Jane Lindskold's Blog, page 35

Child of a Rainless Year

Original Cover, New Cover

As I promised last week, I’m going to wander on about the latest novel in my backlist to have a new e-book release, this one with cover design by Jane Noel.

Oh! By the way, the new e-book release contains new content in the form of a short essay about some of the impulses behind the novel my longtime pen pal, Paul Dellinger, has called “a love letter to your adopted home state.”

Child of a Rainless Year was initially released in 2005 from Tor.  Since these WW didn’t exist then, I feel I must tell you a bit more about the novel.

Here’s the new cover copy…

Personal History Shrouded in Mystery

Even before her mother vanished, Mira was beginning to realize that her upbringing was far different from that of the children around her.  She has no idea who her father was.  Her mother, Colette, was a distantly elegant figure, more interested in keeping Mira isolated than in being part of her upbringing.

Then, when Mira was nine, Colette vanished without a trace. Mira was adopted by loving foster parents, and let herself forget the mother she had hardly known.

That changes when Mira comes into her inheritance.  She learns that not only does she still own the peculiar house in Las Vegas, New Mexico, where she had lived as a child, but that the question of what happened to Colette still haunts her.

Seeking closure, Mira returns to Phineas House, but the more she learns, the more she realizes that Colette was not what she seemed, and that their family is intertwined with mystical secrets that have influenced not only Mira’s own life, but the history of the city they have warped by their very presence.

At the time of its release, Child of a Rainless Year received numerous glowing reviews.  Here’s the starred review from Booklist:

“Lindskold conjures the atmosphere of nontourist New Mexico, beautifully evoking Las Vegas’ long, turbulent history while spinning a fantastic yarn about Mira’s odd inheritance. Neither an explosive story nor an edge-of-the-seat-thriller, the novel’s strength lies in the unfolding of Mira’s character.” 

Alan Robson reminded me this past week that he’d also given it a glowing review.  Here’s an excerpt of his June 2005 review.

“There are some very special books in the world; books that take you away from yourself and transport you to another place from which you do not want to return. When you read one of these special books, you start to resent the intrusions of reality. It begins to seem pale and thin by comparison. Mundane things like eating and sleeping just get in the way of the transcendental experience of reading that special book and you can’t wait to return to it.

“Child of a Rainless Year by Jane Lindskold is one of these very special books.”

Alan caught something about the novel that many people missed, so I’m going to take the liberty of quoting a bit more:

“This is a fantasy novel and fantastic things are happening right from the very first page, though that does not become clear until much later on in the story. We are introduced so seductively to the world behind the world that we simply don’t notice until suddenly it is all around us and even the most bizarre circumstances seem so natural that we simply accept them as a matter of course.

“One of the things that makes this book such an absorbing read is its astonishing sense of place and character. The tiny town of Las Vegas (yes – it really exists) is drawn in all its brown and dusty glory. You can taste the grit as you breathe. And all the characters in the book, even the spear-carriers, step alive from the page and demand their moment of glory. Mira in particular is so real and so vivid that she becomes extremely easy to identify with. Her problems quickly become your problems, and you want them to be solved just as much as she does. The pages almost turn themselves. It becomes vital that you find out what happens next, and nothing must be allowed to get in the way of that.

“Child of a Rainless Year is the most perfect piece of storytelling that I’ve ever read.”

For those of you who don’t like e-books, I also have the original hardcover available in my website bookshop.  As always, signing ad personalization are free!

Now, off to write something new!

FF: Still Looking

Roary Contemplates Meat Loaf

I finished the two books I was reading late this week, and I’m still looking for the next one.  Maybe I’ll catch up on short fiction and my heap of magazines.

As I mentioned in the WW this week, I’m talking via Zoom to Parsec, the Pittsburgh area SF/F club on Saturday the 16th.  If you’re interested, here’s a link where you can register.  The event is, as far as I know, free and open to non-club members.

As I also mentioned, we drove out to Phoenix for a funeral last weekend, so my usual reading was interrupted.  We did listen to part of an excellent audiobook of The Fellowship of the Rings on the road, getting up to where they’re about to enter Moria.  The plan is to resume next trip.

