P.C. Hodgell's Blog, page 11

Songs of Waste and Wood

The Grimly story has been posted on the front page of the Baen website,  down a ways, and I've just sold a very short story to Chicks in Chain Mail VI.  The latter isn't about Jame.  It's also more YA than the rest of my work.  The co-editor called it "charming and delightful," which gives you an idea of how unlike my usual style it is.  Oh well.

Sea of Time has its first review on Amazon -- not a very good one regarding the writer's opinion of SOT, but it makes some valid points.

I half killed myself cleaning out the fish pond this week.  Hard work.  Now a pair of mallards have settled into it, forestalling further work.  I want to add some stones to the bottom before I start buying replacement fish.

Short Story and Crops

Baen tells me that the Kothifir short story will be posted on the Baen website May 15.

I'm still struggling to get traction on the next novel, despite some 30,000 words of notes.
Rght now, I'm wondering what damage if any a late spring hail storm might do to crops and/or planting.  Any ideas?

Dead Fish

Oh, and I'm also in mourning for my fish.  There were about 15 of them in a 3,000 gallon pond in the side yard, some koi, also some over-grown goldfish that I raised from inch long babies.  Before December, I kept the ice open with a fountain, but it was so cold that I had to break the crust with a hammer every day.  (This year, at least, I didn't fall in, as I have twice before). So  I ordered and installed two de-icers.  The warmth woke the fish out of hibernation.  Last week I found them all huddled against the devices, dead.    I'll start again in the spring with fan-tails, but I don't know what I'll do next winter to keep them alive.

Galley Proofs

The proofs are in.  My thanks again to those of you who spotted mistakes for me, most of which I wouldn't have caught on my own.  There were surprisingly few typos -- mostly exchanged words and several factual gaffs.  I kept "erotic spices" which was probably an error, but an interesting one.  Curiously, there were more mistakes in the back cover copy than in half the novel, but I think we got those sorted out.

Meanwhile, I'm struggling to get the next novel started.   I might avoid Tori's POV this time.  Something odd is going on with him, something that starts between novels 7 and 8.  For a long time, I've sensed that he has to act uncharacteristically for awhile to set up the end-game, but I didn't know how or why.  Now I have an inkling.  We'll see.

And I just ordered about 150 skeins of yarn on line, my biggest buy ever.  In particular, I seem to be hungry for oranges and reds, with an eye toward crochetting a big, scuptured wall hanging based on Arizona's Coyote Butte. 

ARC of Sea of Time available

Pete Mack reports that Baen is offering the Sea of Time ARC.  Meanwhile, I'm proof-reading the galleys.  They seem remarkably clean so far, unless I'm missing stuff.  For those of you who read the ARC, please let me know if you spot any problems.

Next Novel

Hurray!  Baen wants the next novel!  I thought they would, but it's always nice to hear for sure.  Currently, it looks as if this one will cover summer to winter, starting a month after the end of Sea of Time (due out in June).  I'm trying to think of a title that mentions the soulscape since it will be important here.

Baen has also commissioned a short story tie-in to SoT to appear on its website.  I turned it in today -- an account of how Tori and the Wolver Grimly became friends in Kothifir during their early days there.  At 4300 words, it's almost in shorthand.  I could see it expanded into a short YA novel and maybe will, someday.

I also have an invitation to submit a story to the next Chicks in Chain-mail anthology,  but the plot I've come up with doesn't really fire me up.  We'll see.

And I've been making arrangements for worldcon in London in August.  Melinda and I will be there, after 6 days in York before hand.  Is anyone else going?

Details

What I'm hearing mostly is Tai-tastigon, Canden, Bender, the Res a'btyrr, Gorgo, Loogan, Bane, and the Arrin-ken, Yes, I mean to catch up with all these people/places, although some not until the ninth and perhaps final novel.  Thanks!  You reassure me that I'm on the right track.

Happy New Year!

It's been awhile since I last posted.  Nothing bad has happened; I've just been doing other things -- such as (gulp) riding Countess again.  Another thing was finishing the modular throw rug pictured below, a gift for Marc and Penny at the stable.  It was a lot of fun to knit. After that I reorganized my yarn stash, ending up with a tally of about 3,800 different kinds in 35 boxes, not counting 28 more of duplicates.  Clockworkchild has introduced me to the concept of yarn-storming (or yarn-bombing).  I may try that later, on the front trees, when it stops snowing.

Meanwhile, Sea of Time has been advertised in Locus, so I guess it's real.  It seems like a long time since I turned it in.  One of these days I'll get the galleries to proof read.

Also, I've nearly finished the outline for the Novel 8, after an eternity with a vacant mind (shock will do that).  I'm currently deciding how to fit Bender in.  He's one of those characters I introduced early on and then moved beyond, but he's part of the mythos and has to be accounted for.  "Stranger Blood" may no longer be canon, but then it was the second story I ever wrote, back when I wasn't sure what I was doing.  Am I now?  Sometimes I wonder.  Every loose end has to be tied in somewhere in the next couple of books.

A question, then:  what details or characters do you really want me to revisit?

New Cover

My agent just sent me the new cover for Sea of Time. Except that the artist left most of the armor off Death's-head, I like it.  He can draw horses, especially the haunt Iron-Jaw,  and Jame looks okay.  The novel is due out next June. Happy Thanksgiving!


And this is the one that Caldwell designed.





A New Wall Hanging

I call this one Le Coeur de la Femme, for the vague, accidental shape in the middle.  That part is mostly knit.  The rest is crocheted.  Now to get in a stepladder and hang it.

Good news from the doctor:  my arm is ready to use, for everything except very heavy lifting.  I still get pains in the upper arm and shoulder -- maybe nerve damage.  Hopefully that will go away soon.  All things considered, I was lucky.

And I hope we have found a suitable horse -- a gray Arabian mare described as very safe.  I just hope we can get over to see her (about a three hour drive) before someone else snatches her up.

I'm still stalled on the outline for the next book, which I need to sell it to Baen.  I know in general what has to happen, but not what events will embody said themes.  Finishing Sea of Time and then the accident seem to have knocked the stuffing out of me.  All I want to do is read and knit.  Have got to get busy again.