Martha Wells's Blog, page 142
January 10, 2013
I'm taking a break from online stuff, not sure how long. ...
I'm taking a break from online stuff, not sure how long. See you guys later.
January 9, 2013
Book rec:Still Life with Shapeshifter by Sharon ShinnThis...
Book rec:
Still Life with Shapeshifter by Sharon Shinn
This is a sequel to The Shape of Desire, and again it's not an action-packed urban fantasy, but a realistic story of what it would actually be like to live with shapeshifters in the real world. The main character, Melanie, has bent her whole life to taking care of and watching over her shapeshifter half-sister Ann. The secondary story is about Janet, whose life comes to revolve around a shapeshifter lover. The Shape of Desire was about love and obsession and lust, but this book is more about what you do for love, what you give up for it, and when to give it up. Or if you can give it up.
Some of the many things I enjoyed most about this book is the friendship between female characters, finding out more about how shapeshifting works in this world, and the whole feel of magic fitting into and woven around everyday life.
Links:
Teresa Frohock: Gender Bending: the Big Reveal Commenters were asked to read a selection of prose and then guess if the author was male or female.
My opinion here is simply this: No matter how much we analyze story, prose, or word usage, none of us can say with any certainty whether a specific piece is written by a man or woman unless the author stands up and accepts responsibility for the story.
Mazarkis Williams: Quick Observations Regarding the Gender Bending Contest
Some who guessed male or female then offered a reason why. Though some went off into the realm of the weird, and some were just gaming it (figuring that if more male authors were participating, they'd be more likely to win by guessing male), on the whole the guessers were helpful and insightful. I sorted the reasons into eight general categories.
I've heard the one about women writers only writing about clothes and shoes before. Someone said it in a bookstore, to my face.
Book Recs: The Year of Magical, uh, Magic
The Books of the Raksura were on this list: It’s the kind of fantasy Wells takes very seriously, indeed. This is not your intellectually or emotionally stunted quest fantasy, full of unintentional phallic imagery and stupid-ass names full of improbable hyphens and apostrophes. It’s lush, and mature, and intentionally ambiguous. The exploration of gender roles is particularly exciting.
Still Life with Shapeshifter by Sharon Shinn
This is a sequel to The Shape of Desire, and again it's not an action-packed urban fantasy, but a realistic story of what it would actually be like to live with shapeshifters in the real world. The main character, Melanie, has bent her whole life to taking care of and watching over her shapeshifter half-sister Ann. The secondary story is about Janet, whose life comes to revolve around a shapeshifter lover. The Shape of Desire was about love and obsession and lust, but this book is more about what you do for love, what you give up for it, and when to give it up. Or if you can give it up.
Some of the many things I enjoyed most about this book is the friendship between female characters, finding out more about how shapeshifting works in this world, and the whole feel of magic fitting into and woven around everyday life.
Links:
Teresa Frohock: Gender Bending: the Big Reveal Commenters were asked to read a selection of prose and then guess if the author was male or female.
My opinion here is simply this: No matter how much we analyze story, prose, or word usage, none of us can say with any certainty whether a specific piece is written by a man or woman unless the author stands up and accepts responsibility for the story.
Mazarkis Williams: Quick Observations Regarding the Gender Bending Contest
Some who guessed male or female then offered a reason why. Though some went off into the realm of the weird, and some were just gaming it (figuring that if more male authors were participating, they'd be more likely to win by guessing male), on the whole the guessers were helpful and insightful. I sorted the reasons into eight general categories.
I've heard the one about women writers only writing about clothes and shoes before. Someone said it in a bookstore, to my face.
Book Recs: The Year of Magical, uh, Magic
The Books of the Raksura were on this list: It’s the kind of fantasy Wells takes very seriously, indeed. This is not your intellectually or emotionally stunted quest fantasy, full of unintentional phallic imagery and stupid-ass names full of improbable hyphens and apostrophes. It’s lush, and mature, and intentionally ambiguous. The exploration of gender roles is particularly exciting.
January 7, 2013
Someone was asking about this, so I thought I'd go ahead ...
Someone was asking about this, so I thought I'd go ahead and talk about it. Since around late November-early December, The Cloud Roads has been pretty difficult to find, and it's now been "temporarily" out of stock at B&N online and Amazon for about a month, and is pretty much on its way out of print. So yeah, not having the first book of a series available when the third book comes out is not a good thing.
When people have been asking me about more Raksura books after The Siren Depths these past few weeks, I've been trying to sound optimistic, but I'm not particularly optimistic about it anymore.
