Laura Anne Gilman's Blog, page 10

Bookplate Vault Update

PSA: with the trade paperback of SILVER ON THE ROAD landing in eleven (11!) days – which means stores will probably have it out next week – I’m re-opening the bookplate vault. If you’d like a personalized bookplate for SILVER, drop me an email at lag-at-lauraannegilman.-dot-net with your preferred use-name, and a mailing address.

I have a limited number of bookplates left, so first come first sent, and otherwise you’ll have to a) send me the actual book for signing, b) hit up one of my local bookstores (U Bookstore or Third Place), or wait until I hit the road in January for THE COLD EYE….

*hachoo*

I'm the kind of sick where you don't feel all that bad, but you know if you push it your body will slam back and lay you out for a week, so you take it easy.   Where by 'easy' I mean I'm drinking soup and taking naps and spending the rest of the time at my desk, working.

Starting to get a bit of cabin fever, tho, so hopefully this will go away soon.

Meanwhile, starting to ramp up the low-key, not-traveling promotion for the paperback release of SILVER ON THE ROAD (12 days!) and a more active promotion for the hardcover release of THE COLD EYE (103 days!).  Are you excited?  I'm excited.  Where 'excited' has undercurrents of 'terrified,' too...

Book Pushery

Hey, reader-types, here's something for you!

First, Fran Wilde's CLOUDBOUND is out this week!  This sequel to her multiple-award-winning UPDRAFT is classic SF adventure updated to 21st century science and sensibility. And it's great fun, so you should lay hand on it ASAP.  (also: UPDRAFT is now out in trade paper!)


Second, although it's not coming out until October 25th, I've been following the evolution of this book on Tumblr, and trust me, you want it (mine's already pre-ordered). It's called REJECTED PRINCESSES.

"Illustrated in a contemporary animation style, Rejected Princesses turns the ubiquitous "pretty pink princess" stereotype portrayed in movies, and on endless toys, books, and tutus on its head, paying homage instead to an awesome collection of strong, fierce, and yes, sometimes weird, women: warrior queens, soldiers, villains, spies, revolutionaries, and more who refused to behave and meekly accept their place.

An entertaining mix of biography, imagery, and humor written in a fresh, young, and riotous voice, this thoroughly researched exploration salutes these awesome women drawn from both historical and fantastical realms, including real life, literature, mythology, and folklore. Each profile features an eye-catching image of both heroic and villainous women in command from across history and around the world, from a princess-cum-pirate in fifth century Denmark, to a rebel preacher in 1630s Boston, to a bloodthirsty Hungarian countess, and a former prostitute who commanded a fleet of more than 70,000 men on China’s seas."


(I get no financial renumeration for this promo; I just think the books are cool and are hopefully Of Interest to many of you)

Currently in Eastern Washington...

Helped out at our main tasting room in Chelan this weekend. Which meant staying overnight at the vineyard. Which is so very very lovely.

Mabon, Solstice, whatever you call it...

Happy Autumn, northern hemisphere! Welcome to the return of good sleeping weather!


(I woke up this morning thinking "I should get out the fleece," and realized I already had, then thought "I should probably close the windows before I go to bed now" and then though "nah.....")

oh well THAT makes things much easier!

ok, how did I not know this before? S&S has an entire PAGE of booksellers where you can pre-order THE COLD EYE. Thank you, S&S, for making my click-listing so much easier....

On grief, trauma, and how to hold on to the light...

(originally posted on http://www.lauraannegilman.net/)

I no longer post my thoughts about 9/11 - I though I'd said everything I needed to say.  But this year, I was invited to take part in #HoldOntoTheLight.  And I realized that I did, in fact, have something new - and important - to say.

For as long as I've known of the phrase, PTSD was a thing other people had.  It was the result of being in a war zone (military or marital), of undergoing some stress so terrible it fucked with all your settings and refused to give you a new user’s manual. I took it for granted that I - stable, safe, civilian me - would never find myself in a situation like that.

Until, of course, I did.