For those of you unfamiliar with this column, the Friday Fragments lists what I’ve read over the past week.  Most of the time I don’t include details of either short fiction (unless part of a book-length collection) or magazines.  The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list.  If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive recommendation list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.

Once again, this is not a book review column.  It’s just a list with, maybe, a bit of description or a few opinions tossed in.  And it’s also a great place to tell me what you’re reading. 

Completed:

Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins. 

Meatloaf: To Hell and Back by the eponymous performer and David Dalton.  Ultimately, I found this a sad book.  More “to hell” than “back.”

In Progress:

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet.  Audiobook.  Plot light, so far, but lively, quirky characters more than make up for it.  Well-done aliens always a plus for me.  Non-military space opera setting.

Also:

Smithsonian, the latest issue.  Finished and found some very interesting articles. 

New Releases! Rocky Insights!

Two New Releases!

Several bits of news, then my insight from the past week.  (There’s also an extra photo!)

As you probably guessed from the image above, I have Book Release News!

Aurora Borealis Bridge, sequel to Library of the Sapphire Wind, is now officially released as both an e-book and a trade paperback.

My friend, award-winning reviewer, Alan Robson, who has permission to not like the same sorts of books as me or even my books (or else we could never have written a column together for seven years), had this to say about the series:

“I thoroughly enjoyed the story. I even stayed up past my bedtime just so I could finish the first book!  It’s an amazingly complex story, quite different from what I expected at the start…. I think it’s very clever, very witty, often funny and really rather subversive in the way in which it turns so many cliches on their heads. Well done, very well done.”

I’ve been writing about the two Over Where books on and off for a while now.  If you’d like to know more, you can read about Library of the Sapphire Wind here.

As for Aurora Borealis Bridge, here’s a longer version of the cover copy that doesn’t have too many spoilers!

Can It Get Any Stranger?

Absolutely!

When Peg, Meg, and Teg were first summoned Over Where, vast and varied life experience (along with wide reading choices) helped them to adjust to a world where they were the only humans, magic was real, ships could fly, and reincarnation was a confirmed fact.

In the company of the “inquisitors,” Xerak, Grunwold, and Vereez, the three newly appointed mentors rediscovered the Library of the Sapphire Wind, and, within it, revelations that transformed the young people’s pasts into a vast tangle of lies and half-truths.

But there are still questions to be answered.  Before they are done, Meg the retired librarian, Teg the archeologist turned mage, and the multi-talented, ever surprising Peg will deal with kidnappings, betrayal, arcane artifacts, romantic intrigues, and the inescapable reality that past lives cast long shadows.

Together, the three mentors and their young allies will uncover the startling truth about what lies on the other side of the Aurora Borealis Bridge—a truth that holds the secret of Over Where, and that will change all their lives forever.

As for the other image there with Aurora Borealis Bridge, I’m happy to announce that at long last, there is a new e-book edition of my novel Child of a Rainless Year available at several popular e-tailers.  Since this WW has wandered on almost long enough, I’ll stop here and save talking about this novel for next week’s WW.

If you can’t wait or have any questions about any of my books, I’m doing a Zoom chat with Parsec, the Pittsburgh area SF/F club this coming Saturday, April 16, at 1:00 pm EST.  Here’s a link where you can sign up: Parsec meeting.   

Oh, and the insight?  It’s related to the picture below.

On Monday, Jim and I came back from Arizona, where we went for my aunt’s funeral.  This photo was taken at one of the rest stops along the way home from Tucson.  I guess it’s proof that no matter how sad the occasion, no matter how tough the road, you can find beauty along the way.

Beauty Along the Way

FF: The Weight of Expectations

Mei-Ling Has Her Suspicions

One thing a lot of my reading this week seemed to be dealing with was the theme of expectations, whether those of a cop who has his mind made up in advance, or those of the “fat kid” or the overlooked “little sister,” it’s been good to think about.

For those of you unfamiliar with this column, the Friday Fragments lists what I’ve read over the past week.  Most of the time I don’t include details of either short fiction (unless part of a book-length collection) or magazines.  The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list.  If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive recommendation list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.

Once again, this is not a book review column.  It’s just a list with, maybe, a bit of description or a few opinions tossed in.  And it’s also a great place to tell me what you’re reading. 

