Martha Wells's Blog, page 139
February 20, 2013
If you missed it, yesterday The Death of the Necromancer ...
If you missed it, yesterday The Death of the Necromancer officially became an ebook and The Siren Depths was released in audiobook. Yay!
Also yesterday, we got foundation work done and our house was leveled. This is a pretty common problem for this area, which has clay soil that is extremely mobile. All old houses tend to have cracks in the walls, but after the droughts we'd been having and the rain we've had lately, our house (which is about 45-46 years old) was developing new ones. When the foundation guy came to look at it, we found out it wasn't as bad as it seemed, at least for this area. One side of the house was drooping about an inch and a half, but we decided to go ahead and take care of it, because it's a two story house with a large chimney on the drooping side, walls that aren't straight and a second story that doesn't quite match the first story, and basically we figured drooping on one side is not doing it any good.
(Also, not long after we moved in we had new siding put on the second story, and the siding guy told us he thought the chimney would separate and fall off the house sometime in the next twenty years, so we always worried about the chimney. But Jason the really good contractor told us he thought the chimney was a little mobile due to the droughts but he really didn't think it was going anywhere without the rest of the house. Since Jason was the one who found and fixed the chimney-related hole in the roof that no one else had been able to see let alone fix for about twelve years, that was reassuring. (We knew the hole was there because the ceiling leaked whenever it rained.) So it was nice to have it confirmed by the foundation guy that the chimney was fine. I just hope leveling the house hasn't reopened the Mystery Hole again.)
So on Monday they dug giant holes all around the foundation on two and a half or so sides of the houses, and inserted columns and jacks. (Apparently many houses in this area have long thingys down there, which can cause problems when the ground changes, but our house had short thingys which made it more mobile, which prevented it from sinking more. So basically the house has been strolling leisurely around the yard instead of being dragged down into the ground like everybody else's house.)
Yesterday they leveled it, which made a whole array of cool noises, especially since I was upstairs on the drooping side. It's basically loud thunk - loud creak = whole house shudders. Repeat. But now it's level and the holes are filled in, and the place on the second floor where you could feel the top of the wall through the floor is no longer big enough to trip over.
I do have to move some of the leftover dirt around, because trying to be helpful the foundation guys piled it on some exposed tree roots, obviously believing that the roots shouldn't be exposed and not knowing the tree does that on purpose. (This is why they're foundation guys and not landscapers.)
Also yesterday, we got foundation work done and our house was leveled. This is a pretty common problem for this area, which has clay soil that is extremely mobile. All old houses tend to have cracks in the walls, but after the droughts we'd been having and the rain we've had lately, our house (which is about 45-46 years old) was developing new ones. When the foundation guy came to look at it, we found out it wasn't as bad as it seemed, at least for this area. One side of the house was drooping about an inch and a half, but we decided to go ahead and take care of it, because it's a two story house with a large chimney on the drooping side, walls that aren't straight and a second story that doesn't quite match the first story, and basically we figured drooping on one side is not doing it any good.
(Also, not long after we moved in we had new siding put on the second story, and the siding guy told us he thought the chimney would separate and fall off the house sometime in the next twenty years, so we always worried about the chimney. But Jason the really good contractor told us he thought the chimney was a little mobile due to the droughts but he really didn't think it was going anywhere without the rest of the house. Since Jason was the one who found and fixed the chimney-related hole in the roof that no one else had been able to see let alone fix for about twelve years, that was reassuring. (We knew the hole was there because the ceiling leaked whenever it rained.) So it was nice to have it confirmed by the foundation guy that the chimney was fine. I just hope leveling the house hasn't reopened the Mystery Hole again.)
So on Monday they dug giant holes all around the foundation on two and a half or so sides of the houses, and inserted columns and jacks. (Apparently many houses in this area have long thingys down there, which can cause problems when the ground changes, but our house had short thingys which made it more mobile, which prevented it from sinking more. So basically the house has been strolling leisurely around the yard instead of being dragged down into the ground like everybody else's house.)
