Cherie Priest's Blog: It's awards season, so here comes the shameless self-promotion, page 64

Sunday Stats

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: 2603 (satisfactory)
Present total word count: 76,377 words

Things accomplished in real life: Yoga but no running; cleaning up some day-job material; cleaned the fish tank; walked down the hill for lunch; cleaned the kitchen; got groceries with the husband; went to Walgreens.

Other: I wanted this to be more like a 4K day, but the truth is, I'm tired. And now I'm going to take a break for supper.

Total narrative fiction word count for 2011: 76,377 words

Weekend Work

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: 2647 (multi-day total, meh)
Present total word count: 73,774 words

Things accomplished in real life: Set up (and began) some day-job work which is looming over my head for Monday; went grocery shopping; took a nap because I was too tired to see straight.

Other: I know it's Saturday and I wish I could slack, but that's just not in the cards right now. Next - back to work on day-job thingamajig, and then tomorrow I can sit around and write. Unless, of course, there is some sudden and inevitable deadline land mine tossed into my lap.

Total narrative fiction word count for 2011: 73,774 words

Good morning!

Dude! You guys! I just woke up and logged on to learn that Ganymede has received a starred review from Publishers Weekly! I am amazed and delighted, not least of all because this means that thus far, all three Tor Clockwork Century books have been granted this designation from that fine magazine.

NO PRESSURE OR ANYTHING.
But damn.
HOT DAMN.

For all you click-averse types - I will post the review is as follows, in its entirety ... just click the link below, as I'm putting it behind a cut for the sake of very, very, very mild spoilers re: romantic subplot...


The smashing third volume in Priest's Clockwork Century steampunk alternate-history Civil War series (after 2010's Dreadnought) stars Josephine Early, New Orleans brothel owner and Union spy, who must deliver Ganymede, a prototype submarine, to the North. There are only a few problems: no one has ever successfully piloted the craft, and the Texian and Confederate armies are actively searching for it. Josephine's former lover, Andan Cly, agrees to help while completing his primary mission of retrieving supplies for blighted Seattle, where noxious gas forces residents to live underground and zombies remain a constant peril. Priest is at the top of her game, equally deft with pirate battles and mature romance: Cly is tentatively connecting with earlier protagonist Briar Wilkes, sheriff of Seattle, making him elegantly cautious around Josephine as they both try to focus on their mission. Clockwork Century fans will dub this installment the best yet. (Oct.)

August 11, 2011

I'm back! And I'm wicked-busy at the moment, playing catch-up on all the stuff I missed while I was out of town ... plus pulling together the new load of day-job work, freshly heaped upon me while in California. It's actually very cool work, and I would love to tell you about it, but they still won't let me. Alas.

Anyway! A number of neat things greeted me upon my return, not least of all ... this!

That's right - it's a sneak-peak author's copy of Hellbent, coming in LESS THAN A MONTH oh boy oh boy oh boy. And what's it about? I mean, besides that bit about how almost the entire first chapter is one big fat penis joke?* Here's the flap copy:

Vampire thief Raylene Pendle doesn't need more complications in her life. Her Seattle home is already overrun by a band of misfits, including Ian Stott, a blind vampire, and Adrian deJesus, an ex-Navy SEAL/drag queen. But Raylene still can't resist an old pal's request: seek out and steal a bizarre set of artifacts. Also on the hunt is a brilliant but certifiably crazy sorceress determined to stomp anyone who gets in her way. But Raylene's biggest problem is that the death of Ian's vaunted patriarch appears to have made him the next target of some blood-sucking sociopaths. Now Raylene must snatch up the potent relics, solve a murder, and keep Ian safe — all while fending off a psychotic sorceress. But at least she won't be alone. A girl could do a lot worse for a partner than an ass-kicking drag queen — right?

Sounds fun, yes? It is! I promise! And oh look, Amazon is selling it for less than ten bucks on preorder.

Now to answer a few questions: No, you don't have to have read Bloodshot in order to enjoy this one. Yes, I would be delighted if you should run out and get Bloodshot to read it first. Yes, I will still love you if you don't do that.

And finally, to wind down this post: Thanks so much to everyone who's already taken a chance on this weird little franchise; your support and encouragement has meant the world to me, and I appreciate it more than you know.


* Maybe you thought I was joking about that. I wasn't. But I love how the flap copy refers to them as "a bizarre set of artifacts" and not "penis bones." Heh.

