Cherie Priest's Blog: It's awards season, so here comes the shameless self-promotion, page 61

September 28, 2011

There's precious little to report today, I'm afraid - though yes, I do remember how I said there'd be awesome announcements here, and very soon. Well, sometimes announcements get delayed a tiny bit. These things happen! And the news will definitely be revealed soon - before the end of the week, or so I have been told.

I have also been told that patience is a virtue, but let's be honest - I kind of suck at it.

Anyway.

This has been an day-job-work day, all day long - though I did pause to investigate a frequently asked question with regards to Ganymede.

In short, people have been asking me about Ganymede's audiobook status; so I pestered my marvelous editor (Liz), hoping she'd know off the top of her head, and would not be sent on some kind of dungeon-crawling mini-quest through the bowels of Tor. Of course, I accidentally sent her on a dungeon-crawling mini-quest ... but she valiantly returned with the answer - so now, I pass it along to you: Where is the Ganymede audiobook? We don't know! Ha!

No, no - it's not really so sad and weird as that. It's just another delay, which is the story of my life right now, but things could be worse. The audiobook was supposed to drop on the same day as the trade paperback, but clearly it did not; however, it should be live any day now. Any moment, even!

Keep an eye on the book's listing at Macmillan . You'll see it linked there, when everything is GO. Meanwhile, here are the other useful links that will take you to that book - and don't forget, writers love friendly reader reviews, so please let me gently encourage you to post and share your thoughts at the vendor of your preference.

Find Ganymede at an independent retailer near you through IndieBound
Nab Ganymede from Amazon.com
Acquire Ganymede via Barnes & Noble
Pick up Ganymede at Books A Million
Purchase Ganymede courtesy of Powell's

To read Ganymede on a Nook click here
To read Ganymede on a Kindle click here
To read Ganymede on a Sony E-Reader click here
To read Ganymede in other digital forms visit the listing at Macmillan

Happy Ganymede Day!

It's finally here! Ganymede officially hits stores - and e-readers, and online retailers - today!

And I do very much hope you'll take a chance on this, my fourth Clockwork Century novel,* set in my alternate history universe with a drawn-out American Civil War complicated by a peculiar form of zombie uprising!

I have more fun with these books than should frankly be allowed, and if you're interested in diving into the series, this is as good a place as any to get started. Would it be somewhat helpful to have read the others first? Sure, I guess. But each of these stories is written to let people read along without feeling too lost.

This is a franchise more than a series, so please don't be put off by the prospect of not being all caught up with the other stories yet. If you dig pirates, airships, Victorian submarines, espionage, zombies, and ass-kicking ... this might well be the book for you!

Here - allow me to provide you with links, for your clicking pleasure:
Find Ganymede at an independent retailer near you through IndieBound
Nab Ganymede from Amazon.com
Acquire Ganymede via Barnes & Noble
Pick up Ganymede at Books A Million
Purchase Ganymede courtesy of Powell's

To read Ganymede on a Nook click here
To read Ganymede on a Kindle click here
To read Ganymede on a Sony E-Reader click here
To read Ganymede in other digital forms visit the listing at Macmillan

Man, I dipped into the exclamation marks again. Well, can you blame me? I'm so terribly excited about this one! Now I just have to run around all over the internet, updating my websites and widgets and information, oh my ...

Thanks for reading, everyone, and if you take a chance on this weird little book, I do hope you enjoy it!

* Counting Clementine, a smaller project that was released through Subterranean Press. If you're wondering why it's so hard to come by as of late, click here.

Sweetheart I'm telling you - here comes the zoo

Tomorrow, you guys. Tomorrow! Maybe even NOW if you are on the East Coast, and you have e-readers and can make your midnight downloads! Ganymede ! My Hunley version 4.0 submarine book about Andan Cly and his crew having a damp misadventure in a Texian-occupied New Orleans, plus Bonus! guerrilla warfare, other assorted historic pirates, and a madam whose brothel serves as a front for a Union spy operation!

[:: runs around in circles ::]

Also tomorrow - the debut event for this book, at the University Book Store in Seattle! I'll be there from 7:00 p.m. until they turn off the lights and send us home. No, literally. Events routinely run past the store's closing, so if you want to sneak in sometime before 8:00 p.m. and buy a book, I will totally sign it for you - even if you didn't listen to me read or blab for the first half hour or so.

Come as you are! Or come dressed up! I will probably be ... oh, I don't know. Moderately dressed up. Probably. But even if I can't get my act together tomorrow from a fashion standpoint, I always love it when people show up and show off their finery. It's like I always say - no two steampunks ever arrive at an event wearing exactly the same thing, and that's freaking awesome, is what that is.

