Lois McMaster Bujold's Blog, page 50
January 16, 2016
JG&RQ e-book out today; spoiler thread #2
Aha. Christmas morning, grownup style...
The Baen e-edition of Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen goes on sale today, at all the usual suspects.
This will create a second wave of readers and reviews, in service of which I offer this thread open for spoilerific inter-fan discussion. (There was an earlier such thread back in October when the eARC, which is now off-sale in favor of the final, came out.) Persons who like their first reading free of spoilers may want to steer clear. Have fun!
Hardcover due out Feb. 2 -- I hope there will be some readers left to buy it -- likewise the audio edition.
***
Speaking of things e-, I was reminded I hadn't mentioned this e-exclusive book lately, a collection of my nonfiction writings I put together, somewhat experimentally, a couple of years back.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
in Kindle, Nook, and iBook stores.
Let's see what happens...
Ta, L.
The Baen e-edition of Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen goes on sale today, at all the usual suspects.
This will create a second wave of readers and reviews, in service of which I offer this thread open for spoilerific inter-fan discussion. (There was an earlier such thread back in October when the eARC, which is now off-sale in favor of the final, came out.) Persons who like their first reading free of spoilers may want to steer clear. Have fun!
Hardcover due out Feb. 2 -- I hope there will be some readers left to buy it -- likewise the audio edition.
***
Speaking of things e-, I was reminded I hadn't mentioned this e-exclusive book lately, a collection of my nonfiction writings I put together, somewhat experimentally, a couple of years back.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
in Kindle, Nook, and iBook stores.
Let's see what happens...
Ta, L.
January 14, 2016
Wrede on Writing, again
Pat just wound up a nifty 6-post series on writing dialogue, which may be of interest to the aspiring writers among you.
Starts here:
http://www.pcwrede.com/dialog-in-gene...
Ta, L.
(I should add, anyone who wants a handy collected version of her prior posts, try this: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... )
Starts here:
http://www.pcwrede.com/dialog-in-gene...
Ta, L.
(I should add, anyone who wants a handy collected version of her prior posts, try this: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... )
January 9, 2016
GJ&RQ sample chapters link
For anyone who missed them, the first four sample chapters of Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen may be found here:
http://www.baenebooks.com/chapters/A9...
One week till the e-edition goes on sale, which will be available through www.baenebooks.com as well as the usual suspects -- Amazon, B&N, Kobo, etc. I see Amazon has their Kindle page for it up this morning.
Ta, L.
http://www.baenebooks.com/chapters/A9...
One week till the e-edition goes on sale, which will be available through www.baenebooks.com as well as the usual suspects -- Amazon, B&N, Kobo, etc. I see Amazon has their Kindle page for it up this morning.
Ta, L.
January 2, 2016
"Penric's Demon" releases in audio on Monday Jan. 4
From Blackstone/Downpour, and their assorted affiliates including Audible.
http://www.downpour.com/catalog/produ...
Available now for pre-orders. Pass the word...
Ta, L. (Remember to tell people it is a NOVELLA, not a novel. There was significant confusion about that when it came out as a e-book last summer.)
http://www.downpour.com/catalog/produ...
Available now for pre-orders. Pass the word...
Ta, L. (Remember to tell people it is a NOVELLA, not a novel. There was significant confusion about that when it came out as a e-book last summer.)
January 1, 2016
one more month...
Happy New Year, all!
So, only one more month to the hardcover release of Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen. My author's copies of the actual printed book have arrived -- still a thrill even after all these years and books. They look very clean, although I'm sure I'll open it to some random page or another and spot that last elusive typo that escaped all nets. Anyway, the die is cast, the print run is set, etc. etc., and the copies are all ready to start wending their way through the book distribution system.
One year ago, I was just coming to grips with Chapter Fourteen. Huh.
Here's a scan of the Real Thing. Baen has done their usual trick of foiling the art; very pretty from some angles, goes black at others, looks weird on a scan.
and the back:
The previews of reader-response from the eARC release have been, hm, interesting. I expected them to be all over the map, and they are (as they always are, for every book, so that's a sucker-bet.) Different pools of readers seem to have curiously different profiles of positive and negative responses. Trained reader-expectations for some species of action-adventure seem to be interfering the most with taking in the book as it is on first reading. Those readers who speed through the book waiting for the ninjas to burst through the windows and the physical violence to commence for "the story to start" will still be waiting when they shoot off the end, having missed the actual story that was being laid in front of them, and risk being artificially nonplussed.
To reiterate: not an action-adventure, not a political thriller, not a mystery, not YA, not a dystopia, not grimdark. It contains a romance as a major subplot, but (as revealed by the structure and sequencing) that is not the main plot, which is, in fact, SF-nal. "Character study" is not an unfair summation, but characters in the context of technologically driven social changes in their world.
Although I DO WISH old readers would stop telling new ones that they have to read umpty-ump other books before this one. If I've done my job as I hope, they don't.
