Lois McMaster Bujold's Blog, page 45
June 19, 2016
Bujold covers mine
Apropos a discussion over on the dendarii.com chat list, someone came up with this link...
https://www.google.com/search?q=lois+...
My eyes, they're melting...
(Note to self: never let anyone take a picture of me while I'm talking.)
Ta, L.
(...I miss those early Fictionwise e-covers. They seemed like such a fine idea to me.)
https://www.google.com/search?q=lois+...
My eyes, they're melting...
(Note to self: never let anyone take a picture of me while I'm talking.)
Ta, L.
(...I miss those early Fictionwise e-covers. They seemed like such a fine idea to me.)
Before I ask, it is answered...
I was musing on my chat list that there ought to be a clearing-house or compiled list of all the extant Bujold interviews... lo, it already exists.
http://vorkosigan.wikia.com/wiki/Auth...
If anyone knows of any old interviews still online that do not appear here, the Wiki organizer would like to have the links.
I have a large file on my computer of many of my old interviews except the earliest, lost to old computer systems. Not sure what to do with them all. Some went to paper publications, some to links or sites long dead, some were at-the-time exclusive, some appeared edited down or translated, and while they are all mostly mine, they also have components from the many assorted interviewers. A puzzle.
Ta, L.
http://vorkosigan.wikia.com/wiki/Auth...
If anyone knows of any old interviews still online that do not appear here, the Wiki organizer would like to have the links.
I have a large file on my computer of many of my old interviews except the earliest, lost to old computer systems. Not sure what to do with them all. Some went to paper publications, some to links or sites long dead, some were at-the-time exclusive, some appeared edited down or translated, and while they are all mostly mine, they also have components from the many assorted interviewers. A puzzle.
Ta, L.
June 17, 2016
Dreamhaven has some Penric
For those still looking, Dreamhaven Books & Comics now has some signed copies of the Subterranean Press chapbook of "Penric's Demon" in stock, as well as some other signed titles of mine.
http://dreamhavenbooks.com/
Uncle Hugo's still has some, too.
Ta, L.
http://dreamhavenbooks.com/
Uncle Hugo's still has some, too.
Ta, L.
June 7, 2016
Bujold signs at Uncle Hugo's Sat. June 11
As mentioned in an earlier post, I will be doing a book signing at Uncle Hugo's Science Fiction Bookstore this Saturday, June 11th, at 1 PM.
Store details here:
http://www.unclehugo.com/prod/index.s...
This is mainly in honor of Subterranean Press's hardcover release of the NOVELLA "Penric's Demon", but I will of course sign other of my books ad lib.
Hugo's does not have space to do a program, but I will chat and answer questions as time permits.
Come on down; Hugo's has lots of other books to sell you as well. Make some room in the aisles!
Ta, L.
Sat. PM -- It was a very pleasant signing, not crowded, which gave a chance to chat with folks, some of whom drove from as far away as Iowa and Milwaukee (!). Uncle's still has a few signed Penrics, for anyone who missed the event. (And of course, they do mail order to everywhere.) L.
Store details here:
http://www.unclehugo.com/prod/index.s...
This is mainly in honor of Subterranean Press's hardcover release of the NOVELLA "Penric's Demon", but I will of course sign other of my books ad lib.
Hugo's does not have space to do a program, but I will chat and answer questions as time permits.
Come on down; Hugo's has lots of other books to sell you as well. Make some room in the aisles!
Ta, L.
Sat. PM -- It was a very pleasant signing, not crowded, which gave a chance to chat with folks, some of whom drove from as far away as Iowa and Milwaukee (!). Uncle's still has a few signed Penrics, for anyone who missed the event. (And of course, they do mail order to everywhere.) L.
June 4, 2016
new novella opener
In a moment of over-excitement, I did promise this yesterday... The opening two paragraphs of "Penric and the Shaman".
This will be all the teasers for now; the whole thing should be along in some finite time, less than two weeks I hope. Should I get anything more definite, I'll pass it along.
Meanwhile, next Saturday at 1 PM, I'll be doing a signing including the Subterranean Press hardcover edition of "Penric's Demon" here in Minneapolis at Uncle Hugo's. I'll post another reminder later.
On to the prose...
Five gods, but vultures were huge when seen at this distance.
The bird cocked its pale head on its sinuous neck, peering at Inglis like a nearsighted old man, as if uncertain whether he was its enemy or its… breakfast, judging by the graying of the scudding damp sky overhead. It shuffled back and forth, its pantaloon-feathers stirring on its legs as it raised one talon-tipped foot and contemplated its dilemma. The hooked yellow beak seemed to take aim. Inglis opened his parched mouth and gusted a harsh hiss, like the fire in a blacksmith’s forge when the bellows blew. The bird skipped back a pace, raising vast brown wings, as if it were a villain in a play swirling his cloak just before declaiming his defiance to fate.
Ta, L.
(The second link in the prior post should give you all the visuals you could want.)
This will be all the teasers for now; the whole thing should be along in some finite time, less than two weeks I hope. Should I get anything more definite, I'll pass it along.
