Jane Lindskold's Blog, page 13

FF: No ’Rithmatic

Roary Dreams of Life on the Trail

This week I’ve been reading and writing, but no arithmetic, at least this week.

A reminder.  The Friday Fragments is not a book review column; it’s a list of what I’m reading and maybe a bit about my opinions.  I always read the comments section and enjoy learning what other people are reading.  Oh, and I don’t usually list shorter works unless in a collection or articles, I also don’t usually list scattered research reading.

Completed:

The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers.  Audiobook.  Re-listen.  Quite enjoyed.

Horse Tales by Maxine Dellinger and Kathy O’Neal Pressing.  Two women take to the trails.  Anecdotal, a little odd, very fun.

In Progress:

Witchy Winter by D.J. Butler.  Opening is a bit confusing as there are numerous new characters and some events actually happen before the end of the prior book.  That said, once I got into the substance, I’ve been caught up in the various threads.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers.  Audiobook. Re-listen.  Think Firefly set in a universe with lots of well-developed aliens.

Also:

Having finished the latest Archeology, now reading the most recent Smithsonian.  Yes.  There is a pattern here!

Upcoming…

Resting Doves

Some of you (such as those who subscribe to my newsletter) will have already heard some of this, but for the rest of you here’s the news.

Last week, I was informed that an MRI showed that the ache in my right shoulder is the result of a severe tear in my rotator cuff.  Surgery is scheduled for April 3, 2024.  My right arm (and, yes, I am righthanded) will be in a sling for six weeks after the surgery.  I may be able to type some during that time, but I’ve also been told that the worst thing I can do if I want to heal completely is to push too hard and endanger the healing of the tear.

So, I’m going to do something novel and worthy of a novelist.  I’m going to concentrate on getting better.  Yes.  I am aware that there are various speech-to-text programs.  I don’t plan to use them.  I plan to rest and heal.  To do PT when the time comes.  To make sure that the constant ache in my shoulder and arm goes away.

Aside: Next week, if folks are interested, I can talk more about why I don’t feel a great desire to use speech-to-text to write.  It’s not just about taking downtime to heal!

My surgery should not interfere with my collaborations with David Weber, as currently the project is on his desk.  If he finishes and needs to send me a manuscript to review, I certainly will be able to read (and will enjoy reading) our current book.

Additionally, starting April 1, my website bookshop will not accept orders.  Not only won’t I be able to sign books, but I don’t want to add the job of assembling and mailing packages to Jim’s certain to be very busy schedule, since he’s going to be taking over everything I can’t do one-handed, as well as all the driving.  I hope to reopen the bookshop in early June, but that will depend on how my healing is going. 

I will do what I can to continue my Wednesday Wandering and Friday Fragment blogs, but I may also take the option of asking Jim to post updates.  I might also re-run some past columns. 

There is still over a month until the surgery.  During that time, I hope to finish off the new e-book of The Buried Pyramid.  We’re in the final proofing stages now.  I will also continue to work on my new Over Where novel.

Now…  Writing time!

FF: Moving Along

Dandy Has Witchy Fur

Winter and Spring are busy fencing as to which is in charge.  I can see advantages to both, so I just lean back and watch.

A reminder.  The Friday Fragments is not a book review column; it’s a list of what I’m reading and maybe a bit about my opinions.  I always read the comments section and enjoy learning what other people are reading.  Oh, and I don’t usually list shorter works unless in a collection or articles, I also don’t usually list scattered research reading.

Completed:

Witchy Eye by D.J. Butler.  Very solidly researched alternate history into which a classic “hidden heir” Fantasy plot is convincingly integrated.  The second edition (which I am reading) includes an excellent essay on how the author’s alternate “America” evolved.  One of those rare alternate history works in which scrupulous attention to worldbuilding does not mean characterization takes second place.

In Progress:

The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers.  Audiobook.  Re-listen.  Almost done.  Quite enjoying.

Witchy Winter by D.J. Butler.  The hidden heir is no longer hidden.  Looks as if this book will really expand the setting.  Just started.

