard indeed to make songvids of stories that have never had visual media or visual media adaptations at all. I was very pleased to stumble over this one of the Vorkosiverse:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga_jw...
Enjoy, L.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga_jw...
Enjoy, L.
August 8, 2024
cover reveal SubPress Demon Daughter
Coming up in January, 2025, will be the Subterranean Press limited signed edition of "Demon Daughter". The cover has just been finalized.
The cover creation process was, as always, most interesting. Artist Lauren Saint-Onge offered 4 sketches, one of an Otta-in-the-water, dramatic night scene but too much like Ron Miller's e-cover; two with Pen and Otta standing against a backdrop of smoking buildings; and this teaching moment, which is the one I glommed onto pretty instantly. I think you can see why. Best representation of Penric since Lauren's excellent art for "The Physicians of Vilnoc".
Ta, L.
(There was another version with the title in sort of a butterscotch color to match the candles, that I almost went for, but I thought the cream white showed up better. Colors are tricky -- they look different on every device, and different yet again when printed on paper. Hm.)
The cover creation process was, as always, most interesting. Artist Lauren Saint-Onge offered 4 sketches, one of an Otta-in-the-water, dramatic night scene but too much like Ron Miller's e-cover; two with Pen and Otta standing against a backdrop of smoking buildings; and this teaching moment, which is the one I glommed onto pretty instantly. I think you can see why. Best representation of Penric since Lauren's excellent art for "The Physicians of Vilnoc".
Ta, L.
(There was another version with the title in sort of a butterscotch color to match the candles, that I almost went for, but I thought the cream white showed up better. Colors are tricky -- they look different on every device, and different yet again when printed on paper. Hm.)