Going back to Cali

Tomorrow I'll be flying out for California, in order to touch base with the day-job. I'm leaving at oh-God-thirty in the morning and will be home on Wednesday night - so between now and then, posting may or may not be sparse. It's hard for me to get much writing done when I'm down at the office, but I do intend to do my best to scrape a few words together each day.*

So, yeah. Blogging might be sporadic and word counts none too impressive until I get back to my routine on Thursday. But there will likely be tweets and pics. (Webmaster Greg and his wife Miriam are coming out to hang on Tuesday night, so I bet you'll find silly people-inna-bar shots cluttering up the feed at some point.)

Consider yourselves warned.
And have an excellent week without me!


* Not that I've managed any this weekend, thus far. I got a big day-job batch of work tossed into my lap on Thursday, and I took a couple of days to pull it together - since I'm heading down there in the morning, anyway.

If only I could think of some song lyrics relevant to "Friday"

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: 2490 (satisfactory)
Present total word count: 71,127 words

Things accomplished in real life: Daily run/climb, plus 20 minutes of baby-steps yoga; made myself lunch; cleaned up after self (mostly); that's pretty much it, but the day is early.

Other: I'm cutting myself off fiction-writing here at 3:00, and shifting over to day-job work for the afternoon/early evening. (I'll try to divide my day a little more evenly in the future.) Thus the 2400 word count meriting a "satisfactory" rating.

Total narrative fiction word count for 2011: 71,127 words

But the show must go on...

Kat Richardson had a most excellent reading last night. She looked amazing, sounded great, and was a total cool-headed pro when a mentally disabled man wearing lots of pink (and carrying a big pink bag) rushed the lectern and screamed at her repeatedly, "WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF I HIT YOU IN THE FACE? CAN I HIT YOU IN THE FACE? WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF I DID???"*

Thank God for events that are hosted and run by a man who's 7 feet tall and does not take kindly to such interruptions.



In other news, the Blue Angels are practicing today, all over Puget Sound. Spain the Cat is none too impressed. She is also a really crappy hider.



And 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: 2075 (circumstantial "meh")
Present total word count: 68,637 words

Things accomplished in real life: Missed the daily run/climb, but did 20 minutes of baby-steps yoga and hiked down the hill; went to the salon and got my hair touched up (see previous reference to hiking); got a whole huge batch of work from the day-job guys, presented in a truly clever and useful fashion**.

Other: Not my best writing day, but considering I was gone for almost 3 hours in the middle of it (it's a 30 minute walk to the salon each way) - and I spent a lot of time going over the day-job assignments, I'm content with 2K. If I can reliably produce 2000 words a day while simultaneously working on day-job material, I will consider myself a productive member of society.

Other, redux: Will try to get more written tonight, by way of getting a jump on tomorrow - when I'll actually dive headlong into the day-job stuff.

Total narrative fiction word count for 2011: 68,637 words


* Kat's deadpan response, without batting an eyelash: "I'd file assault charges."
** No joke - one of the most useful documents anyone's ever given me.

And many more on channel four and Scooby Doo on channel two...

I don't want to brag or anything*, but I might actually have the most awesomely nerdy friends ever.



Clockwise from the top left, that's Sam Sykes (who made this round-up and e-card possible), Simon Spurrier, Paul Cornell, and John Scalzi. Dork-tastic, the lot of them - and I seriously can't thank them enough. It cracked me up!

But hey, speaking of the irrepressible Mr. Spurrier - his weird-crime novel A Serpent Uncoiled debuts today! I was lucky enough to snag an ARC from the man himself, and I have to say, it's a marvelous strange brute of a book - fascinating and clever, smart and absolutely absorbing.

DO take a chance on it, if the idea of Modern Weird Noir is your thing. You won't regret it!


* Well, I want to brag a little.

Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze

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: 4014 (yay!)
Present total word count: 66,562 words

Things accomplished in real life: Daily run/climb in all its sweaty glory; day #2 of yoga on the Wii Fit (I wanted baby steps, okay?); went to Walgreens for AAA batteries because my sensor bar on the Wii was dead; brushed the cat, which took a ridiculous amount of time; did some research; took a couple of phone calls.

Other: Another good fat writing day, huzzah! Hey, technically that's 4K, right there.

Other, redux: I'd keep going, but I need to freshen up and tidy up before leaving for Kat's event tonight at U-books. Ergo, I'm cutting today a little bit short.

Total narrative fiction word count for 2011: 66,562 words

Tonight - August 3, 2011

Hey everyone - tonight my friend Kat Richardson is celebrating the release of her new novel Downpour at the University Book Store on the UW campus, here in Seattle. I, for one, am totally caravaning out there with some Cap Hill friends, and collectively we are very much looking forward to it.

Come join us!