Completed:

Juniper Wiles and the Ghost Girls by Charles De Lint.  ARC.  Quite enjoyed.  I’ll let you know when it’s released!

Thornwood by Leah Cypess.  Sleeping Beauty retold, this time (it seems retelling Sleeping Beauty is becoming an industry) from the point of view of her constantly overlooked sibling, Briony.  Although the plot is creative, what really makes this book “work” is the subtle handling of the theme of how expectations shape our relationships with family, events, even ourselves. 

In Progress:

Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins.  Multiple intertwined plots.  So far, my favorite is the perfume shop in New Orleans.

Meatloaf: To Hell and Back by the eponymous performer and David Dalton.  Short and anecdotal, like a bowl of peanuts, it’s hard not to read just one more.

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet.  Audiobook.  Plot light, so far, but lively, quirky characters more than make up for it.  Well-done aliens always a plus for me.  Non-military space opera setting.

Also:

Smithsonian, the latest issue. 

Live Studio Audience

Me Reading at ASFS

When I was a kid, television shows routinely had laugh tracks, a holdover, I guess, from the days when there were live studio audiences.  Being the sort of person who likes to lose herself in a show or story, I always found these disconcerting.  I mean, this was supposed to be a “real” situation, not a stage show, so who was laughing, and why didn’t the characters react?

Last week, I gave my first live reading since 2019, for the Albuquerque Science Fiction Society.   Since I’d read from the opening of Library of the Sapphire Wind for several virtual cons, including last year’s Bubonicon, I decided to read from a later section: the stealing of Slicewind.

Suddenly, I have a whole new appreciation for that live audience experience.  I’ve done a lot of live readings in my life, going back to when I taught college English, and even before that to when I read to younger siblings or kids I was babysitting.

Readings via Zoom were my first experience with reading to an audience I couldn’t hear.  It was, to say the least, disconcerting, because I couldn’t tell if they were “with” me or not.

Getting a feel for audience reaction doesn’t just involve the obvious things, like someone laughing at what I hoped would be a funny line.  It’s something more.  Even a reading of a serious passage gets a reaction from the audience, even if—maybe especially if—no one makes a sound.

I recently read a mystery novel titled The Broken Vase that featured a violinist “losing” his audience.  The author, Rex Stout, captured how little things—shuffling feet, turning of pages in a program book, restless motion—indicated that the audience (which politely kept its silence, as would be expected for such a performance at that date) was confused and underwhelmed.  These days, I suppose, we’d add peering into the omnipresent phone.

My pleasure at reading for ASFS gave me a whole new appreciation for the readers of audiobooks.  Many of these are actors, and would be accustomed to some interaction with an audience.  Sitting in a soundproofed studio must be as disconcerting for them as reading to a muted Zoom group was for me.

So, let’s hear it for the live studio audience!

FF: Author’s Copies Arrive!

Coco Contemplate the Aurora Borealis Bridge

I wasn’t April Fooling you when I said that the official release date for Aurora Borealis Bridge, print edition, had been set back to April 12th, due to problems at the printer.  (The e-book version should be available as of April 5th.)  However, my author’s copies arrived this week, so it’s possible some brick-and-mortar stores may have their copies sooner.

And, for those of you in New Mexico, remember, I’m presenting tonight at the ASFS meeting.  I invite questions, will be reading from Library of the Sapphire Wind, and I even have a few nifty things to give away. 

For those of you unfamiliar with this column, the Friday Fragments lists what I’ve read over the past week.  Most of the time I don’t include details of either short fiction (unless part of a book-length collection) or magazines.  The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list.  If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive recommendation list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.

Once again, this is not a book review column.  It’s just a list with, maybe, a bit of description or a few opinions tossed in.  And it’s also a great place to tell me what you’re reading. 

Completed:

Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark.  Audiobook.  Enjoyed.  A good plot, a rich setting, characters I was absolutely rooting for all the way.

The Broken Vase by Rex Stout.  A non-Nero Wolfe mystery.  Despite one element I absolutely could not believe, I enjoyed this.

DreamForge Anvil, issue 7.  A variety of looks at the question of what is the meaning of a life.