Anyway! Time for me to log off, put away some laundry, pour a glass of wine, and watch Antiques Roadshow. Have a great night, everyone - and I hope to see some of you tomorrow!

(Jesus, that was a lot of exclamation marks. Oh well.)

Drowning past regrets in tea and cigarettes

By my best count, I've worked about twenty hours over the last couple of days. That sucks for a weekend, yes - but on the upshot, two major things were officially accomplished. One major thing must remain a secret, as it's tied to the mysterious day-job, though I will say that I "caught up" on something over there.

However, the second major thing is truly a cause for public celebration: I finished revisions on Inexplicables and emailed the manuscript off to my editor!

[:: insert Kermit-flail here ::]

So on the one hand, this was a weekend from hell. On the other, I am standing on the brink of a Monday while wearing a helmet and some pointy boots - and screaming BRING IT ON!

Anyway. Yes.
Now for some news.

I regret to admit that some of it is book-type news, because I know it can get old after awhile - so I preemptively apologize for any irritation you may experience due to the predictable subject matter. But the fact is, this is what my life looks like these days. It looks like deadlines and announcements and books.

So let's start with something only tangentially book-related, just to ease you into the flow.

Ahem.*

Because it's coming up soon, people are beginning to ask why I'm not on Steamcon's website as a participant. The answer to that is simple: I won't be at Steamcon.

The Steamcon people were very nice and they did invite me; believe me, I wish the convention the very best in all possible ways. But I'm afraid I'll be out of town, because that weekend is the beginning of my Ganymede tour - so I'll be in Portland working the PNBA trade show, and also putting on an event at Powell's (the Cedar Hills location).**

For a full list of my upcoming appearances, click here and scroll down .

You Seattle-area locals, please do note: This Tuesday Ganymede formally hits shelves, and its big release event will occur at the University Book Store on the UW campus. Please come out and see me! If you do, you will definitely get the very first signed copies of this book available anyplace ... and anyway, and I'd love to see you there.

[As an aside, I'm also happy to sign other books (of mine, natch), and I carry both a silver Sharpie and a black one for the specific purpose of signing e-book readers. There seems to be a call for it. I like to be prepared.]

There! That wasn't so bad, was it? One bit of merely sort-of book-related news, and one bit of book news. Didn't hurt at all. I hope.

And now, I think I must log off and have a glass of wine, or maybe (holy crap) make myself some supper. It has literally just dawned on me that I haven't eaten since about 11:00 a.m. I should probably go do something about that.

Thanks for reading, everyone - and I hope to see some of you Tuesday night!


* Pretend this is a transition. Please, just go with it. I'm very tired.
** Most of the tour travel happens at the beginning of November, but the Portland events are the first two out-of-town jobbies. True fact: I initially turned down the Steamcon folks because I had too much work to do; I didn't even realize the overlap with the PNBA show (my publisher sends me to this event every year). Man, I can't give myself a break even when I try...

My angel wings were bruised and restrained

Today I plowed through some revisions on Inexplicables, smashed through some day-job stuff, participated in a useful conference call, chatted with my agent, turned down two wonderful-sounding (but un-doable) events next year, paid some bills, boxed up and mailed a package, filled a prescription at Walgreens, talked the husband into bringing home some rum, and sat on the front steps for about ten minutes while attempting to convince a pair of very nice cops that I was not some crazy drunk lady who kept calling them from (what first appeared to be) my address.

Turned out the crazy drunk lady had misreported her own location. She got a "15" and a "50" confused, and lo, I was off the hook. Still. Funny way to break up the day.

And now, I will log off and let the internet go about its business without me. This weekend promises to be action-packed - and by "action-packed" I mean "work-packed," as I need to get a jump on some of next week's material.

Next week's a big one: Ganymede is coming out, and its big release day is thrown by the University Book Store - where I'll be reading and signing like a mofo on Tuesday evening starting at 7:00 o'clock. As a bonus, I also expect some very big news to drop right around that very same day. Maybe two pieces of very big news. Stay tuned.

In short, I expect Tuesday to be a wash from a productivity standpoint, and maybe Wednesday as well. Regardless, I need to wrap up a metric ass-load of day-job work and a draft of Inexplicables must go off to my editor by Friday.

Ergo, I hope you all have lovely second and third days of autumn, and I'll catch up to you later.