Also:

Finished the latest Smithsonian, now on to the new Archeology.

Learning to Wait

Persephone Waits in Style

For reasons I’ll get to, probably next week, I’ve been doing a lot of waiting, which has led me to think about the value of speculation and how speculation differs from worry.

Not all that long ago, most human societies were structured around waiting in one form or another.  You didn’t have fresh peaches all year.  You had to wait for peach season.  You didn’t have central heat or refrigerated air, so lifestyles shifted around keeping within your personal Goldilocks’ zone.

As mass entertainment evolved, there was an element of waiting.  Stories that were serialized in magazines meant readers had to wait for the next part.  When radio dramas appeared, the serialized story also had a place.  Soap operas grew popular by encouraging listeners to tune in the next day or next week for the new installment.  Later, when movies became a thing, the weekly serial encouraged people to hurry back to next week to find out how The Masked Marvel or Trader Tom would get out of the latest peril.

And all of this, of course, led to speculation.  Wondering and guessing without the need to worry.

I’m too young for the radio drama.  Since I never got into soap operas, and most television available to me didn’t feature the cliffhanger ending, this wasn’t a part of my universe.  (Yes.  There were exceptions.) Books were one area where one needed to wait for the next book, sometimes well over a year, and speculating about what would happen next occupied many a conversation.

In these days of binge watching, of spoiler-filled sites and chat, overnight delivery, streaming downloads and all the other ways waiting time has been reduced, has the pleasure of speculation vanished?

I’d like to hope not.  I’d like to think that the joy of savoring is still there, in different forms, even if the intensity often has dropped to weeks, rather than years. Still, I think that there’s a danger to expecting instant or near instant gratification, and that maybe it can have a negative impact on creativity.

What do you think?

A Provocative Insight

Mei-Ling Poses As Witchy Eye

Not as much reading time lately, in part because my achy shoulder is restricting my ability to read in bed.  MRI this week.  Ortho next week.  Grateful to live with access to 21st century medical technology.

A reminder.  The Friday Fragments is not a book review column; it’s a list of what I’m reading and maybe a bit about my opinions.  I always read the comments section and enjoy learning what other people are reading.  Oh, and I don’t usually list shorter works unless in a collection or articles, I also don’t usually list scattered research reading.

Completed:

American Ghost: A Family’s Extraordinary History on the Desert Frontier by Hannah Nordhaus.  Non-fiction.  Audiobook. Nordhaus decides to investigate her ancestor Julia Staab, who ostensibly haunts La Posada in Santa Fe.  Nordhaus states repeatedly that the book is more about herself than about Julia, so I’ll add that I’ve seen a lot of the places she mentions, and she definitely projects her interpretations onto everything from the burro statue in Burro Alley to the landscape, and, of course, onto Julia Staab.  Read as a personal memoir of the author, not as scholarly analysis of a historical figure.

A Prayer for the Crown Shy by Becky Chambers.  Audiobook.  Thoughtful, gentle.  Sequel to other “Monk and Robot” stories, but can stand alone.  As I was saying to a friend, Chambers’ work is not without conflict.  The conflict is the subtle contrast between what she envisions as possible and what “everyone knows” is how societies work. 

In Progress:

Witchy Eye by D.J. Butler.  Very solidly researched alternate history into which a classic “hidden heir” Fantasy plot is convincingly integrated.  The second edition (which I am reading) includes an excellent essay on how the author’s alternate “America” evolved.  One of those rare alternate history works in which scrupulous attention to worldbuilding does not mean characterization takes second place.

The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers.  Audiobook.  Re-listen.  Just starting.

Also:

Almost done with the latest Smithsonian.  Been very interesting.

Chat With Audiobook Narrator Elisabeth Ashby

The Doves Listen

Today is Valentine’s Day, which also happens to be the day on which Library of the Sapphire Wind, the first of my Over Where novels, begins.