Meanwhile, next Saturday at 1 PM, I'll be doing a signing including the Subterranean Press hardcover edition of "Penric's Demon" here in Minneapolis at Uncle Hugo's. I'll post another reminder later.
On to the prose...
Five gods, but vultures were huge when seen at this distance.
The bird cocked its pale head on its sinuous neck, peering at Inglis like a nearsighted old man, as if uncertain whether he was its enemy or its… breakfast, judging by the graying of the scudding damp sky overhead. It shuffled back and forth, its pantaloon-feathers stirring on its legs as it raised one talon-tipped foot and contemplated its dilemma. The hooked yellow beak seemed to take aim. Inglis opened his parched mouth and gusted a harsh hiss, like the fire in a blacksmith’s forge when the bellows blew. The bird skipped back a pace, raising vast brown wings, as if it were a villain in a play swirling his cloak just before declaiming his defiance to fate.
Ta, L.
(The second link in the prior post should give you all the visuals you could want.)
June 3, 2016
Penric and the Shaman
I am pleased to report that I have finished, as of last night, a new Penric & Desdemona novella, to be titled (after some thrashing around) "Penric and the Shaman".
Some of my stories grow their titles organically somewhere along the way; others have to be wrestled out of them at the end, and this was one of those.
The file is now in the hands of the folks who will dress it properly with e-book formatting and a cover image, and vendor-page copy. This will take a while yet, mostly depending on what else is in their work queues. (Strangely, they do not work on weekends. Very mysterious.) I'll post again when it goes live, in a week or two I'm guessing. It will appear, as usual, in the Kindle, Nook, and iPad stores.
What's it about? It's about 37,700 words...
As so often with my work, it's a little hard to decide what genre it falls into. Well, besides "fantasy". I think I will leave that puzzle up to its readers. When partway along, I was asking myself what insane impulse had inspired me to try to make something of novella length multiple viewpoint, but when I'd got to the end, I found out. More on that would be spoilerific at this point, but it was a lot of fun to get a glimpse of Penric and Desdemona from the outside, triangulated, as it were.
I suppose I could tease you with the opening paragraph...
*
Five gods, but vultures were huge when seen at this distance.
*
http://animalwall.xyz/griffon-vulture...
I might post the second paragraph tomorrow...
Ta, L.
Later: So much for trying to be clever with a link to a photo. Let's see if this one works better.
https://www.google.com/search?q=griff...
Some of my stories grow their titles organically somewhere along the way; others have to be wrestled out of them at the end, and this was one of those.
The file is now in the hands of the folks who will dress it properly with e-book formatting and a cover image, and vendor-page copy. This will take a while yet, mostly depending on what else is in their work queues. (Strangely, they do not work on weekends. Very mysterious.) I'll post again when it goes live, in a week or two I'm guessing. It will appear, as usual, in the Kindle, Nook, and iPad stores.
What's it about? It's about 37,700 words...
As so often with my work, it's a little hard to decide what genre it falls into. Well, besides "fantasy". I think I will leave that puzzle up to its readers. When partway along, I was asking myself what insane impulse had inspired me to try to make something of novella length multiple viewpoint, but when I'd got to the end, I found out. More on that would be spoilerific at this point, but it was a lot of fun to get a glimpse of Penric and Desdemona from the outside, triangulated, as it were.
I suppose I could tease you with the opening paragraph...
*
Five gods, but vultures were huge when seen at this distance.
*
http://animalwall.xyz/griffon-vulture...
I might post the second paragraph tomorrow...
Ta, L.
Later: So much for trying to be clever with a link to a photo. Let's see if this one works better.
https://www.google.com/search?q=griff...
May 30, 2016
Penric hardcover launches
Officially, tomorrow, but since my author's copies came last week, and Uncle Hugo's got theirs (in good time for my book signing there Sat. June 11th, 1 PM), I expect the books are trickling into the distribution system now.
This edition is not chasing bestseller lists, so go for them as soon as you see them.
Again: this is the same text as the e-edition. Just on paper, with really good production values.
Someone asked what the "90% sold out" note on the news page at Subterranean Press meant. I believe it means that they had orders for 90% of their print run. Some of these will be going direct to readers, but most will likely be going to wholesalers who sell them on to the general market, plus some bookstores or chains that order direct from the publisher.
Ordering a copy direct from Subterranean is probably your best bet. Or Hugo's, which have signed regular editions for sale right now.
http://www.unclehugo.com/prod/index.s...
http://subterraneanpress.com/store/pr...
(Ooh. I see their "limited edition" has sold out, good.)
And in related news, there will be a new Penric e-novella along in the next month or so. It is finished in first draft, but lacks a title, without which necessary garment it cannot be sent out into the cold world. More details when they firm up.
Ta, L.
Next day note, May 31: I see the SubPress website lists both editions as sold out! On the book's first official day! (Uncle Hugo's has some, though.) That's certainly a first for me.