Yesterday they leveled it, which made a whole array of cool noises, especially since I was upstairs on the drooping side. It's basically loud thunk - loud creak = whole house shudders. Repeat. But now it's level and the holes are filled in, and the place on the second floor where you could feel the top of the wall through the floor is no longer big enough to trip over.
I do have to move some of the leftover dirt around, because trying to be helpful the foundation guys piled it on some exposed tree roots, obviously believing that the roots shouldn't be exposed and not knowing the tree does that on purpose. (This is why they're foundation guys and not landscapers.)
February 19, 2013
The Death of the Necromancer ebook and The Siren Depths AudioBook
Two things!
First, which I just found out myself, The audiobook of The Siren Depths is now available on Audible.com, narrated by Christopher Kipiniak. It's just gone up on Audible, so it should be also available on Amazon and iTunes once the listing has a chance to get updated in their systems.
Second, The Death of the Necromancer is now available in ebook.
Cover designed by Tiger Bright Studios.
The Death of the Necromancer was my third novel. It came out in hardcover in 1998 from Avon Eos and later in paperback. My agent had originally offered it to Tor Books, who had published The Element of Fire and City of Bones, but after looking at the first two hundred pages, my editor at Tor turned it down. It was published by Avon and ended up on the final ballot for the 1998 Nebula Award.
It's a dark fantasy/adventure/mystery, set in the same world as The Element of Fire but a few hundred years later. Like the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy (The Wizard Hunters, The Ships of Air, The Gate of Gods), it's a world that had gaslight and trains and was experimenting with electicity, long before steampunk was popular. I wrote it because it was the kind of book I wanted to read and couldn't find anywhere.
This is the book with Reynard, from the Don't Let Then Take Your Reynards essay. And if you've read the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy, this is the book with Tremaine's parents, Nicholas and Madeline.
It did really well, but Avon Eos was eventually bought by HarperCollins, which let The Death of the Necromaner go out of print around 2002-2003, before The Wizard Hunters came out, even though the books were set in the same universe.
The first chapter is on my web site here.
It's available at Barnes and Noble NookBook, Kobo, Amazon US Kindle, Amazon UK Kindle, Barnes and Noble UK, Kindle Canada, Kindle Germany, Kindle France, Kindle Spain, Kindle Italy, and should be DRM-free.
First, which I just found out myself, The audiobook of The Siren Depths is now available on Audible.com, narrated by Christopher Kipiniak. It's just gone up on Audible, so it should be also available on Amazon and iTunes once the listing has a chance to get updated in their systems.
Second, The Death of the Necromancer is now available in ebook.
Cover designed by Tiger Bright Studios.
The Death of the Necromancer was my third novel. It came out in hardcover in 1998 from Avon Eos and later in paperback. My agent had originally offered it to Tor Books, who had published The Element of Fire and City of Bones, but after looking at the first two hundred pages, my editor at Tor turned it down. It was published by Avon and ended up on the final ballot for the 1998 Nebula Award.
It's a dark fantasy/adventure/mystery, set in the same world as The Element of Fire but a few hundred years later. Like the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy (The Wizard Hunters, The Ships of Air, The Gate of Gods), it's a world that had gaslight and trains and was experimenting with electicity, long before steampunk was popular. I wrote it because it was the kind of book I wanted to read and couldn't find anywhere.
This is the book with Reynard, from the Don't Let Then Take Your Reynards essay. And if you've read the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy, this is the book with Tremaine's parents, Nicholas and Madeline.
It did really well, but Avon Eos was eventually bought by HarperCollins, which let The Death of the Necromaner go out of print around 2002-2003, before The Wizard Hunters came out, even though the books were set in the same universe.
The first chapter is on my web site here.
It's available at Barnes and Noble NookBook, Kobo, Amazon US Kindle, Amazon UK Kindle, Barnes and Noble UK, Kindle Canada, Kindle Germany, Kindle France, Kindle Spain, Kindle Italy, and should be DRM-free.
The Death of the Necormancer ebook and The Siren Depths AudioBook
Two things!
