Liz Williams's Blog, page 23

Wet!

It has been an exceptionally wet week here, although the land is so dry that Somerset is about to be issued with a drought warning. Oh irony. It has, however, been a good excuse for us to sort the house out - we have been returning an upstairs bedroom to its original function as a bedroom, and establishing a downstairs study. I have found some remarkable things in both. I have also been scouring out email inboxes - I suppose this is a belated spring clean. I am gradually catching up with correspondence and other bits and pieces, including some last orders from the spring sale and generally getting stuff done. I like order, believe it or not. It's just that we don't seem to get enough of it!

Exmoor

It being Mr Jones' birthday yesterday, we ran away to Exmoor: walked in larch woods and on bilberry moors, had lunch in a hotel in Dulverton where the dogs copped three lots of dog biscuits from admiring bar staff, and then drove to the old bridge at Tarr Steps. Here, things went somewhat awry: T had to swerve to avoid a teenage idiot driving far too fast in the opposite direction, hit a rock and ripped the front tyre out. Luckily, this happened at the entrance to the car park and the warden let us use the landline to call the AA. While perfectly capable of changing a tyre, the bolt that secured the spare wheel to the frame had rusted up and could not be moved: the AA man had to use a hacksaw to remove it. While we waited, we took it in turns to go down to the bridge, but it did not, in fact, take long and we were in time for dinner. He says he's had a good birthday, anyway!

And as a bonus, we have had breakfast with maeve_the_red and D, who are briefly in town.

NEW SHORT STORY SUBSCRIPTION - REPOST!

So, we have now come to the end of last summer's short story sub. A HUGE thank-you to everyone who signed up: it has made an enormous difference to us this year and I hope everyone has enjoyed reading the stories as much as I have enjoyed writing them - this does sound like a cliche, but it is true. It is also true that it has pretty much saved us from financial meltdown, and like many people, we are not out of the woods yet. With the state of the mainstream publishing industry these days, both in terms of the money involved and in the way that authors are treated, this direct marketing model is a real opportunity for authors to interact with their readers, without the problems of the mainstream press.

I have been asked if I will repeat the subscription, and I have been planning to do so. However, this year's sub is going to be a little different. Morrigan Books will be bringing out the final (for now) instalment in the Chen chronicles, MORNINGSTAR, in the next year or so, but for some time now I have been planning to do a prequel. This will be the story of how Chen and Inari met, and quite a bit about Zhu Irzh's time in the Hell Vice Squad which, as those of you who have just had the latest story will know, is somewhat different from its earthly counterpart...


So instead of a Chen short story, you'll be getting a section of a Chen novel, and instead of getting it every three months, you'll be getting it every month instead. Confused? You will be, because in addition to this, there are 2 more short story sets:

MONDHILE: I will be writing 4 short stories (every 3 months) set in the world of GHOST SISTER, DARKLAND and BLOODMIND.

What will I be getting?: feral people, dangerous landscapes, romance, a far-future post-tech society and possibly a couple of battles at sea.

ISIS DANE: (Also 4 stories, every quarter) I've done a couple of short stories in this series already - it's the same magical Albion as the Cygne novels, and set around the same time, so Cygne may well show up. Isis is a water magician, dealing with rivers and river spirits.

What will I be getting?: water magic, underground rivers, demented magicians, sinister faeries, dangerous royalty and a determined heroine.

If you have been enjoying the Garnet Park series, don't despair, because I'll be doing a Christmas special which ties in some of the story so far. I'll announce this a little later in the year, with the opportunity to sign up for it.

Worldsoul: I will also be writing a package of 3 short stories set in the Liminality - this is the world in which Worldsoul, my new trilogy with Prime takes place. These will be ready for Christmas as well.

It's exactly the same deal as before, with no rise in price. I'm doing a limited run of 100, for each story.

Cost: £5/$8 per story. If you sign up for 4 (one series) over the course of a year, I'll call it £18/$30.

The whole deal (12 short stories): £50/ - depending on the USD rate, this is from $78 to $90.

You can do it through Paypal, below.