In Progress:

Juniper Wiles and the Ghost Girls by Charles De Lint.  ARC.  So far, very hard to put down.

Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins.  Recommended by a friend.  Halfway.

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet.  Audiobook.  Just started.

Also:

American Archeology Magazine, an earlier issue I somehow missed finishing.

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I Still Have Questions

Our Yard Last Wednesday

But at least I have some answers… 

First, though a few public service announcements.

This Friday, April 1 (no fooling), I will be speaking at the meeting of the Albuquerque SF Society.  According to their official announcement:

“Jane Lindskold will talk to us about the three novels she has out from Baen Books this year – Library of the Sapphire Wind: Over Where Book 1 in February, Aurora Borealis Bridge: Over Where 2 in April, and A New Clan (Star Kingdom book) co-written with David Weber, in June.  She will definitely answer questions from attendees, and might even read a passage from the first Over Where novel.”

The meeting will begin at 7:30 pm (doors open at 7:15 pm) at St Andrew Presbyterian Church, 5301 Ponderosa Ave NE (between San Mateo & San Pedro, south of Montgomery – near Erna Ferguson Library).  See their website under Meetings for further information.

I will have a few nifty little things to give away… And if everyone has already read Library of the Sapphire Wind, I will read from Aurora Borealis Bridge.  And, of course, I’ll be very happy to sign your copies of the new books.  Or even older ones.  I’ll bring my colored pens.

In further news, my website, JaneLindskold.com, has recently had some shiny new additions.  Among these was updating PayPal for the site’s bookshop.  If you’ve had difficulty ordering, you might want to try again.

In a Wednesday Wanderings a few weeks ago, I mentioned various things I was musing about.  One of these was when would the flickers vanish and the quail reappear.

 I am happy to announce that last Sunday we saw the first quail, and the flickers are still around, so evidently, they overlap.  We have also heard our first toads of the season.  Our neighbor’s apricot trees are in full bloom.  I guess it’s officially Spring.

As to another of those musings, I’ve decided that rather than having “gotten used to” fifty-degree temperatures shifts, I’ve simply come to rely on New Mexico’s weird weather as a source of amusement.  This last week was particularly good: Wednesday we had about four inches of snow; by Sunday, the temperature hit 87 F.

I haven’t gotten around to baking using rose water as an ingredient.  I’ll let you know if I do!

Our Yard on Sunday

FF: Over the Next Few Weeks

Mei-Ling Admires

Over the next few weeks, those of you attuned to such things may notice works from the Nebula ballot being listed.  A few notes for would-be detectives.

A work not being listed does not mean I did not look at it.  I might have done so and not chosen to complete.  (The reading time is ridiculously short for such a long ballot).  I might not have been able to obtain a copy, since the days when publishers were able to routinely send out works under consideration are long gone. 

And my general guideline (listed below) for short fiction remains the same.  I usually only mention my reading of shorter works if something blows me out of the water.

For those of you unfamiliar with this column, the Friday Fragments lists what I’ve read over the past week.  Most of the time I don’t include details of either short fiction (unless part of a book-length collection) or magazines.  The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list.  If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive recommendation list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.

Once again, this is not a book review column.  It’s just a list with, maybe, a bit of description or a few opinions tossed in.  And it’s also a great place to tell me what you’re reading. 

Completed:

Prospero’s Children by Jan Siegel.  Lush description, different worldbuilding.  Second part has a dreamlike element that will work for some, not for others.  Overall, I’d read more by this author.

A Storm of Horses: The Story of Artist Rosa Bonheur by Ruth Sanderson.  This lushly illustrated biography (written for a younger audience, but perfectly enjoyable by this adult) takes the saying “a picture speaks a thousand words” very seriously.  Each illustration is packed with detail that augments the grammar school level text.  “More About Rosa” adds to the initial material, and is written for a somewhat more advanced reader.  The final pages include additional resources.  This is the sort of book that grows with the reader.

In Progress:

Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark.  Audiobook.  Over half-way done.  Haven’t had as much audio time as I’d like, but so far, I’m definitely enjoying.

Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins.  Recommended by a friend.  Just started. 

