Brenda Cooper's Blog, page 35

Rainforest Writer's Retreat Day 4

We've now seen the last sunset we'll see here.  I'll be happy to get home, but another three days of writing would finish the book.  I'm over 11,000 words, but there are that many again to go, or maybe a few more.

The highlights of today were a great talk by Barb and JC Hendee (writer's of the bestselling Noble Dead series), a walk in the woods, a semi-private concert by Ken Scholes, and a killer sunset.  I have to admit if I were tasked to pick a favorite out of four great things today, it...

Rainforest Writers, Day 2

We had a great talk by Susan Mathews on character and then another by James Van Pelt on endings.  It's fun to listen to writer's teach – we all approach it so differently!

And of course,being with sf writers, the afternoon walk was full of talk about the atmosphere and axial tilt and the Cambrian day and all sorts of other geeky stuff.

Not much else to report — I'm on target for words at near 5000 for the day and an hour two left before I fall over.  That sounds like a lot of words, but I'm on ...

Rainforest Writers Workshop Day 1

I am on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, and right at this moment I am in a dark bar with about a dozen writers.  There are a handful of community people as well, and much chattering and laughter from both groups. This is the Rainforest Writer's Village workshop, sponsored by Patrick Swenson of Fairwood Press.

Today was extricating myself from my CIO hat, getting some much-needed household stuff done, and grabbing John Pitts for a three hour drive where we listened to Starship Sofa, ...

Reading (and Hugo) Recommendation(s)

Odd title, I know.  I listened to Starship Sofa 121, which has Paolo Bacigalupi's "the Gambler" in it.

Loved the story.  I will include it on my Hugo ballot (which I'm still working on).  Paolo is one of the best people we have writing sf right now – and are we lucky!

It was also a great reminder of how much I like Starship Sofa.  I get through about one episode a month, and I'm really never disappointed.  Today, it was my entertainment for a three mile dog walk, and since I wasn't done yet – a...

In which an author is given a lovely gift

I was lucky enough to be invited to talk at the Cavalcade of Authors a few weeks ago in Pasco, Washington.  They just emailed me a survey and went, "Oh, by the way – we did some book trailers for you.  Do you want to see them?"

Well, yeah.

Look! A book trailer for Silver Ship and the Sea.

How did I ever get this lucky?

And by the way – this came out of our education system. 

Nebula Noms and Hugo Podcasts?

The Nebula short list is out.  I'm really quite pleased with what is on the list (although – as always – slightly disappointed that some works which I nominated didn't make it).  In addition to some short stories like Kij Johnson's "Spar" that I loved, two of my novel reading recommendations made the final ballot:  Cherie Priest's "Boneshaker" on the novel list, and Lisa Mantchev's "Eyes Like Stars" for the Andre Norton Award.

I'm planning my Hugo recommendations now (they must be in by the...

Nixie meets many famous authors and a bad agent

I spent the Thursday – > Sunday morning is Pasco, Washington.  Thursday and Friday were all about talking to students at an event called the Cavalcade of Authors, and the rest of the convention was a lovely time with friends, and my dog.

On Thursday, I talked to Stevens middle school in Pasco.  The school librarian was very welcoming, the school bought my lunch, and the kids had a lot of great questions.  Friday was the Cavalcade of Authors – a dizzying day that must have been like half a...

Planning a Seattle Futures Meeting

I used to attend monthly futurist meetings in Santa Monica California, run by John Smart.  They were great get togethers – a pile of people interested in talking about the future.  Eclectic.  It was scientists and techs from JPL and the local universities, people off the street, students, business people, consultants, etc.  Often up to fifty of sixty at a time.  We'd talk about books and the accelerating pace of change (which is, of course, even faster now).  I actually designed other trips s...

New Fiction Available

I have two rather long stories out and available right now, which is a lovely way to start the new year.

One is "The Robot's Girl" which is in the April issue of Analog (on sale now at newsstands and for the Kindle).  I've received three notes from people who've read it so far and like it.  This usually happens for books, but not so much for short stories, so I'm really pleased.  The story originated when I read an article about some people in Japan being disturbed by robots being designed to ...

I guess the battle is still raging above me.

I saw them back available (I swear I did), but now they're not. Sigh. I guess it's a waiting game. I'm willing to wait with Macmillan, since I still need them to win.

The odd thing is, I've been fighting them becasue I want my books on the kindle. I still do. I get asked why they aren't there all the time. I live in Amazon Country.

Maybe when it's over I can have both – physical books on Amazon and ebooks on Kindle. And BTW, I'm fine with the ebook release date being after the hardcover ...