Stories will be sent as a Word attachment or a PDF - let me know which is best for you.
Interested?: email me on: mevennen(at)hotmail.com.





Short Stories
A Thousand Li £18.00
Mondhile £18.00
Isis Dane £18.00
All 3 series £50.00
Worldsoul pack of 3 £12.00

Finnconn 2012

I'm very pleased to announce that I will be guest of honour at Finncon 2012, in Tampere, Finland, next year, along with Lois McMaster Bujold and Irma Hirsjärvi. I look forward to seeing the Scandinavian contingent of the f-list again - I had a great time in Stockholm and it will be great to catch up with you guys!

NEW SHORT STORY SUBSCRIPTION

So, we have now come to the end of last summer's short story sub. A HUGE thank-you to everyone who signed up: it has made an enormous difference to us this year and I hope everyone has enjoyed reading the stories as much as I have enjoyed writing them - this does sound like a cliche, but it is true. It is also true that it has pretty much saved us from financial meltdown, and like many people, we are not out of the woods yet. With the state of the mainstream publishing industry these days, both in terms of the money involved and in the way that authors are treated, this direct marketing model is a real opportunity for authors to interact with their readers, without the problems of the mainstream press.

I have been asked if I will repeat the subscription, and I have been planning to do so. However, this year's sub is going to be a little different. Morrigan Books will be bringing out the final (for now) instalment in the Chen chronicles, MORNINGSTAR, in the next year or so, but for some time now I have been planning to do a prequel. This will be the story of how Chen and Inari met, and quite a bit about Zhu Irzh's time in the Hell Vice Squad which, as those of you who have just had the latest story will know, is somewhat different from its earthly counterpart...


So instead of a Chen short story, you'll be getting a section of a Chen novel, and instead of getting it every three months, you'll be getting it every month instead. Confused? You will be, because in addition to this, there are 2 more short story sets:

MONDHILE: I will be writing 4 short stories (every 3 months) set in the world of GHOST SISTER, DARKLAND and BLOODMIND.

What will I be getting?: feral people, dangerous landscapes, romance, a far-future post-tech society and possibly a couple of battles at sea.

ISIS DANE: (Also 4 stories, every quarter) I've done a couple of short stories in this series already - it's the same magical Albion as the Cygne novels, and set around the same time, so Cygne may well show up. Isis is a water magician, dealing with rivers and river spirits.

What will I be getting?: water magic, underground rivers, demented magicians, sinister faeries, dangerous royalty and a determined heroine.

If you have been enjoying the Garnet Park series, don't despair, because I'll be doing a Christmas special which ties in some of the story so far. I'll announce this a little later in the year, with the opportunity to sign up for it.

Worldsoul: I will also be writing a package of 3 short stories set in the Liminality - this is the world in which Worldsoul, my new trilogy with Prime takes place. These will be ready for Christmas as well.

It's exactly the same deal as before, with no rise in price. I'm doing a limited run of 100, for each story.

Cost: £5/$8 per story. If you sign up for 4 (one series) over the course of a year, I'll call it £18/$30.

The whole deal (12 short stories): £50/ - depending on the USD rate, this is from $78 to $90.

You can do it through Paypal, below.

Stories will be sent as a Word attachment or a PDF - let me know which is best for you.
Interested?: email me on: mevennen(at)hotmail.com.





Short Stories
A Thousand Li £18.00
Mondhile £18.00
Isis Dane £18.00
All 3 series £50.00
Worldsoul pack of 3 £12.00

UPDATE - SHORT STORY SUN AND PAYPAL

Some of you will have had a 'cancelled subscription' email from Paypal - this is because I've just gone through and made sure that you don't get billed automatically again, if you choose not to repeat the story sub! I will be running a new short story sub, with a new range of limited edition short fiction, once the final set of stories has gone out, which should be by the end of this week. And of course you are welcome to sub to that - this time, however, I will make sure that it is set up as a one-off payment. It'll be the same price this year, too.

And thank you all so much for your support!

