Edward M. Lerner's Blog: SF and Nonsense, page 6

Betrayed by my own title?

 For months now, the most visited post on this blog --  by a substantial margin -- has been Betrayer of Worlds. 

It is, in general, a Good Thing when a post is popular. But the announcement of the fourth book in the five-novel Fleet of Worlds series? Approaching twelve years after the book's initial release? With no corresponding show of popularity in the novel itself (judged by sales comparisons with other titles in the series)? 

It's puzzling.

Is the phrase "Betrayer of Worlds" inadvertent clickb...

The best novels of First Contact

For frequent visitors here, my interest in the the First Contact theme will come as no surprise. My fiction has explored the possibilities fairly extensively, for example in Moonstruck, the InterstellarNet series, and, most recently, Déjà Doomed. In "Alien AWOLs: The Great Silence," a chapter in Trope-ing the Light Fantastic: The Science Behind the Fiction, I address the absence of contact -- so far -- in a nonfiction sense. (Click on cover thumbnails on the blog RHS if you're curious about thes...

Worldshapers

 SF author -- and interviewer extraordinaire -- Edward Willett recently invited me onto his all-about-writing podcast, Worldshapers. Shaping worlds is what writers do -- none more so, of course, than SF authors. What with our common interests (and, as they say, two Eds are better than one), we had a great time. The interview is here. 

Amazon linkIt turns out Ed (the other Ed) edits the Shapers of Worlds anthology series whose only theme is authors who have appeared on Worldshapers. I devoured the...

Today only

 Today only ... I have a Really Good Interview (tm) streaming on The Author Show. A punchy 13 minutes. Check it out at: https://wnbnetworkwest.com/channel/3

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Ending the year with a bang

 Any year that sees two of my books newly released? That's a banner year. Which 2021 turned out to be, what with the publication of novel Déjà Doomed and collection The Sherlock Chronicles & The Paradise Quartet. I even had the pleasure mid-year of announcing a new novel under contract to be written: (working title) Mars: The Great Race. So, this year -- pandemic aside -- couldn't get any better. Right?

Wrong. This month, I signed contracts for two other books. 

The first is a novel, On the Shoals...

MacGuffins and starships and aliens, oh my!

 Alternate title: Of tropes, and (interstellar) trips, and sealing wax

Okay, that's enough semi-obscure references for one day. 

I was pleased recently to revisit Sci-Fi Saturday Night, one of my favorite genre podcasts. Whereas on my first visit, we discussed my latest novel, Déjà Doomed, this time the topic was my nonfiction book, Trope-ing the Light Fantastic: The Science Behind the Fiction.

Amazon page(Trope-ing takes an in-depth look at genre tropes -- science used other than literally -- suc...

Buy-a-Book (maybe even *before*) Saturday: broken-supply-chain edition

 It's that time again. With the added wrinkle this year that most anything physical is in short supply and/or stuck on a ship waiting to offload. Books included ...

Regularly since 2010, shortly before Thanksgiving, I've posted about Buy-a-Book Saturday. That's my personal variation on Small Business Saturday: the day (specifically, the second day after Thanksgiving, and one day after retail's infamous Black Friday) on which holiday shoppers are especially encouraged to patronize small businesses...

Best Reads of 2021

For a second consecutive year, I must concede that a year's-best posting this early in November might seem, well, early. OTOH, pandemic. Supply-chain woes. Postal/UPS/FedEx slowdowns. Especially if you (or your reading giftees) prefer reading material in paper and ink, you may want to do your holiday shopping early rather than late. In any event, Black Friday and Cyber Monday will soon be upon us. 

If you find none of that convincing? The way 2021 has been, surely anything meriting the label "bes...

A series-ous matter

Today is release day for the umpteenth James Bond movie. I suspect there's hardly an adult or teen living in a First World country who doesn't recognize the name. Franchises continue for a reason -- audience loyalty -- and not only on the big screen. Novel series have likewise been all the rage in recent years.

Marcus Judson Book #1Many of my books are entirely independent of one another, but I've also been involved in two literary series. The Fleet of Worlds series (with Larry Niven), ultimately...

Adventures in Space-Time

Grantville Gazette readers: if you've been following the (mis)adventures of my alien castaways and their would-be human rescuers, good news! The third and final installment of "Ill-Met in Space-Time" is in the current (September 2021) issue of the zine.

(My favorite banner art for the serial is from the first installment. So that's what you're getting from me. And not just because while the aliens don't have a queen, nonetheless there is a gambit.)

"Space-Time" has been an ongoing project for me f...