Kelly McCullough's Blog, page 31
January 26, 2013
I have a new short story collection in the works, to be p...
I have a new short story collection in the works, to be put out by an independent press. It will be a real print-on-paper book; and the publisher promises me it will look really good.
It will be stories based on Icelandic sagas. Eddic poetry, folk tales and folklore. I have written a number of these Icelandic fantasies, mostly in recent years. One was published in Tales of the Unanticipated, a local sf magazine, and another was published in Asimov's. The rest have not been published.
The best of these stories are darn fine. I'm happy this is happening.
It will be stories based on Icelandic sagas. Eddic poetry, folk tales and folklore. I have written a number of these Icelandic fantasies, mostly in recent years. One was published in Tales of the Unanticipated, a local sf magazine, and another was published in Asimov's. The rest have not been published.
The best of these stories are darn fine. I'm happy this is happening.
January 23, 2013
On the Writing of Book Blurbs
Yesterday, I was supposed to work on my sample chapters. I just could NOT get motivated. I don't know why. I have lots of other things I could blame besides myself, of course, including the fact that Shawn ended up not going to work (she had to attend the funeral of her co-worker/friend's mom) and Mason had the day off from school. Mason, however, was quite content to spend the day watching too much streaming MythBusters while putting together the LEGO DeathStar. So... actually, I had plenty of free time.
Which I spent meandering around the Internet and generally moaning about having ennui.
I did manage to write a blurb for a friend's small press science fiction novel. That had been on my to-do pile for MONTHS. I thought, in fact, I'd missed my opportunity to say something about it, but he emailed me a week ago to say that the book was in its final stages and they could still use a quote from me, if I had something to say. I'd read a lot of it when I thought I still had time, but then life had gotten in the way like it always does and I'd set it aside. So I picked it back up and read it.
Writing blurbs is such a funny, fun experience. It's one of the perks of being a pro that I never really gave much thought to when I imagined my life as a writer. Of course, I never imagined that I would still be struggling to make ends-meet when my "dream came true," but, on a happier note, there are these strange sort of perks to being a writer that are a bit like benefits. Like, occasionally, I get free books. My only 'price' is that I have to find something snappy and witty to say about them (if I like them.)
If you ever wondered, there is no blurb out there that wasn't solicited in one way or the other. By solicited, I do NOT mean paid for, but I mean the person asking (usually the author her/himself) knows or is connected to in some way the person s/he requested the blurb from. Only very rarely, I get requests from people's publishers. I suspect if I were a bigger NAME, I'd get many more of those. (I'm sure Neil Gaiman and Lois McMaster Bujold are overrun, for instance.) But for someone at my level, it's usually someone I consider a colleague, or even a friend, who's asked me to read and blurb their book.
I've actually long dreamed of asking my friend Eleanor Arnason to blurb my book in her signature Icelandic way, which I imagine going something like this, "XXX by Lyda Morehouse is okay. I've read worse."
Anyone who knew Eleanor would realize what AMAZING praise that was and rush out and buy a million copies. Of course, most people outside of the Mid-West (who weren't Scandinavian) would be like, "What?!"
:-)
Anyway, I'm happy to report that, having turned in my blurb to my friend, I did, officially, accomplish SOMETHING yesterday.
Which I spent meandering around the Internet and generally moaning about having ennui.
I did manage to write a blurb for a friend's small press science fiction novel. That had been on my to-do pile for MONTHS. I thought, in fact, I'd missed my opportunity to say something about it, but he emailed me a week ago to say that the book was in its final stages and they could still use a quote from me, if I had something to say. I'd read a lot of it when I thought I still had time, but then life had gotten in the way like it always does and I'd set it aside. So I picked it back up and read it.
Writing blurbs is such a funny, fun experience. It's one of the perks of being a pro that I never really gave much thought to when I imagined my life as a writer. Of course, I never imagined that I would still be struggling to make ends-meet when my "dream came true," but, on a happier note, there are these strange sort of perks to being a writer that are a bit like benefits. Like, occasionally, I get free books. My only 'price' is that I have to find something snappy and witty to say about them (if I like them.)
If you ever wondered, there is no blurb out there that wasn't solicited in one way or the other. By solicited, I do NOT mean paid for, but I mean the person asking (usually the author her/himself) knows or is connected to in some way the person s/he requested the blurb from. Only very rarely, I get requests from people's publishers. I suspect if I were a bigger NAME, I'd get many more of those. (I'm sure Neil Gaiman and Lois McMaster Bujold are overrun, for instance.) But for someone at my level, it's usually someone I consider a colleague, or even a friend, who's asked me to read and blurb their book.