Lily and the secret trousers

One of the things I do not miss about our ancient and now deceased German Shepherd, Chance, is that he was an immensely fluffy dog, from whom one could pull handfuls of wool and then, an hour or so later, do it again. And again. If we had been mad geneticists, or better at knitting, we could have made a whole pack of new dogs.

So now we have a Rottweiler and a Rottie cross. We know Lily's mum is a Rottie, but her dad has always been up for debate - the general consensus is either Collie, or GS, or a combination. Her siblings look like German Shepherds, and she herds people. She is much more anxious and active than Cass, who if she was any more inert, would actually be inanimate. And now that Lily is 2, she has demonstrated a most unwelcome canine trait: secret trousers. Underneath her neat, short black coat, which does not shed too much, has appeared a second coat of long, fine, fawn fluff, which is now covering what seems like the entire house. I have just scoured the upstairs landing with a vaccuum cleaner and it is all fawn fluff.

Grrr.

Update - short story sub and sale

The short story subscription will end soon. I am currently on the last lap of the Garnet Park story, which is the final one that I am currently writing - Chen and Cygne are complete. So I will be sending out the last 3 stories very soon, and I will also contact Paypal to double check that no-one gets billed twice. Thank you all for your support and your patience! If anyone does want the full set of stories, let me know: there are a few places left, given that it was a limited edition run.

Several people have asked me if I will be repeating the short story subscription, and the answer is yes. We are still not quite out of the financial mire and, moreover, I have enjoyed writing these stories. I'll post more about this once the final tranche is out of the way and there is likely to be something else available on sub, too. I think you might like this one...

With regard to the spring sale, I need to do one more print but the rest of the books etc should have all gone out, with the exception of A Glass of Shadow, which is nearing print now. I'll make sure that everyone who ordered one gets one. A couple of people have not had their packages, so keep an eye out and do let me know if they don't show up. I will also be sending out the next run of Tarot readings soon, and of course those of you who ordered commissioned short stories will get them in due course, but hopefully without too long a wait. Again, many thanks for your support.

DIARY OF A WITCHCRAFT SHOP - latest!

I am delighted to announce that DIARY OF A WITCHCRAFT SHOP now has a publisher for its hard copy format. Trevor Jones and myself have signed up with Newcon Press and the hard copy of volume 1 will be out later in the year. If any of you have already bought the e-edition, I will be sending you a copy of the book at no extra cost. We are looking to publish Vol 2 if all goes well, and thus the same applies.

Oxbridge

T and I departed for Cambridge on Thursday, heading up through West Wycombe for lunch at a pub that has an Old Skool White Lady as its resident ghost (unglimpsed) and a visit to Dashwood's caves: always entertaining. Thus lunched, we drove through heavy rain to Cambridge, arriving barely unscathed due a somewhat alarming brake and skid on the M25: we stopped about a foot from the bumper of the car in front, and the Merc behind stopped a foot behind us. Glad I'd just had the car MOT'd and a new tyre in place.

The purpose of the Cambridge leg of the visit was the Cambridge Beer Festival: this was very civilised it a little wet. T stuck to stouts and porters and I stuck to anything whose name I liked - a very good lavender honey beer stands out, but they were all pretty good. There were a lot of local breweries whose products we just don't see in the West Country.

We also did the Folklore Museum, and went to an exceptionally good Chinese restaurant. And it is always good to spend time with La M, Le M, and K's beautiful cats, who are cats of great catness.

Yesterday, we all got up hideously early and drove to Oxford, arriving in time for the Write Fantastic's annual get-together at St Hilda's. Apologies to Ian Watson who had to channel me on the first panel (didn't realise I was on it, and went for breakfast). Trevor and I spent some of the afternoon wandering around Oxford and got sucked into an exhibition on eccentricity, as you do. This was mainly devoted to Oxford's scientific luminaries and featured one Ellen Willmott, IIRC, who as well as devising a turning device for wooden implements practised a form of guerilla gardening in her declining years and used to seed friends' flower beds with giant thistles. After a pleasant dinner at the Chutney Brasserie, we got back to Glastonbury about midnight.