First, which I just found out myself, The audiobook of The Siren Depths is now available on Audible.com, narrated by Christopher Kipiniak. It's just gone up on Audible, so it should be also available on Amazon and iTunes once the listing has a chance to get updated in their systems.
Second, The Death of the Necromancer is now available in ebook.
Cover designed by Tiger Bright Studios.
The Death of the Necromancer was my third novel. It came out in hardcover in 1998 from Avon Eos and later in paperback. My agent had originally offered it to Tor Books, who had published The Element of Fire and City of Bones, but after looking at the first two hundred pages, my editor at Tor turned it down. It was published by Avon and ended up on the final ballot for the 1998 Nebula Award.
It's a dark fantasy/adventure/mystery, set in the same world as The Element of Fire but a few hundred years later. Like the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy (The Wizard Hunters, The Ships of Air, The Gate of Gods), it's a world that had gaslight and trains and was experimenting with electicity, long before steampunk was popular. I wrote it because it was the kind of book I wanted to read and couldn't find anywhere.
This is the book with Reynard, from the Don't Let Then Take Your Reynards essay. And if you've read the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy, this is the book with Tremaine's parents, Nicholas and Madeline.
It did really well, but Avon Eos was eventually bought by HarperCollins, which let The Death of the Necromaner go out of print around 2002-2003, before The Wizard Hunters came out, even though the books were set in the same universe.
The first chapter is on my web site here.
It's available at Barnes and Noble NookBook, Kobo, Amazon US Kindle, Amazon UK Kindle, Barnes and Noble UK, Kindle Canada, Kindle Germany, Kindle France, Kindle Spain, Kindle Italy, and should be DRM-free.
First, which I just found out myself, The audiobook of The Siren Depths is now available on Audible.com, narrated by Christopher Kipiniak. It's just gone up on Audible, so it should be also available on Amazon and iTunes once the listing has a chance to get updated in their systems.
Second, The Death of the Necromancer is now available in ebook.
Cover designed by Tiger Bright Studios.
The Death of the Necromancer was my third novel. It came out in hardcover in 1998 from Avon Eos and later in paperback. My agent had originally offered it to Tor Books, who had published The Element of Fire and City of Bones, but after looking at the first two hundred pages, my editor at Tor turned it down. It was published by Avon and ended up on the final ballot for the 1998 Nebula Award.
It's a dark fantasy/adventure/mystery, set in the same world as The Element of Fire but a few hundred years later. Like the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy (The Wizard Hunters, The Ships of Air, The Gate of Gods), it's a world that had gaslight and trains and was experimenting with electicity, long before steampunk was popular. I wrote it because it was the kind of book I wanted to read and couldn't find anywhere.
This is the book with Reynard, from the Don't Let Then Take Your Reynards essay. And if you've read the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy, this is the book with Tremaine's parents, Nicholas and Madeline.
It did really well, but Avon Eos was eventually bought by HarperCollins, which let The Death of the Necromaner go out of print around 2002-2003, before The Wizard Hunters came out, even though the books were set in the same universe.
The first chapter is on my web site here.
It's available at Barnes and Noble NookBook, Kobo, Amazon US Kindle, Amazon UK Kindle, Barnes and Noble UK, Kindle Canada, Kindle Germany, Kindle France, Kindle Spain, Kindle Italy, and should be DRM-free.
February 18, 2013
So far this morning the foundation repair people got here...
So far this morning the foundation repair people got here, I hastily moved some potted plants out of the way, broke one, and cut the crap out of my hand, go me. It bled like crazy but I can still type, so it's not actually that bad.
We got back from ConDFW yesterday, and we had a great time at the con. Jo Walton and Bryan Stelfreeze were the guests of honor. Both the panels I was on were really fun, even the one where I had to be moderator because the original moderator had to cancel. It was in a new hotel, which was really nice. There wasn't any food places within walking distance but if you drove a little way back to the next main road, there were tons. Thai, Tex-Mex, Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Brazilian, Lebanese, basically everything you could think of. We had breakfast Sunday at the Cafe de Brazil, and I had eggs and chicken empanadas with the best tomatillo sauce ever.