As my Valentine’s present to you all, I’m sharing an interview I did with audiobook narrator Elisabeth Ashby, the narrator for the new audiobooks of my Over Where series.  The first of these, Library of the Sapphire Wind was released yesterday, February 13, 2024, and the other two are soon to follow. You can find them at audiobooks.com or on Audible or probably at other vendors. I’ll let you know as I find out more.

I’ve been told I’m a good reader of my own works, but as an audiobook listener, I know it takes special skills I don’t have.  Today I want to talk to Elisabeth both about her professional experiences and a bit about her reading of the Over Where series.

JANE: Hi, Elisabeth!  Your professional webpage notes that you are a professional actor.  How did you come to be an audiobook narrator?  What was your first job in the field?

ELISABETH: I’ve been a huge fan of audiobooks since I was a kid. There’s a production company in my hometown called Full Cast Audio that’s been doing the multi-cast production thing since the 90s, and my sister had roles in a couple of their books when we were kids. I was focused on stage work at the time (I figured the acting schools I was getting ready to apply to would be more impressed by that, though in hindsight I’m not sure I was right) but it always sounded like such a cool experience and it was always something I had wanted to try.

As I built my acting career I always kind of had audiobooks in the back of my head as something I should look into, but I could never seem to find the time to actually sit down and figure out how to make it happen. When the theaters shut down in 2020 I figured it was finally time, so I converted a closet in my basement into a studio (the original configuration consisted of a cheap microphone and blankets stapled to the walls, nothing fancy), started teaching myself audio editing and mic technique with the help of online tutorials, made a few demos, and started auditioning! My first title was a short self-help book, which was a great way to get my feet wet.

JANE:  I have enjoyed some of Full Cast Audio’s works.  That’s Bruce Coville’s company, right?  I bet I heard your sister. 

I love how proactive you were in pursuing your advance into becoming an audiobook narrator.  So many people would never think to just build a studio and get going.

 What sort of works have you narrated?  Were there any you felt were particularly challenging to your skills?

ELISABETH: Non-fiction and fantasy are my biggest genres so far, though I’ve done a bit of range within each of those genres. One of the more challenging was a sociology book that had a lot to do with fertility medicine and technology. I spent about a decade doing standardized patient work so I’m pretty comfortable with medical terminology, but a lot of the language in this book was pretty niche and getting it all right definitely took some work. I’m extremely proud of the fact that when the publisher got back to me with the list of lines they needed me to re-record (there are always at least a couple of mistakes that sneak in, no matter how good you are), not a single one of my corrections was for having mispronounced a medical term!

JANE: Building on my prior question, what skills do you think are absolutely essential if someone wants to pursue a career as an audiobook narrator?

ELISABETH: The number one thing to remember is that narrating is so, so much more than just reading aloud. Your phone can read aloud. Narrating is acting. That doesn’t mean you have to have formal acting training to be good at it (some of the top names in the business have never set foot onstage or in front of a camera and it certainly hasn’t stopped them) but you need to be able to connect with a piece of text and breathe some life into it, take the way it sounds in your head when you read it to yourself and find a way to bring the listener in on that.

JANE: I very much enjoyed talking with you before you started reading the Over Where series.  Can you talk a little about your experiences with that project?

ELISABETH: First off, it’s always a treat to be able to do longer works, whether that means a series or a single 30-hour epic. It lets me do a real deep-dive on the world and the characters, and my performance gets to evolve with them. It was especially great to be able to do this on a project that felt a bit more unique—fantasy heroes are getting more and more diverse all the time, which is absolutely amazing and can only help the genre grow, but you still don’t often see age taken into consideration as a demographic worth exploring. Having a group of heroines who not only start out older than your average fantasy adventurer but for whom age and the experiences that come with it is one of their strongest assets was such a cool thing to see, and such a great thing to explore.

JANE: You’ve narrated a number of Fantasy and SF works for younger readers, and you told me you were excited to be reading a Fantasy series for adults.  Do you read Fantasy and Science Fiction for pleasure?  If not, what do you enjoy?  If so, could you share a few you like?