When writing, I have always to keep in mind those readers who will be picking up this book as their first Bujold or first Vorkosiverse -- the story must be minimally complete in this kit. This is a harder and harder hat trick to pull off as a series advances. The choices are to stuff in wodges of recap, to leave new readers to sink, or to turn away from stories heavily dependent on what went before. This being the only story I seemed to want to tell, the last was not an option.
I hope a new reader will get a complete read; it's even possible that a new reader will get a better reading, as they won't be arguing with the text in their head so much, but rather, attending to the story in front of them, but I have not seen a review from that quadrant yet. I'm very curious about that, although, of course, such readers will be all over the map as well; it'll just be a different map.
Baen plans their e-book release of the finished edition for January 16th. (The eARC will go off-sale at that point.)
Ta, L.
So, only one more month to the hardcover release of Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen. My author's copies of the actual printed book have arrived -- still a thrill even after all these years and books. They look very clean, although I'm sure I'll open it to some random page or another and spot that last elusive typo that escaped all nets. Anyway, the die is cast, the print run is set, etc. etc., and the copies are all ready to start wending their way through the book distribution system.
One year ago, I was just coming to grips with Chapter Fourteen. Huh.
Here's a scan of the Real Thing. Baen has done their usual trick of foiling the art; very pretty from some angles, goes black at others, looks weird on a scan.
and the back:
The previews of reader-response from the eARC release have been, hm, interesting. I expected them to be all over the map, and they are (as they always are, for every book, so that's a sucker-bet.) Different pools of readers seem to have curiously different profiles of positive and negative responses. Trained reader-expectations for some species of action-adventure seem to be interfering the most with taking in the book as it is on first reading. Those readers who speed through the book waiting for the ninjas to burst through the windows and the physical violence to commence for "the story to start" will still be waiting when they shoot off the end, having missed the actual story that was being laid in front of them, and risk being artificially nonplussed.
To reiterate: not an action-adventure, not a political thriller, not a mystery, not YA, not a dystopia, not grimdark. It contains a romance as a major subplot, but (as revealed by the structure and sequencing) that is not the main plot, which is, in fact, SF-nal. "Character study" is not an unfair summation, but characters in the context of technologically driven social changes in their world.
Although I DO WISH old readers would stop telling new ones that they have to read umpty-ump other books before this one. If I've done my job as I hope, they don't.
When writing, I have always to keep in mind those readers who will be picking up this book as their first Bujold or first Vorkosiverse -- the story must be minimally complete in this kit. This is a harder and harder hat trick to pull off as a series advances. The choices are to stuff in wodges of recap, to leave new readers to sink, or to turn away from stories heavily dependent on what went before. This being the only story I seemed to want to tell, the last was not an option.
I hope a new reader will get a complete read; it's even possible that a new reader will get a better reading, as they won't be arguing with the text in their head so much, but rather, attending to the story in front of them, but I have not seen a review from that quadrant yet. I'm very curious about that, although, of course, such readers will be all over the map as well; it'll just be a different map.
Baen plans their e-book release of the finished edition for January 16th. (The eARC will go off-sale at that point.)
Ta, L.
December 6, 2015
it's Greek to me...
I did an interview recently for a Greek fan site; it is now translated and up.
http://community.sff.gr/topic/16562-%...
I have done so many interviews over the years, I have considered taking all the interviews in my files, munging them together in one huge unit, sorting them by topic, and setting them out like a gigantic interview salad bar. Then, whenever a new interviewer popped up, I could just hand them a plate and point.
I suppose a "FAQ" file would perform some of the same functions. Same implementation problem, though.
However, the Goodreads "Ask the Author" feature is performing some of that function, as it accumulates. Qs and As may be found here:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/1609...
Happily, Goodreads has recently added a "sort" button, which helps.
Ta, L.
(I am also reminded, a mine of older interviews may be found here:
http://www.dendarii.com/interviews.html
Some links may have aged out of viability.)
http://community.sff.gr/topic/16562-%...
I have done so many interviews over the years, I have considered taking all the interviews in my files, munging them together in one huge unit, sorting them by topic, and setting them out like a gigantic interview salad bar. Then, whenever a new interviewer popped up, I could just hand them a plate and point.
I suppose a "FAQ" file would perform some of the same functions. Same implementation problem, though.
However, the Goodreads "Ask the Author" feature is performing some of that function, as it accumulates. Qs and As may be found here:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/1609...
Happily, Goodreads has recently added a "sort" button, which helps.
Ta, L.
(I am also reminded, a mine of older interviews may be found here:
http://www.dendarii.com/interviews.html
Some links may have aged out of viability.)
December 2, 2015
Gentleman Jole signed limited edition
Baen will be offering a signed limited edition of the hardcover of Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen. Signed editions are not created by the publisher sending crates of books to the author's house (thankfully), but rather, just the pages to be signed. The signed sheets are then shipped on to the printer, where they are "tipped in" to the selected books in the process of binding. I have not seen how this process works myself, but anyone who has is welcome to chime in down in the comments.