This does not mean that all copies are in the hands of readers, merely in the hands of the middlemen. Some of them may yet come back on the tide as returns, which makes calculating reprints a very tricky task for both large publishers and small, but the latter have less margin for optimistic mistakes. Should there be firm news on this topic, I'll certainly pass it along.
L.
This edition is not chasing bestseller lists, so go for them as soon as you see them.
Again: this is the same text as the e-edition. Just on paper, with really good production values.
Someone asked what the "90% sold out" note on the news page at Subterranean Press meant. I believe it means that they had orders for 90% of their print run. Some of these will be going direct to readers, but most will likely be going to wholesalers who sell them on to the general market, plus some bookstores or chains that order direct from the publisher.
Ordering a copy direct from Subterranean is probably your best bet. Or Hugo's, which have signed regular editions for sale right now.
http://www.unclehugo.com/prod/index.s...
http://subterraneanpress.com/store/pr...
(Ooh. I see their "limited edition" has sold out, good.)
And in related news, there will be a new Penric e-novella along in the next month or so. It is finished in first draft, but lacks a title, without which necessary garment it cannot be sent out into the cold world. More details when they firm up.
Ta, L.
Next day note, May 31: I see the SubPress website lists both editions as sold out! On the book's first official day! (Uncle Hugo's has some, though.) That's certainly a first for me.
This does not mean that all copies are in the hands of readers, merely in the hands of the middlemen. Some of them may yet come back on the tide as returns, which makes calculating reprints a very tricky task for both large publishers and small, but the latter have less margin for optimistic mistakes. Should there be firm news on this topic, I'll certainly pass it along.
L.
May 23, 2016
Tor.com question
So, I've been checking in now and then with the Vorkosigan Reread series over on Tor.com --
http://www.tor.com/series/rereading-t...
In the last couple of weeks, the posts have stopped showing the comments section. Has anyone else experienced this? Any idea what's causing the glitch?
Puzzled, L.
http://www.tor.com/series/rereading-t...
In the last couple of weeks, the posts have stopped showing the comments section. Has anyone else experienced this? Any idea what's causing the glitch?
Puzzled, L.
May 16, 2016
more Penric news
This note from Subterranean Press about their soon-to-be-released hardcover chapbook of my novella "Penric's Demon" came by in the morning e-stream...
http://subterraneanpress.com/news/loi...
Note that "lots more orders from wholesalers" does not necessarily mean the books will evaporate all at once; some wholesalers over-order, and the books sit around in their warehouses until being shipped back to the publishers ages later for a refund, while in the meantime distributions streams elsewhere run dry. Nevertheless, one's best bet is certainly to order directly from Subterranean's website, linked above. (I suspect it's also better for Subterranean.)
It's important to emphasize, this is the same novella text that I pubbed as an e-book last year. (And that Blackstone did as an audio release in January.) The price tag on the hardcover represents the lack of economies of scale for a small press (and the nice production values), not any kind of wordage-expansion. There may be more about Penric and Des in due course, but not here.
In honor of the volume's launch at the end of this month, I will be doing a signing at Uncle Hugo's Science Fiction Bookstore here in Minneapolis on Saturday, June 11, at 1 PM till we run out of people.
http://www.unclehugo.com/prod/index.s...
I will also be happy to sign whatever else of mine people bring in (or, with luck for the bookseller, buy on the spot.)
Ta, L.
http://subterraneanpress.com/news/loi...
Note that "lots more orders from wholesalers" does not necessarily mean the books will evaporate all at once; some wholesalers over-order, and the books sit around in their warehouses until being shipped back to the publishers ages later for a refund, while in the meantime distributions streams elsewhere run dry. Nevertheless, one's best bet is certainly to order directly from Subterranean's website, linked above. (I suspect it's also better for Subterranean.)
It's important to emphasize, this is the same novella text that I pubbed as an e-book last year. (And that Blackstone did as an audio release in January.) The price tag on the hardcover represents the lack of economies of scale for a small press (and the nice production values), not any kind of wordage-expansion. There may be more about Penric and Des in due course, but not here.
In honor of the volume's launch at the end of this month, I will be doing a signing at Uncle Hugo's Science Fiction Bookstore here in Minneapolis on Saturday, June 11, at 1 PM till we run out of people.
http://www.unclehugo.com/prod/index.s...
I will also be happy to sign whatever else of mine people bring in (or, with luck for the bookseller, buy on the spot.)
Ta, L.
May 7, 2016
The Warrior's Apprentice 30th anniversary edition
...is out this week. Very nice trade paperback format.
http://www.amazon.com/Warriors-Appren...
Sadly, I am now old enough to really appreciate the slightly larger, less crowded print that the trade paperback format allows.
(I see the Amazon/Baen suggestion for its place in the series order is yet another variant -- by original publication, I think. As ever, my suggestions are here: https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/... )
Ta, L.
http://www.amazon.com/Warriors-Appren...
Sadly, I am now old enough to really appreciate the slightly larger, less crowded print that the trade paperback format allows.
(I see the Amazon/Baen suggestion for its place in the series order is yet another variant -- by original publication, I think. As ever, my suggestions are here: https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/... )
Ta, L.
