Moe Lane's Blog, page 22
June 28, 2025
Book of the Week: Saving Susie
Barbara Hambly’s historical mystery Saving Susy Sweetchild has been out for a while, but I refused to spend more money on a Kindle than on a paperback*. And if your publishing company can’t bring in your book for less in digital form, fix your publishing company: it’s broken.
#commissionearned
*Okay, except for Jack Campbell. He doesn’t count.
06/28/2025 Snippet, BRAVING THE MALSTORM.
Wow, this universe really developed a bit from when I wrote the first draft.
I woke up, which is always a good sign. Better yet, I didn’t have a headache. If they’d tossed a sticky rune on me — I rubbed one wrist, and frowned at the tackiness — when they tossed a sticky rune on me, they had used the good stuff. I didn’t have handcuffs or a restraint charm on me, either, which wasn’t so much ‘good’ as it was ‘not horrible.’ I’d still been grabbed, and I seriously hadn’t done anything.
Well, fine, I was an Adventurer. I probably had done something. I just couldn’t think of anything I’d done lately.
The room was spare, but neat, with a full-length mirror, a military-issue cot with sheets and a pillow, and a table and chairs. The table had a basket of fruit on it. The door didn’t have a doorknob. Oh, and there was a bathroom attached, with a shower, soap, and faint glowing wards on all the pipes and drains. Like I could fit down one!
So, I could be comfortable, just as long as I didn’t think that I would get to just leave. Somebody just starting out in this life of mine would have called all of this mixed signals. Me? I knew it was worse. All of this smelled political.
Yay.
My grumbling was interrupted by a knock on the door, which confirmed that I’d been dry-gulched by Saints. Of course they’d knock first. I carefully squared myself up, took a deep breath, and said “Come in.”
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June 27, 2025
‘Starfish and Coffee.’
Starfish & Coffee, Prince
#commissionearned
What do they call those signs that hang down in front of tables?
Basically, I want something that I can fold over the front of my table when I’m selling books and it’ll have things like my book covers or a QR code or just my name. The problem is, I don’t know what the industry name for that kind of thing is so I don’t know where to order them. Anybody know?
The GHOST KILLER trailer.
GHOST KILLER doesn’t actually look bad? Although the trailer to the movie seems to be a bit more carefree than the written description of it. A lot of ‘Yes, but they were all bad,’ and all that.
06/27/2025 Snippet, BRAVING THE MALSTORM.
Doing an experiment this month with the Patreon short story reward.
…
Used to be, the underground magical scene in Old Vegas was just that. Obfuscation spells and don’t-see-me runes work better when they’re under a foot or two of earth, so the mages did business out of cellars, all over town. They all moved somewhere brighter when the Universal Dominion got pushed out of easy curse range, though.
But not Zealia’s Den. It’s still in the same place it was founded, all the way back during the Interregnum. Given its clientele, I don’t think any of the owners ever seriously thought about moving. The only concession to the modern age was a newish basking rock now next to the ramp leading down to the shop door, but I privately considered that a little too on-the-tongue, myself. Or just put in for tourist ambiance. There were a few people inside already, gawking at all those Serpent-Folk geegaws. Don’t ask me why; it’s a human thing.
Running the register today was… one of my eighth cousins, once removed, I decided after self-consciously sniffing the air. It was easier because she wasn’t wearing a skin herself at the moment. Judging from the book she was looking at, she was probably a student at the University herself. Ethical calculus isn’t really something you read for fun.
“Good afternoon,” I said, going into Pleasant Academic mode. That usually works with students. “I’m here for a pickup?”
I winced, inside, since that’s potentially a ribald pun in Old American, but luckily the girl didn’t get it. “I’ll look it right up, sir,” she replied. “Name?”
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…Do big publishers just HATE books?
Consider these images for Greg Keyes’ The Age of Unreason fantasy alternate history series (which isn’t half-bad, actually). Here’s the original that I remember…
…and here are the modern paperbacks/Kindle books.
The Kindle versions are particularly egregious. Important safety tip: never use a book cover that I could have designed, if you can possibly help it. And I refuse to believe that the above strategy sells more books. The mass paperback covers tell you what the hell you’re reading; the other covers… do not.
But don’t mind me. I’m just one of the guys capitalizing on the mainstream publishing industry’s mistakes by getting my books out, without spending house money. What do I know?
#commissionearned
June 26, 2025
I’m calling it in early.
It’s a slightly emotionally fraught day (dad’s birthday), and I’m pretty tired. My brain refuses to admit that I don’t have to be up at 6:30 AM, so I’m just gonna give up and go get some sleep. See ya tomorrow!
06/26/2025 Snippet, CALL OF THE MOON-BEASTS.
So bloody close.
…
Tobias Marsh had long since gotten sick of the idea that doing his duty could require that he stand by and watch other people… Clean up, the stubbornly rational (and rationalizing) part of his mind insisted as the three of them jump-ran through the passage. They’re just cleaning up. They never said they were going to mutually ‘conserve resources,’ did they? It didn’t help that he now had plenty of practice in doing exactly that. Just the opposite.
I think you need to speak with someone about your guilt complex, Commander. Asenath sounded preoccupied, somehow. It cannot be good for your long-term mental health.
We’ve gone over this, Asenath. A psychiatrist will just try to convince me you’re not real.
At this point, I doubt it will have any effect on the mission. You would still succeed, even if I am revealed to be a manifestation of your ongoing psychosis.
No! Tobias grimaced at how his own mental voice sounded. …No. You’ve kept me functional this far. Hell, you’re my best damned friend, AI or not. I’m not going to delude myself otherwise, just to feel better.
Even if that means you will continue not to reach certain conclusions about our situation? Because that is causing you undue pain.
“Life is pain,” he quoted aloud, without realizing it. “Anybody who says differently is selling something.”
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