Also:

American Archeology magazine.  Some very interesting articles in this one, although I really did quibble with the statement that the reason an older mare would have been kept was as breeding stock.  I wonder what the writer would have said if the remains in question had been of a male horse?  Might they have included a gentler animal for beginning or older riders?  A pack animal?  Maybe even a pet?

Do You Dream?

Persephone Dreams

The other day, someone was complaining to me about books in which characters dream, and then “Those dreams turn out to be, well, dreams.  Not anything significant.  Just dreams.”

It turned out that the person I was talking with was one of those who “never dreams,” or, if they do, they don’t remember their dreams, which, as a case in point, is pretty much the same.

I, on the other hand, dream a lot.  I dream in full color, with sound, scent, taste, sensation all full on.  I often remember my dreams, or at least part of them. 

Take the other night…  When the alarm went off, I was in the middle of the following dream:

Jim and I were watching a new-to-us anime.  (From the art style, I’d guess it was from the 1980s.)  It featured two warring factions in a space opera type conflict.  This particular scene focused on an idealistic young pilot fighting for the greedy plutocratic oligarchy.

Following a particularly brilliant battle, in which he shot down a lot of the opposition, he is complimented over the “radio” by his commanders.  In the background, he hears lots of nasty comments calling the other side “losers” and the like.

He switches off his radio and says to the empty air: “I do not mock my enemies.”

Or rather, that’s what the subtitles say.  I’m listening to the dialogue, and I make out enough of the mixture of Japanese and English (not uncommon in some anime) to realize what he actually said.  I turn to Jim and say, “Did you catch that?  What he said was closer to, ‘Farewell, my honored nemesis.’”

At this point, the alarm went off.  And, yes, I really dreamed all of that.  No continuity was added.  I could feel Jim’s hand warm around mine.  I could hear both the background sounds of our house, and the different sound of the television.  I remember this one as well as I do because, when the alarm went off, I struggled to remember it so I could tell Jim.

I’ve often been asked what were my earliest experiences with writing fiction.  When I answer, I always need to qualify my reply.  While I don’t recall really trying to write fiction until high school or college, I’ve been a storyteller for as long as I can remember.  Much of this goes back to trying to relate my dreams to my sister, Ann, who sometimes gently accused me of making it all up.

I wasn’t making it all up, but I was probably trying to provide continuity where there was none, which, if you think about it, isn’t bad training for becoming a writer.

Yes.  I’ve dreamed about my characters.  And, yes, I’ve written short stories based on dreams or taken in part from dreams: among them are “Between Tomatoes and Snapdragons,” “Behind the Curtain of Flowers,” and some elements from “On the Edge of Sleep.”  All of these are in my short story collection, Curiosities.

The Albuquerque Adepts had their first appearance in a dream as well, although it took Jim pointing out to me that the dream I’d just told him would make a great short story.  I wrote it and it appeared as “Hell’s Mark” in the 1997 anthology, Wizard Fantastic.  So, in a sense, I’ve been to that nightclub that has an entrance to hell… So, do you dream?  Do you remember your dreams? 

FF: I’d Like to Read

Perspehone Considers How

Most of my reading time this week has been writing time, which I don’t mind at all.  After all, I write the stories I’d like to read.

For those of you unfamiliar with this column, the Friday Fragments lists what I’ve read over the past week.  Most of the time I don’t include details of either short fiction (unless part of a book-length collection) or magazines.  The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list.  If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive recommendation list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.

Once again, this is not a book review column.  It’s just a list with, maybe, a bit of description or a few opinions tossed in.  And it’s also a great place to tell me what you’re reading.  Two of the series I’m trying right now are due to FF reader mentions.

Completed:

Life by Keith Richards and James Fox.  Memoir.  Audiobook.  Finished this just as the Stones announced their next tour, named 60 for the number of years the Stones have been together. 

Highway of Eternity by Clifford Simak.  Structure is a bit peculiar, but he pulls it together by the end and I found the ending satisfactory.

In Progress:

Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark.  Audiobook.  Prologue and two chapters in.

Prospero’s Children by Jan Siegel.  This one’s been sitting on my shelf for a long while.  Decided to give it a try. 

Also:

Finished Smithsonian.  Still reading Jim’s ms.