I've actually long dreamed of asking my friend Eleanor Arnason to blurb my book in her signature Icelandic way, which I imagine going something like this, "XXX by Lyda Morehouse is okay. I've read worse."
Anyone who knew Eleanor would realize what AMAZING praise that was and rush out and buy a million copies. Of course, most people outside of the Mid-West (who weren't Scandinavian) would be like, "What?!"
:-)
Anyway, I'm happy to report that, having turned in my blurb to my friend, I did, officially, accomplish SOMETHING yesterday.
January 16, 2013
Kelly News
Announcing ALL THE THINGS: There will be at least two more Blade books after Blade Reforged, which comes out in June. The new books should be out around Dec 2014, and June 2015 respectively. I'll also be writing my first YA novel this year: School for Sidekicks: The Totally Secret Origin of Foxman Jr. which will be coming out from Feiwel and Friends (Macmillan) probably summer 2014. Finally, I'll be a keynote speaker at the Literary and Fine Arts Festival in the Charlotte NC area, in early April as a guest of Rowan-Cabarrus Community College. My sessions will be Thursday morning, April 11, 2013. Session 1: 10am to 10:50am, Session 2: 11:00 to 11:50am.
January 9, 2013
So, LIke, It's Me AGAIN
This time there's a lovely review of Archangel Protocol (e-book) by Joanne Hall on her blog "Making Things Up For a Living," http://hierath.wordpress.com/2013/01/09/book-review-archangel-protocol-by-lyda-morehouse/
In other news, it does appear that 2013 is going to be "The Year Lyda Does ALL THE THINGS." I've got a lot of things in the hopper all of a sudden, none of them sure-things, but all of them ridiculously exciting.
I'm also for sure signed up to be in the Loft's catalogue for the Teen Summer Program for two potential classes. The first will be a somewhat straight-forward science-fiction/fantasy class called, "Beyond the Zombie Apocalypse: Writing SF/F For Teens," and second (which I'm super-excited about becaus it may be the only one of its kind) called, "ALL THE FEELS: Fan Fic 101" a how-to class for fan fiction writers. I've also gotten a proposal accepted for an on-line class for SF/F writers in the intermediate stage of their career called "Over the Transom," which will be a six week class.
Plus, I started work on the sequel to Precinct 13 which I'm hoping to self e-publish... though it's going to be interesting to try to find the time (I'm happy to say.)
In other news, it does appear that 2013 is going to be "The Year Lyda Does ALL THE THINGS." I've got a lot of things in the hopper all of a sudden, none of them sure-things, but all of them ridiculously exciting.
I'm also for sure signed up to be in the Loft's catalogue for the Teen Summer Program for two potential classes. The first will be a somewhat straight-forward science-fiction/fantasy class called, "Beyond the Zombie Apocalypse: Writing SF/F For Teens," and second (which I'm super-excited about becaus it may be the only one of its kind) called, "ALL THE FEELS: Fan Fic 101" a how-to class for fan fiction writers. I've also gotten a proposal accepted for an on-line class for SF/F writers in the intermediate stage of their career called "Over the Transom," which will be a six week class.
Plus, I started work on the sequel to Precinct 13 which I'm hoping to self e-publish... though it's going to be interesting to try to find the time (I'm happy to say.)
January 7, 2013
All Ur Bandwith Belongs to Us
Apparently, I'm the only Wyrdsmiths with news lately. I hate to be the only one posting here, but, uh... so there's like this interview with me over at Sense of Wonder. They're the Spanish site that had such wonderful and amazing things to say about Archangel Protocol (e-book).
So, uh, anyway, here it is:
http://sentidodelamaravilla.blogspot.com/2013/01/interview-with-lyda-morehouse.html
If you have the time and inclination, check it out. Otherwise the short of it is that I'm a huge dork waxing nostalgic for cyberpunk. That is to say that I always feel awkward in interviews being a Midwesterner raised not to talk about myself too much (and yet being very excited about my projects as anyone who has met in-person knows too well), but the interviewer here drew me out nicely, I think. See if you agree.
Psst, and go buy an e-copy. You know you want one.
So, uh, anyway, here it is:
http://sentidodelamaravilla.blogspot.com/2013/01/interview-with-lyda-morehouse.html
If you have the time and inclination, check it out. Otherwise the short of it is that I'm a huge dork waxing nostalgic for cyberpunk. That is to say that I always feel awkward in interviews being a Midwesterner raised not to talk about myself too much (and yet being very excited about my projects as anyone who has met in-person knows too well), but the interviewer here drew me out nicely, I think. See if you agree.