Throw your loving arms around me - I am weary let me rest

So the SFWA reader series event was a blast! We had a great crowd and the readings went smashingly. I absolutely recommend this series, both as a participant and an attendee; it's one hell of a gig.

As an aside, things got a little weird during the break - when a large, earnest, quiet fellow approached me and insisted from the bottom of his heart that he knew me back in 1969. He was convinced that we used to go berry-picking together in Portland.

He kept asking me where I was in 1969 ... and I could only shake my head and tell him, "I wasn't anywhere at all until 1975." Still, he spent a few minutes trying to convince me that this couldn't possibly be the case - raising the implication that I feed on the blood of the living, I suppose; and he finally took his leave when one of the event organizers gently ushered him off.

The encounter was odd, but not particularly alarming.
And hey, it could've been worse.

Anyway, now I feel the need to provide you all with a link round-up, for they are beginning to accumulate over on my Twitter feed. So here you go - all the news that's fit to list:
Boneshaker is going to Japan! The link reflects back to my freshly updated bibliography page, as there isn't an official announcement or anything. But to say the least, I am utterly delighted. (This means that my books will have been translated into nine(!!!) languages. Holy shit!)

The Northwest BookFest - This is where I'll be the first weekend of October, kicking around Kirkland, Washington (near Seattle). Catch me at noon on Saturday with some of the usual suspects (Kat and Mark, plus Mark Teppo) for a panel about steampunk and urban fantasy.

Convent of the Pure - My friend Sara Harvey has just listed her strange and wonderful first novel (which I blurbed!) for 99-cents through Kindle. Have at!

Ganymede review: short and sweet - And utterly without spoilers, so I am happy to link it without disclaimers!

Ganymede review: significantly longer, and a tiny bit spoilery - But I love this one because it's always a fantastic feeling when a really thoughtful reader absolutely gets what you're shooting for. No huge spoilers present, and if you're curious about the book at all, by all means go click.

LitStack reviews Dreadnought - No spoilers, and a lovely review for which I am immensely grateful.

GeekSyndicate takes on Bloodshot - I love these guys! Choice quote: "A kickass world that drags you around by something uncomfortable and only lets go so it can do it again."

Popcorn Reads does Hellbent - A review that's so flattering I almost don't feel comfortable linking it, but here I go regardless. No spoilers, and the reviewer even includes sample quotes so you can get a feel for the style, if you are so inclined.

SFWA Northwest Reader Series

Just a heads-up to you speculative-fiction loving Portland-area people - tomorrow night I'll be appearing with Kat Richardson and Mark Henry as part of the SFWA Northwest Reader Series .

Details are at that link, but for the clicking-averse, here it is in short: McMenamins Kennedy School, 7:00 p.m. No tickets required, but they'd appreciate an RSVP (so I guess you should probably click after all).

As for this bit: "Each event starts with notes from the host, a leading local author, who has selected two of their favorite writers to complete the evening's theme" ... well, that's the first I've heard of it.

These advertised "notes" or "plans" or "clue what's going on" aside ... you will most definitely be treated to me winging it like a mofo. Given that I'll likely be a couple of drinks deep into the evening, I may well resort to interpretive dance or something.

So come on out, if you're game!

I'll read from either Ganymede (if the crowd wants steampunk) or Hellbent (if dirty jokes are more their speed). Mark and Kat are awesome and I vouch for their ability to work a crowd, and hey - if nothing else? Fun stuff going down at a weird, groovy bar that used to be a schoolhouse.

September 17, 2011

Project: Inexplicables
Deadline: September 15, 2011
Present total word count: 114,883 words

Draft Zero is cooling off for a week or so, while I get my day-job work back in gear and up to speed; then I'll return to Inexplicables before the end of the month, clean it up, and send it off to Liz. Now for lunch, then for a bit of errand-running ... and later tonight, maybe some less-cheap-than-usual wine to cap off the first leg of this project. (BOO-YAH)

__________
Every once in awhile, someone will ask me about the name of the airship in my Clockwork Century books. Usually they want to know if it's a nod to the Kushiel saga - but no, that's not it. Indeed, the Naamah Darling was originally the Nora Dearest, but every time I typed it out, my brain tried to fill in "Naamah Darling" after my friend Amanda's LiveJournal handle.

Eventually I gave up and dropped Amanda an email asking if I could swipe her nom d'internet, and she was cool with it, which worked out great for me - otherwise, there would have been a whole lot of finding and replacing in my future.

So why do I bring this up now? Because Amanda and her husband are working on a steampunk adventure of their own ... a very adult steampunk adventure. I'm not going to lie to you, Marge: It's pretty porny. All you people who complain that I don't have enough sex or romance in my books (AND YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE) well, here's the reason: Paul and Amanda have used it all up.