***
Serious thing:
There are less than four days for the Indegogo fundraiser for Lakota Pine Ridge Reservation Healthy Start program. From their updates: 4 Oglala Lakota babies died on Pine Ridge last month (January 2013.) None of the moms were enrolled in Healthy Start due to lack of transportation. With more staff, this could have been prevented.
By contributing $5, $10, $20, any amount to this, people can materially help stop things like that from happening. If you can't contribute, you can help by passing the word on and linking to the fundraiser. More links help keep it up towards the top of the Indegogo list: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-save-lakota-babies-lives
***
Fun Things:
The GoodReads giveaway for Emilie and the Hollow World is still going. If you want to check out the first chapter, it's on my web site here. It comes out on April 2.
The Death of the Necromancer will officially be released as an ebook tomorrow, but it's starting to show up in a few places already. Now my entire backlist is available in ebook, and that's a huge relief.
Black Gate: Teaching and Fantasy Literature: Weird Things My Students Have Been Told About Writers by Sarah Avery
Now I have to go because people are drilling on the outside of my house.
We got back from ConDFW yesterday, and we had a great time at the con. Jo Walton and Bryan Stelfreeze were the guests of honor. Both the panels I was on were really fun, even the one where I had to be moderator because the original moderator had to cancel. It was in a new hotel, which was really nice. There wasn't any food places within walking distance but if you drove a little way back to the next main road, there were tons. Thai, Tex-Mex, Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Brazilian, Lebanese, basically everything you could think of. We had breakfast Sunday at the Cafe de Brazil, and I had eggs and chicken empanadas with the best tomatillo sauce ever.
***
Serious thing:
There are less than four days for the Indegogo fundraiser for Lakota Pine Ridge Reservation Healthy Start program. From their updates: 4 Oglala Lakota babies died on Pine Ridge last month (January 2013.) None of the moms were enrolled in Healthy Start due to lack of transportation. With more staff, this could have been prevented.
By contributing $5, $10, $20, any amount to this, people can materially help stop things like that from happening. If you can't contribute, you can help by passing the word on and linking to the fundraiser. More links help keep it up towards the top of the Indegogo list: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-save-lakota-babies-lives
***
Fun Things:
The GoodReads giveaway for Emilie and the Hollow World is still going. If you want to check out the first chapter, it's on my web site here. It comes out on April 2.
The Death of the Necromancer will officially be released as an ebook tomorrow, but it's starting to show up in a few places already. Now my entire backlist is available in ebook, and that's a huge relief.
Black Gate: Teaching and Fantasy Literature: Weird Things My Students Have Been Told About Writers by Sarah Avery
Now I have to go because people are drilling on the outside of my house.
February 16, 2013
I'm at ConDFW! It's a new hotel this year, and very nice...
I'm at ConDFW! It's a new hotel this year, and very nice. I didn't do much last night except do my reading and hang out and talk to people.
If you're a Kobo person, you can preorder The Death of the Necromancer there now. It will also be on Kindle and Nook (and I did submit it a bit early so it would work it's way through the systems by Tuesday, so you may want to check if it's showing up there yet.)
The first chapter and more info about the book is on my website here.
The other cool news is that I got a formal invitation by the Dean of University Libraries to go to the exhibit preview and dinner for the Deeper Than Swords event with George R.R. Martin at Cushing Library TAMU. It came with a little metal replica sword, too! So I'm pretty excited about that.
If you're a Kobo person, you can preorder The Death of the Necromancer there now. It will also be on Kindle and Nook (and I did submit it a bit early so it would work it's way through the systems by Tuesday, so you may want to check if it's showing up there yet.)
The first chapter and more info about the book is on my website here.
The other cool news is that I got a formal invitation by the Dean of University Libraries to go to the exhibit preview and dinner for the Deeper Than Swords event with George R.R. Martin at Cushing Library TAMU. It came with a little metal replica sword, too! So I'm pretty excited about that.
February 14, 2013
ConDFW Schedule
I'll be at ConDFW this weekend in Dallas, TX.