Psst, and go buy an e-copy. You know you want one.
January 3, 2013
Sticking the Landing
Maybe 2013 is going to be the year of the glowing review or the year of the e-book... because here's an amazing review of Archangel Protocol (e-book) from a Spanish site called Sense of Wonder (Sentido dela Maravilla). http://sentidodelamaravilla.blogspot.com/2013/01/archangel-protocol-by-lyda-morehouse.html
I almost started a post about this elsewhere with the comment, "I wish people had said such nice things about the book when it first came out," but I deleted that after a moment of thought, because, you know, they did. Archangel Protocol came out to rave reviews and it won two awards: the Barnes & Nobel Maiden Voyage award and the Shamus (for best original paperback featuring a private eye.) I really can't complain about then or now, especially considering that it was my freshman effort and there are some turns of phrase in the book that my partner knows she can randomly quote if she wants to watch me squirm in embarrassment.
Also, I had to smile when I read the Sense of Wonder reviewer's comment "the ending seemed a little rushed." I think that's a phrase that appears in pretty much every review of anything I've EVER written EVER. Probably a review of my grocery list would say, "Well organized, creative and innovative spelling, but the ending seems a bit rushed."
I wish I could say that I've improved in this regard, but there's something about endings that continues to baffle and challenge me. I do TRY. I swear one of my goals with each new novel is, "Stick the *^%! ending!" But, then, after my writers' group, my partner and my editor all make me go back and revisit the ending to see if I can't "slow it down," the reviews will come out and at least one of them will say, "But the ending seemed a bit rushed."
Ah well. At least I have something to improve on. Or perhaps I can use it on my tombstone, "Here lies Lyda Morehouse: The Ending Seemed a Bit Rushed."
I almost started a post about this elsewhere with the comment, "I wish people had said such nice things about the book when it first came out," but I deleted that after a moment of thought, because, you know, they did. Archangel Protocol came out to rave reviews and it won two awards: the Barnes & Nobel Maiden Voyage award and the Shamus (for best original paperback featuring a private eye.) I really can't complain about then or now, especially considering that it was my freshman effort and there are some turns of phrase in the book that my partner knows she can randomly quote if she wants to watch me squirm in embarrassment.
Also, I had to smile when I read the Sense of Wonder reviewer's comment "the ending seemed a little rushed." I think that's a phrase that appears in pretty much every review of anything I've EVER written EVER. Probably a review of my grocery list would say, "Well organized, creative and innovative spelling, but the ending seems a bit rushed."
I wish I could say that I've improved in this regard, but there's something about endings that continues to baffle and challenge me. I do TRY. I swear one of my goals with each new novel is, "Stick the *^%! ending!" But, then, after my writers' group, my partner and my editor all make me go back and revisit the ending to see if I can't "slow it down," the reviews will come out and at least one of them will say, "But the ending seemed a bit rushed."
Ah well. At least I have something to improve on. Or perhaps I can use it on my tombstone, "Here lies Lyda Morehouse: The Ending Seemed a Bit Rushed."
January 2, 2013
Still Crazy After All These Years
Apparently, according to SF Signals at least, Archangel Protocol stands the test of time. I'm really pleased to hear this, particularly since I chose not to "update" the edition. I considered it. The thing that stopped me is that there are so many things that have changed since I first wrote the book in 1999, that, in some ways, it would almost have to be an entirely new story.
So, yay! And a big thanks to SF Signals for reviewing me!!
So, yay! And a big thanks to SF Signals for reviewing me!!
December 27, 2012
Memory Lane
I had a great time this morning answering questions for a Spanish reviewer about Archangel Protocol (e-book!). He reminded me how much I loved cyberpunk as a genre.
During the late-80s and early-90s, I was a huge cyberpunk fan. I read pretty much everything I could find that fit the genre, though I'm sure I still missed plenty of the classics. Though it's funny how quickly "the Movement" died out, even though I can't imagine a time when its themes and tropes are, in many ways, still very relevant. Even so, I remember sitting listening to a panel at a Boston WorldCon, maybe (or Baltimore?), in the early part of my career, when I was still writing in the AngeLINK series in the mid-90s, listening to the panelists explain that cyberpunk was long dead. I feel like I might even have been sitting next to Melissa Scott (who'd written TROUBLE AND HER FRIENDS right about the same time), but that might just be wishful remembering.
At any rate, I kind of miss cyberpunk.
I miss the hackers and the punks and the edgy worlds full of drugs and implants and bioware. I miss the cool, sarcastic hero/heroines and the funky lingo.