ELISABETH: I do read fantasy and sci-fi for pleasure! The ones I read on my own time tend to skew a little darker, often overlapping with my other favorite genres, thrillers and horror. My absolute all-time favorite is American Gods by Neil Gaiman—I re-read it every time I travel to a part of the US that I’ve never visited before. I’ve also really been enjoying Juno Dawson’s Her Majesty’s Royal Coven series and the Alex Stern novels by Leigh Bardugo and am eagerly awaiting the next installments of both of those, and I’m currently about three-quarters of the way through The Magician’s Daughter by H. G. Parry.

JANE: As you know from our phone chats, I could keep asking questions, but I’ll respect your time (I know you have a big event coming up), and thank you for spending this time with me and with my readers.  I certainly hope we get to work together again.

FF: More Comments Than Usual

Persephone Reads

This week I have more to say about my reading than usual.  Don’t consider these reviews, just my thoughts as I go along.

A reminder.  The Friday Fragments is not a book review column; it’s a list of what I’m reading and maybe a bit about my opinions.  I always read the comments section and enjoy learning what other people are reading.  Oh, and I don’t usually list shorter works unless in a collection or articles, I also don’t usually list scattered research reading.

Completed:

Conrad’s Fate by Diana Wynne Jones.  Audiobook.  Twelve-year-old Conrad has had instilled in him that in his past life, he did something terrible.  Now it looks as if that deed is catching up to him.  Features Christopher Chant at about age fifteen.  And has an epilogue taking the characters into young adulthood.

Among the Gray Lords by D.J. Butler.  Third book featuring sword and sorcery duo Indrajit and Fix.  Beneath the spiraling-out-of-the-protagonists-control plot rests a quietly deeper tale about the value of friendship and loyalty.  Read for the romp, stay for the resolution.

In Progress:

American Ghost: A Family’s Extraordinary History on the Desert Frontier by Hannah Nordhaus.  Non-fiction.  Audiobook. Nordhaus decides to investigate her ancestor Julia Staab, who ostensibly haunts La Posada in Santa Fe.  Nordhaus states repeatedly that the book is more about herself than about Julia, so I’ll add that I’ve seen a lot of the places she mentions, and she definitely projects her interpretations onto everything from the burro statue in Burro Alley to the landscape, and, of course, onto Julia Staab.  Read as a personal memoir of the author, not as scholarly analysis of a historical figure.

Witchy Eye by D.J. Butler.  Very solidly researched alternate history into which a classic “hidden heir” Fantasy plot is convincingly integrated.  The second edition (which I am reading) includes an excellent essay on how the author’s alternate “America” evolved.  One of those rare alternate history works in which scrupulous attention to worldbuilding does not mean characterization takes second place.

Also:

Finished the latest American Archeology.  Some good pieces in there, including one on all the different ways dating of sites and artifacts can be done.  Now starting the latest Smithsonian. 

The Blue Birdfeeder of Happiness

With White-winged Doves

You’ve seen it before, even if you don’t think you’ve seen it, at least if you’ve been following these Wanderings for a while.

I’m talking about the blue birdfeed featured in the accompanying photo.  It used to be a reddish brown.  Our cats gave Jim the birdfeed one year for Christmas, being of the opinion that anything they would like, he would, too.  They were right.  Jim carefully arranged his gift to hang in the ash tree at the front of our house and it was a feature there for a long time.

How long?  Well, probably twenty-five years.  All the cats who gifted the birdfeeder to Jim are gone, as are several of their successors.  The birdfeeder itself has been repainted several times, usually reddish-brown, because that’s the color of the trim on our house and so we usually have some outdoor quality paint in that color.

Jim has repaired the birdfeeder over the years, but this year he gave it a major overhaul, rebuilding parts of the sides and even ordering new plastic windows.  In celebration of the rebuild, he decided to paint it blue, making it the Blue Birdfeeder of Happiness.  Because even rebuilt it’s pretty fragile, we moved it from the ash out front to a more sheltered area in the back.  Added bonus is that it’s visible from our office window.