My schedule is:
Friday:
Reading 5 pm: Martha Wells, Melanie Fletcher
I'm going to read something from Emilie and the Hollow World
Saturday
Autographing 10:00 am
4 pm: Subverting Genres: Underhanded ways to change the ordinary
Panelists: Sabine Starr (M), Jo Walton, Paul Black, Jaye Wells, Martha Wells
According to TVTropes: “A subversion has two mandatory segments. First, the expectation is set up that something we have seen plenty of times before is coming, then that set-up is paid off with something else entirely. The set-up is a trope; the "something else" is the subversion.” So how can writers use this tactic to turn a genre on its head? The various ways of doing this will be discussed, unless the panel itself is subverted…
5 pm: Say That Again?: Creating a Multilingual World
Panelists: Mark Finn (M), K. Hutson Price, Jaye Wells, Rie Sheridan Rose, Martha Wells
Writers frequently make an assumption, to advance the plot or avoid exposition, that everyone in their future or fantasy settings speaks a common language. That's not always a realistic assumption, and you can get interesting conflict and thus drama when some characters don't understand other characters' language, or are in the process of learning it and understand it imperfectly, leading to miscommunications etc.
My schedule is:
Friday:
Reading 5 pm: Martha Wells, Melanie Fletcher
I'm going to read something from Emilie and the Hollow World
Saturday
Autographing 10:00 am
4 pm: Subverting Genres: Underhanded ways to change the ordinary
Panelists: Sabine Starr (M), Jo Walton, Paul Black, Jaye Wells, Martha Wells
According to TVTropes: “A subversion has two mandatory segments. First, the expectation is set up that something we have seen plenty of times before is coming, then that set-up is paid off with something else entirely. The set-up is a trope; the "something else" is the subversion.” So how can writers use this tactic to turn a genre on its head? The various ways of doing this will be discussed, unless the panel itself is subverted…
5 pm: Say That Again?: Creating a Multilingual World
Panelists: Mark Finn (M), K. Hutson Price, Jaye Wells, Rie Sheridan Rose, Martha Wells
Writers frequently make an assumption, to advance the plot or avoid exposition, that everyone in their future or fantasy settings speaks a common language. That's not always a realistic assumption, and you can get interesting conflict and thus drama when some characters don't understand other characters' language, or are in the process of learning it and understand it imperfectly, leading to miscommunications etc.
February 12, 2013
A week from today (February 19) I'm going to be officiall...
A week from today (February 19) I'm going to be officially releasing The Death of the Necromancer as an ebook. So here's a preview of the cover:
It was designed by Tiger Bright Studios
It will be available at: Barnes and Noble ebook, Kobo, Amazon US Kindle, Amazon UK Kindle, Barnes and Noble UK, Kindle Germany, Kindle France, Kindle Canada, Kindle Spain, Kindle Italy. I always select the DRM-free option.
***
links:
* This was awesome: Male cosplayer explains why he made his gender-swapped Slave Leia costume, and how he had to overcome his fear to wear it: http://madartlab.com/2013/02/11/slave-leo/
* I've linked to an article about him before, but this one has a bit more info: Chiune Sugihara: The Hero Who Didn’t Walk Away
* The MG book Above World by Jenn Reese is now out in paperback.
Thirteen-year-old Aluna has lived her entire life under the ocean with the Coral Kampii in the City of Shifting Tides. But after centuries spent hidden from the Above World, her colony’s survival is at risk. The Kampii's breathing necklaces are failing, but the elders are unwilling to venture above water to seek answers. Only headstrong Aluna and her friend Hoku are stubborn and bold enough to face the terrors of land to search for way to save their people. But can Aluna’s fierce determination and fighting skills and Hoku's tech-savvy keep them safe? Set in a world where overcrowding has led humans to adapt — growing tails to live under the ocean or wings to live on mountains — here is a ride through a future where greed and cruelty have gone unchecked, but the loyalty of friends remains true.