Anyone else up for revisiting it? Shall we start a second Movement or perhaps... a revolution? If nothing else, I might have to go and try rereading some of my collection. I wonder how DINER AT THE DEVIANT'S PALACE holds up after all this time....
During the late-80s and early-90s, I was a huge cyberpunk fan. I read pretty much everything I could find that fit the genre, though I'm sure I still missed plenty of the classics. Though it's funny how quickly "the Movement" died out, even though I can't imagine a time when its themes and tropes are, in many ways, still very relevant. Even so, I remember sitting listening to a panel at a Boston WorldCon, maybe (or Baltimore?), in the early part of my career, when I was still writing in the AngeLINK series in the mid-90s, listening to the panelists explain that cyberpunk was long dead. I feel like I might even have been sitting next to Melissa Scott (who'd written TROUBLE AND HER FRIENDS right about the same time), but that might just be wishful remembering.
At any rate, I kind of miss cyberpunk.
I miss the hackers and the punks and the edgy worlds full of drugs and implants and bioware. I miss the cool, sarcastic hero/heroines and the funky lingo.
Anyone else up for revisiting it? Shall we start a second Movement or perhaps... a revolution? If nothing else, I might have to go and try rereading some of my collection. I wonder how DINER AT THE DEVIANT'S PALACE holds up after all this time....
December 8, 2012
Big Mistake
Buy Archangel Protocol NOW directly from http://wizardstowerpress.com/books-2/archangel-protocol/
.
My publisher says, "There are no barriers preventing US citizens buying from my store. There won't be any "this book isn't available in our region" messages. It's not illegal for them to do so. The book won't turn up in a strange language they can't understand, or take forever to ship. There'll be a small charge for currency conversion, but on a book that cheap it is a matter of cents. Depending on how the currency markets fluctuate, my price may well be cheaper than the $3.99 we'll be doing in US stores."
So for godssake do it!
.
My publisher says, "There are no barriers preventing US citizens buying from my store. There won't be any "this book isn't available in our region" messages. It's not illegal for them to do so. The book won't turn up in a strange language they can't understand, or take forever to ship. There'll be a small charge for currency conversion, but on a book that cheap it is a matter of cents. Depending on how the currency markets fluctuate, my price may well be cheaper than the $3.99 we'll be doing in US stores."
So for godssake do it!
December 7, 2012
It's HEEEEEERE.....!
Today's the day that shall live in infamy... and that the e-book version of Archangel Protocol comes out from Wizard's Tower Press. Hey, all my UK friends, it's in pounds sterling! I suspect the rest of us will wait for it to make its appearances in other marketplaces, which I've been told it will... eventually. In the meantime, be international! Buy this book!
http://wizardstowerpress.com/books-2/archangel-protocol/
The other thing I want to say about this book is: isn't the artwork amazing? The original cover artist, Bruce Jensen, is (after J. Michael Tatum,) probably the nicest guy on the planet. Not only did he donate his stunning artwork to us, but he also volunteered to do the graphic design for the cover. So view this masterpiece as the artist intended it! That last part will be particularly clear when we get to the fourth book in the trilogy. I remember a lot of my readers were... well, kind of pissed off by the final cover. The font changed! The art was... different. Turns out, Bruce had actually had three working drafts of art for that cover and, since we were doing that book over, as it were, we ACTUALLY CHOSE COMPLETELY NEW AND NEVER BEFORE SEEN ART for Apocalypse Array. I can hardly wait to show it off. It's f*cking gorgeous.
Go forth! Purchase Christmas, Chanukah, Solstace, Kwanzaa, and/or Oseibo gifts NOW!!
http://wizardstowerpress.com/books-2/archangel-protocol/
The other thing I want to say about this book is: isn't the artwork amazing? The original cover artist, Bruce Jensen, is (after J. Michael Tatum,) probably the nicest guy on the planet. Not only did he donate his stunning artwork to us, but he also volunteered to do the graphic design for the cover. So view this masterpiece as the artist intended it! That last part will be particularly clear when we get to the fourth book in the trilogy. I remember a lot of my readers were... well, kind of pissed off by the final cover. The font changed! The art was... different. Turns out, Bruce had actually had three working drafts of art for that cover and, since we were doing that book over, as it were, we ACTUALLY CHOSE COMPLETELY NEW AND NEVER BEFORE SEEN ART for Apocalypse Array. I can hardly wait to show it off. It's f*cking gorgeous.
Go forth! Purchase Christmas, Chanukah, Solstace, Kwanzaa, and/or Oseibo gifts NOW!!
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