The tip sheets were interesting and different, this time around. Instead of plain paper, they have a full color rendition of artwork by Dave Seeley. This is the art that Baen first offered for the cover, but I held out for my thematic DNA-in-Space scheme, rendered by artist Ron Miller. Since Dave's was a really pretty painting, I'm glad it is seeing the light of day somehow.
Here is me diligently signing the sheets at my dining room table last month:
Here is Dave's art, and the reverse with my signature in my standard Flair blue felt tip:
I expect the signed edition can be obtained by order through any bookseller (if you have armed yourself with the ISBN, 978-1476781785); Amazon and B&N have their pages up for it, too.
http://www.amazon.com/Gentleman-Queen...
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/gentl...
As always, any of my regular signed books can be obtained by mail order from Uncle Hugo's Science Fiction Bookstore here in Minneapolis, and also Dreamhaven Books & Comics. I will be doing signings at both stores the first week of February, of which more later. (There will not be a book tour, this round.)
Ta, L.
The tip sheets were interesting and different, this time around. Instead of plain paper, they have a full color rendition of artwork by Dave Seeley. This is the art that Baen first offered for the cover, but I held out for my thematic DNA-in-Space scheme, rendered by artist Ron Miller. Since Dave's was a really pretty painting, I'm glad it is seeing the light of day somehow.
Here is me diligently signing the sheets at my dining room table last month:
Here is Dave's art, and the reverse with my signature in my standard Flair blue felt tip:
I expect the signed edition can be obtained by order through any bookseller (if you have armed yourself with the ISBN, 978-1476781785); Amazon and B&N have their pages up for it, too.
http://www.amazon.com/Gentleman-Queen...
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/gentl...
As always, any of my regular signed books can be obtained by mail order from Uncle Hugo's Science Fiction Bookstore here in Minneapolis, and also Dreamhaven Books & Comics. I will be doing signings at both stores the first week of February, of which more later. (There will not be a book tour, this round.)
Ta, L.
December 1, 2015
Ivan in Czech
Tallpress is my longtime publisher in the Czech Republic (and language.) This wended in via yesterday's mail...
and the back:
Ta, L.
and the back:
Ta, L.
November 27, 2015
life imitates art imitates life
Again. It seems Rene Vorbretten has company...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknew...
Ta, L.
PS -- I should add this book rec:
http://www.amazon.com/Uncommon-Law-Be...
for those unfamiliar with the byways of British, or anyone else's, law.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknew...
Ta, L.
PS -- I should add this book rec:
http://www.amazon.com/Uncommon-Law-Be...
for those unfamiliar with the byways of British, or anyone else's, law.
November 25, 2015
the new trade paperback of Barrayar
Fresh in the mail today, or rather, via UPS -- in my world, Santa wears brown trimmed with yellow. That livery ought to belong to some Vor clan or another...
Anyway, I received my box of author's copies straight from the printer. Cover art by Paul Youell.
Release date January 5, 2016, so it and Shards of Honor, both in their new clothes and clean(er) copy-edit, should be in stores or at least orderable in time for the release of the new Cordelia book.
and the back -- typo-free this time!
I was very pleased that Baen and the artist, at my heartfelt plea, managed to get Aral shaved between the original version of the painting and the final. The only character with a mustache in the story being Vidal Vordarian, it guaranteed that figure would be identified as him, and despite how important he is to the plot I didn't think he deserved pride of place on the front cover.
Here for comparison only:
While I am sure that Aral made regrettable experiments with facial hair (along with many other regrettable experiments) in his youth, because guys do, I expect he was over it by his mid-40s. And at no time did he channel Burt Reynolds. Well, OK, I make no guarantees how often he shaved while stuck on political and literal ice on Kyril Island that half-year. But still.
Without the face fuzz, it's quite a good rendering of Aral, I think -- in his House mourning blacks, if you like, or a sober civilian suit; the boots suggest the formal former.
Ta, L.
Anyway, I received my box of author's copies straight from the printer. Cover art by Paul Youell.
Release date January 5, 2016, so it and Shards of Honor, both in their new clothes and clean(er) copy-edit, should be in stores or at least orderable in time for the release of the new Cordelia book.
and the back -- typo-free this time!
I was very pleased that Baen and the artist, at my heartfelt plea, managed to get Aral shaved between the original version of the painting and the final. The only character with a mustache in the story being Vidal Vordarian, it guaranteed that figure would be identified as him, and despite how important he is to the plot I didn't think he deserved pride of place on the front cover.
Here for comparison only:
While I am sure that Aral made regrettable experiments with facial hair (along with many other regrettable experiments) in his youth, because guys do, I expect he was over it by his mid-40s. And at no time did he channel Burt Reynolds. Well, OK, I make no guarantees how often he shaved while stuck on political and literal ice on Kyril Island that half-year. But still.
Without the face fuzz, it's quite a good rendering of Aral, I think -- in his House mourning blacks, if you like, or a sober civilian suit; the boots suggest the formal former.
Ta, L.