And even then, it took two years, and a passing interaction with a specialist, for all the pieces to come together and be recognized for what they were.  Because PTSD isn’t like a cold, or a broken leg.  It doesn’t have clear and easily identifiable signs - especially if you’ve convinced yourself that you’re just out of sorts because of other events (job, relationship, family, health, all of the above).

I was under stress, after all.  I’d just gone freelance under mixed circumstances, my first book was coming out, I was starting to confront issues in my marriage and hey, my country was in the middle of some seriously shitty times…  And pain was good for a writer, wasn't it?

And even when I’d been confronted with the pieces, I still tried to deny it.  That stuff in my writing?  The broken people, broken relationships, broken worlds I keep returning to?  I was just channeling the national mood, that was all.  Because Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder happened to other people, people who had actually suffered.  I’d just been a witness, a secondary target; that didn’t earn me the right to -

It was at that point, when I heard myself saying those words, that I started to listen to myself.  And what I heard scared the crap out of me.  I’d been gaslighting myself, telling myself that things I knew were real - the things I was feeling, the reactions I was having - weren’t; that I was reading too much into things, that I was overreacting, being too emotional.

Telling myself I didn’t have the right to be damaged. That I didn't have the right to ask for help.

At which point, common sense (finally) got in the driver's seat. Fuck that shit.  I’d had a traumatic experience, and my brain had decided to rewire itself in panic-reaction.  And that was okay.

Let me repeat that again for the folk in the back.  IT’S OKAY TO GET FUCKED UP EMOTIONALLY.  It’s okay to NOT be okay when something happens to you, or around you.  It's not a question of if your pain is "enough": that's not how it works.  Suffering doesn't care.  Trauma doesn't care.  They're not graded on a curve.

And maybe you won’t realize it, at first.  That moment when your heart races because of something totally innocuous, some noise you’ve heard a hundred times before, or a smell, or a taste you used to like, that now makes you violently ill, and you’re not sure why.  The moment when you realize you’re avoiding something that used to be part of your daily routine, or turning your head to avoid seeing things that never bothered you before.  When panic moves from being your shadow, and starts resting in your bones.

You may try to tell yourself that it will pass, that you'll "get over it," that other people have it worse so you should just suck it up and deal.  But you don't have to.  De Nile is very pretty, but it will flood, and you will drown.

Call it battle shock, call it PTSD, call it Fred or Luci if you prefer.  But call it by name.  And call it out.

And get help.  We have the right to it.

The National Center for PTSD

Anxiety and Depression Society of America

#HoldOntoTheLight is a blog campaign encompassing blog posts by fantasy and science fiction authors around the world in an effort to raise awareness around treatment for depression, suicide prevention, domestic violence intervention, PTSD initiatives, bullying prevention and other mental health-related issues. We believe fandom should be supportive, welcoming and inclusive, in the long tradition of fandom taking care of its own. We encourage readers and fans to seek the help they or their loved ones need without shame or embarrassment.

Please consider donating to or volunteering for organizations dedicated to treatment and prevention such as: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Home for the Warriors (PTSD), National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Canadian Mental Health Association, MIND (UK), SANE (UK), BeyondBlue (Australia), To Write Love On Her Arms and the National Suicide Prevention Hotline.

To find out more about #HoldOntoTheLight, find a list of participating authors, or reach a media contact, go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/276745236033627/.

Just in time for the paperback edition...

Asimov's (yes, Asimov's) reviews SILVER ON THE ROAD!

"Gilman, who’s had success with urban fantasy and her ambitious “Vineart War” trilogy, begins a new series, “The Devil’s West” with this novel, a solid entry in the currently hot category of Weird West fiction.

Gilman serves up a set of challenges worthy of the premise.....[she] has created a fascinating world for her characters (and her readers) to explore. A lot of the fun comes from her twists on what look at first like familiar tropes from the mythos of the American West—saloons, mining towns, Native Americans, Spanish missionaries—all taking on a new meaning in the Devil’s West. It’ll be very interesting to see what else she has in store in this big, untamed landscape. Recommended."