Those of you who are over eighteen and ready for a steamy afternoon (HA YOU SEE WHAT I DID THERE) then by all means, go visit Adventurotica: Full Frontal Fiction. Some of the content is free. That's right, I said free.

The first taste always is...

We dream of rain and the history of the gun

Before I get to today's word count, first, I want to apologize to readers in Winnipeg - where I was supposed to be tonight. I was forced to cancel this event a few months ago, when I realized it sat in the middle of a perfect storm of day-job responsibilities and deadlines. It just wasn't doable and I am very, very sorry about that.

I feel terrible about not being there. This is the first event I've ever missed, and I am filled with self-loathing about it. What a crappy milestone.

____________

Here's today's progress on my fifth Clockwork Century novel - a book about teenage juvenile delinquents, hypothetical ghosts, and gangland mayhem within the walled city of Seattle ... now with Bonus! zombie Sasquatch and the return of everyone's favorite elderly cross-dressing Native American princess:

Project: Inexplicables
Deadline: September 15, 2011
New words written: 6041 (YES)
Present total word count: 113,059 words

Things accomplished in real life: Daily run/climb + yoga; jaunt to Walgreens; and nothing else at all, but hey - 6K words.

Other: Hot damn - sandbagging yesterday's day-job work worked out well. I'm back to the grind tomorrow (as it should be), but I think I might be able to finish this draft over the weekend. If I end up with a good block of time tomorrow, I may be able to do it sooner; I only have one major scene left to write, and it's essentially the wind-down.

Revenge of Other: Note, this does not mean I will have a full draft which I would inflict upon my editor. I like my editor. I wouldn't do that to her. She does not get Draft Zero. She gets Draft One. (Or sometimes, Draft Two.) My plan is to wrap up a first draft and let it "cool off" for a week, then come back and spend a week beating it into shape.

Total narrative fiction word count for 2011: 113,059 words

It's cold and lonely in the deep dark night

It's been a busy few days, but not the kind of busy that makes for good blogging - I mean I've had day-job stuff out the wazoo, plus my last-ditch efforts to make deadline on Inexplicables.

I don't miss deadlines. It's not what I do. I hate being late for anything, anywhere; it's my one major neuroses, and nothing stomps up and down upon it more than running late for a professional obligation. But there are only so many hours in the day - and alas, there are no such restrictions upon demands for my time.

I can get everything done, no worries; but I can't get it all done at once. Such are the limits of the space-time continuum. Ergo, I am going to miss this particular deadline.

My long-suffering editor has already been warned, and the present plan is to have this draft done before the end of the month - which, barring unforeseen catastrophe, is totally doable. I don't need a lot of wiggle room. I just need some.

I keep telling myself I'll make it up in the edits.

____________

People are starting to read and review Hellbent - and so far, the response has been fantastic. I am relieved! I am flattered! I am collecting reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and all the usual spots!

It's been a very cheer-making sort of thing, particularly during this rather stressful time.

But with the reviews come reader questions. Leading those questions is this: When can we expect another Raylene novel? And the answer is: I don't know.

You see, Bloodshot and Hellbent were part of a two-book deal, and I only get to do more books if these two books do sufficiently well. Therefore, if you want to see more Raylene books ... you must share the Raylene love and help convince other people to buy them.

Is this a crass ploy? Yes. And for that, I apologize. But it's also the simple economics of the situation, and I'm too tired to be coy, or to spin this in some darling direction. So instead, you get the truth of the matter, and I will trust you to take that in the spirit with which it's intended.

____________


Here's today's progress on my fifth Clockwork Century novel - a book about teenage juvenile delinquents, hypothetical ghosts, and gangland mayhem within the walled city of Seattle ... now with Bonus! zombie Sasquatch and the return of everyone's favorite elderly cross-dressing Native American princess:

Project: Inexplicables
Deadline: September 15, 2011
New words written: 2929 (not bad)
Present total word count: 107,018 words

Things accomplished in real life: Daily run/climb + yoga; epic ton of day-job work; I wish I could pretend there was something else in my life right now, but there really isn't.

Other: I will finish this blog post and then yes, go back to day-job work. All the better to make at least one deadline with, my dear. It's not a prioritization of day-job vs. fiction; it's a matter of "which deadline do I stand the best chance of actually making - and for which deadline can I beg some leeway?" And this is how those cards fell.
Total narrative fiction word count for 2011: 107,018 words