It was designed by Tiger Bright Studios
It will be available at: Barnes and Noble ebook, Kobo, Amazon US Kindle, Amazon UK Kindle, Barnes and Noble UK, Kindle Germany, Kindle France, Kindle Canada, Kindle Spain, Kindle Italy. I always select the DRM-free option.
***
links:
* This was awesome: Male cosplayer explains why he made his gender-swapped Slave Leia costume, and how he had to overcome his fear to wear it: http://madartlab.com/2013/02/11/slave-leo/
* I've linked to an article about him before, but this one has a bit more info: Chiune Sugihara: The Hero Who Didn’t Walk Away
* The MG book Above World by Jenn Reese is now out in paperback.
Thirteen-year-old Aluna has lived her entire life under the ocean with the Coral Kampii in the City of Shifting Tides. But after centuries spent hidden from the Above World, her colony’s survival is at risk. The Kampii's breathing necklaces are failing, but the elders are unwilling to venture above water to seek answers. Only headstrong Aluna and her friend Hoku are stubborn and bold enough to face the terrors of land to search for way to save their people. But can Aluna’s fierce determination and fighting skills and Hoku's tech-savvy keep them safe? Set in a world where overcrowding has led humans to adapt — growing tails to live under the ocean or wings to live on mountains — here is a ride through a future where greed and cruelty have gone unchecked, but the loyalty of friends remains true.
February 11, 2013
I feel like I have a hangover without having gone through...
I feel like I have a hangover without having gone through the fun part first. It's allergies, so there's not much I can do about it and still stay conscious.
* There is a GoodReads giveaway for Emilie and the Hollow World by me, which is coming out on April 2.
* There's an article in the local newspaper on the Cushing Library's Deeper Than Swords exhibit, and George R.R. Martin's appearance here in March.
* Free fantasy story at Black Gate: Life on the Sun by C.S.E. Cooney
In the hottest driest month of the year, to the hottest driest city in the Empire of the Open Palm, a long and endless winter night had come… as the Army of Childless Men marched upon the desert city of Rok Moris, home of the Bird People.
* I needed kitten pictures yesterday so I posted my own: Tasha as a Kitten, and Tasha now. (I have a tumblr if you like to tumbl.)
* There is a GoodReads giveaway for Emilie and the Hollow World by me, which is coming out on April 2.
* There's an article in the local newspaper on the Cushing Library's Deeper Than Swords exhibit, and George R.R. Martin's appearance here in March.
* Free fantasy story at Black Gate: Life on the Sun by C.S.E. Cooney
In the hottest driest month of the year, to the hottest driest city in the Empire of the Open Palm, a long and endless winter night had come… as the Army of Childless Men marched upon the desert city of Rok Moris, home of the Bird People.
* I needed kitten pictures yesterday so I posted my own: Tasha as a Kitten, and Tasha now. (I have a tumblr if you like to tumbl.)
February 10, 2013
Con or Bust
Woke up to a thunderstorm this morning, really nice. The more rain we get the better.
* The Con or Bust Fundraiser auction started yesterday, February 9 and goes to February 24. Con or Bust helps people of color/non-white people attend SFF conventions.
There are now tons of cool fun things to bid on. Signed books and ARCs, role-playing games, pretty knitted things, baked goods, jewelry, critiques, graphic novels, and more.
I've entered Signed copies of the three Books of the Raksura in trade paperback: The Cloud Roads, The Serpent Sea, and The Siren Depths Go forth and bid!
* The Con or Bust Fundraiser auction started yesterday, February 9 and goes to February 24. Con or Bust helps people of color/non-white people attend SFF conventions.
There are now tons of cool fun things to bid on. Signed books and ARCs, role-playing games, pretty knitted things, baked goods, jewelry, critiques, graphic novels, and more.
I've entered Signed copies of the three Books of the Raksura in trade paperback: The Cloud Roads, The Serpent Sea, and The Siren Depths Go forth and bid!
February 8, 2013
New Interview
I got interviewed on Roqoo Depot: http://roqoodepot.com/2013/02/08/our-interview-with-martha-wells/ a bit about the upcoming SW book, the Raksura books, fandom, fanfiction, and so on.