Friday's got a weight on its back and a destination in mind...

The to-list today only has 4 items! But each one's probably going to take 3-4 hours to finish. The math...does not look good for me today.

I am therefore removing social media from the equation until at least one thing is done... Try not to set anything on fire while I'm gone?

And remember to go support the Three!Anthology kickstarter!

Join my Patreon in time for the next update!

and sign up for my newsletter!

Zombies Need Brains' New Kickstarter!

Originally posted by jpsorrow at Zombies Need Brains' New Kickstarter!


Zombies Need Brains is at it again! They've developed a new Kickstarter that will (hopefully) fund three (THREE!) brand new SF&F themed anthologies! But it won't happen unless we can get enough backers. Check out the Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/543968884/robots-water-and-death-anthologies?token=017aef99. Then find a pledge level that works for you and help us reach our goal! Here's a description of the three anthologies and the anchor authors participating in each:

ALL HAIL OUR ROBOT CONQUERORS!:

“Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!” 50s and 60s television shows and movies were replete with clunky robots with bulbous arms and heads, blinking lights, and a staggered, ponderous walk, like Robby the Robot, GORT, and the Daleks. With a touch of nostalgia and a little tongue-in-cheek humor, this anthology will present invasions of robot conquerors—or well-meaning robot companions—rooted in those 50s and 60s ideals of the robotic vision of the future. Edited by Patricia Bray & Joshua Palmatier, ALL HAIL OUR ROBOT CONQUERORS! will contain approximately 14 stories with an average length of 6000 words each. It will include short stories by:

Julie E. Czerneda,
Rosemary Edghill,
Tanya Huff,
Gini Koch,
Sharon Lee & Steve Miller,
Seanan McGuire, and
L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

All other slots aside from the named authors will be filled by the open call for submissions following the successful completion of the Kickstarter.

SUBMERGED:

From the very earliest days of SFF, when Jules Verne wrote 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the depths of the oceans have always intrigued us. Three quarters of our planet teems with creatures beyond our imagining, and terrors we cannot see. Kraken, Leviathan, Cthulu – what other mysteries and monsters lurk in the currents of the wet and dark? SUBMERGED will explore the depths beneath the surface, whether it be on brand new planets yet to be explored, apocalyptic Earths, or fantasy settings from our wildest dreams. So come join us and explore unfathomable trenches, underwater volcanoes, and abyssal plains. Take the plunge . . . into the Deep End! Edited by S.C. Butler & Joshua Palmatier, SUBMERGED will contain approximately 14 stories with an average length of 6000 words each. The anthology will include short stories by:

F. Brett Cox,
David Farland,
Esther Friesner,
Susan Jett,
Gini Koch,
Jeff Mariotte & Marsheila Rockwell,
Misty Massey,
Seanan McGuire,
Jody Lynn Nye, and
Jenna Rhodes.

All other slots aside from the named authors will be filled by the open call for submissions following the successful completion of the Kickstarter.

THE DEATH OF ALL THINGS:

Death and taxes: the universal themes. Or, nearly. Not all cultures pay taxes, but all pay the reaper. Acknowledging that nobody will ever beat Sir Terry Pratchett for his depiction of Death, we believe there are more stories to tell, exploring the realm and character of death: tragic, humorous, and all the shades in-between. Edited by Laura Anne Gilman & Kat Richardson, THE DEATH OF ALL THINGS will contain approximately 14 brand-new stories with an average length of 6000 words each. It will include short stories by multi-award winning and NYT-bestselling authors

Stephen Blackmoore,
Aliette de Bodard,
Christie Golden,
Jim C. Hines,
Jason M. Hough,
Faith Hunter,
Juliet E. McKenna, and
Fran Wilde.

All other slots aside from the named authors will be filled by the open call for submissions following the successful completion of the Kickstarter.

And here's the art by Justin Adams of Varia Studios that we'll be using as the cover art for SUBMERGED if we get funded:



So get on over to the Kickstarter and pledge! We can't do this without you!