Why bother with the rebuild?  After all, it’s pretty easy to find nice birdfeeders.  Actually, we do have others, including a new one in the ash out front, one on the west side of the house.  We even had one on the east side of the house already.

But there’s something Jim and I both find compelling about finding ways to keep old things fresh and new.  It might even be a metaphor for a long-term relationship of any sort: with a person, with a job, with a hobby.

Or maybe it’s just a birdfeeder.  I’ll let you decide.

Not What It Seems

Mei-Ling Reads

This week’s “completed” list makes it look as if I read a lot this week.  Actually, I finished a lot, and several of the books were quite short.

A reminder, the Friday Fragments is not a book review column; it’s a list of what I’m reading and maybe a bit about my opinions.  I always read the comments section and enjoy learning what other people are reading.  Oh, and I don’t usually list shorter works unless in a collection or articles, I also don’t usually list scattered research reading.

Completed:
The Cartoon History of the Universe: From the Big Bang to Alexander the Great.  (Volumes 1-7).  One of the oddest, but most enjoyable, history series out there. 

Paladin’s Faith by T. Kingfisher (aka Ursula Vernon).  Book Four in the Saint of Steel series.  As with the rest of the series, this could stand alone, but certain elements are best appreciated if you’ve read the series in order. 

Mr. Lemoncello’s Great Library Race by Chris Grabenstein.  Audiobook.  Beneath the chaos and silliness, this middle grade series takes on some pretty serious issues.  This time it’s research in the age of the internet, when facts can be changed but also found, and the quest for Truth is more important than ever.

Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones. Audiobook.  Diana Wynne Jones has a gift for capturing the fear and doubt that often plague kids because they misinterpret what adults say.

The Devil’s Wedding Ring by Vidar Sundstol.  Translated from the Norwegian by Tiina Nunnally.  In this Noir detective tale, interlaced with folklore, Max has never gotten over events that led him to quit his job when he was a young police officer.  Newly widowed, he returns and finds out that those events have a shadow that goes back far beyond his own life. 

In Progress:

Conrad’s Fate by Diana Wynne Jones.  Audiobook.  Twelve-year-old Conrad has had instilled in him that in his past life, he did something terrible.  Now it looks as if that deed is catching up to him.

Among the Gray Lords by D.J. Butler.  Third book featuring sword and sorcery duo Indrajit and Fix.  Just started.

Also:

Finished an issue of Smithsonian and am just starting the latest American Archeology. 

My Week Started With

Winter Visitor

My week started with a long chat with Elizabeth Ashby, the audiobook narrator for my Over Where series (Library of the Sapphire Wind, Aurora Borealis Bridge, and House of Rough Diamonds).  In the course of our chat, she mentioned that Library of the Sapphire Wind is up from preorder and due for release on February 13, 2024.

This is particularly wonderful, as the novel begins at a book club meeting on Valentine’s Day—that’s right!  February 14th.

The audiobook is being produced by Trantor, but will be available from various vendors, including Audible. 

I hope to interview Elizabeth Ashby sometime soon, not only about her experiences reading my books, but about the great wide world of audiobook narration.  Look for this in a future WW!

Jim and I are also in the final proofing stage of the new audiobook of The Buried Pyramid.  This one will take a while because, well, proofing secret messages takes a while because they’re cryptic.  And I’ve enlisted Jim because authors are the worst people to proof their own work, and for this one I really need an extra set of eyes.

Meanwhile, I’m still doing lots of PT for my shoulder, but trying to find time to work on OW4.  Sometimes the two jobs don’t work well together, as typing can get to my shoulder.  Yes, I can write longhand and often do, but eventually my scrawl needs to be turned into something someone else can read.  Thanks to the PT exercises, I can type for a while without pain, for which I am immensely grateful.

The beginning of the year also sees a lot of paperwork, so I’m having to set aside some time for that as well.

Hope this finds you well and reading on!