This is sort of the same thing that happened with the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy, except in that case it was The Gate of Gods that was extremely difficult to find, so I still run into people who thought the third book never came out. (And that's also why there haven't been any Ile-Rien books since then.)
Anyway, there are a few independent stores I know of that are still listing one copy of The Cloud Roads: Powell's, Mysterious Galaxy, and The Tattered Cover. It is still available used, but sale of used books don't affect sales numbers at all so are pretty nonexistent for authors and publishers. It's also still available in ebook and audiobook for now.
When people have been asking me about more Raksura books after The Siren Depths these past few weeks, I've been trying to sound optimistic, but I'm not particularly optimistic about it anymore.
This is sort of the same thing that happened with the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy, except in that case it was The Gate of Gods that was extremely difficult to find, so I still run into people who thought the third book never came out. (And that's also why there haven't been any Ile-Rien books since then.)
Anyway, there are a few independent stores I know of that are still listing one copy of The Cloud Roads: Powell's, Mysterious Galaxy, and The Tattered Cover. It is still available used, but sale of used books don't affect sales numbers at all so are pretty nonexistent for authors and publishers. It's also still available in ebook and audiobook for now.
January 5, 2013
Me and Jack, or Jack's author photo:
Me and Jack, or Jack's author photo:
January 4, 2013
Quick Friday Post
Audiobook news: I heard from Christopher Kipiniak, who is the actor who did the audiobooks for The Cloud Roads and The Serpent Sea, and they're going to start recording The Siren Depths in about two weeks. So it should be available sometime this spring.
The Hugo Nomination period is open. Members of LoneStarCon 3 (this year's WorldCon in San Antonio) and Loncon 3 (the 2014 Worldcon in London) who join by January 31, 2013, and all members of Chicon 7, (last year's WorldCon in Chicago), are invited to submit nominating ballots.
The Serpent Sea and The Siren Depths are both eligible.
Though if you are close enough to go to the WorldCon in San Antonio you totally should. It doesn't come down here very often.
The Hugo Nomination period is open. Members of LoneStarCon 3 (this year's WorldCon in San Antonio) and Loncon 3 (the 2014 Worldcon in London) who join by January 31, 2013, and all members of Chicon 7, (last year's WorldCon in Chicago), are invited to submit nominating ballots.
The Serpent Sea and The Siren Depths are both eligible.
Though if you are close enough to go to the WorldCon in San Antonio you totally should. It doesn't come down here very often.
January 2, 2013
Links This Morning
I did an Year in Review Post, with things I published, things I sold, things I'm grateful for.
I also updated my Links For Beginning Authors page on my site. It has sections for links on Basic Information, Craft of Writing/the Writing Life, Business of Writing, Submitting Stories to Magazines, Finding an Agent, Writing Queries, and Writing Proposals.
How Long Should You Keep Trying to Get Published? by Jane Friedman
No matter where you are in your own publishing path, you should periodically take stock of where you’re headed, and revise as necessary.
A few end of the year lists:
Fantasy Book Cafe: Favorite Books of 2012
The Book Smugglers: Ana & Thea's Most Excellent Books of 2012
Publishers Weekly: Best SF/F/H for 2012
Other neat things:
Tor.com Sleeps With Monsters: Recommend Some Things! Recommending writing focused on women and/or genderqueer people.
Lisa Schroeder: Supporting authors when your heart is bigger than your wallet
ETA: New free online SF/F magazine from India: Indian SF
I also updated my Links For Beginning Authors page on my site. It has sections for links on Basic Information, Craft of Writing/the Writing Life, Business of Writing, Submitting Stories to Magazines, Finding an Agent, Writing Queries, and Writing Proposals.
How Long Should You Keep Trying to Get Published? by Jane Friedman
No matter where you are in your own publishing path, you should periodically take stock of where you’re headed, and revise as necessary.
A few end of the year lists:
Fantasy Book Cafe: Favorite Books of 2012
The Book Smugglers: Ana & Thea's Most Excellent Books of 2012
Publishers Weekly: Best SF/F/H for 2012
Other neat things:
Tor.com Sleeps With Monsters: Recommend Some Things! Recommending writing focused on women and/or genderqueer people.
Lisa Schroeder: Supporting authors when your heart is bigger than your wallet
ETA: New free online SF/F magazine from India: Indian SF
January 1, 2013
New Year's Cats
Tasha and Jack, just after the hissing stopped.
December 31, 2012
End of Year in Review
Publishing wise, this was another good year for me. It's been an improvement on 2011, and a vast improvement on 2008 and most of 2009, when I was mentally preparing for my career as a writer to be over. A vast improvement. So vast I find it hard to imagine, basically.
Things by me that got published:
January 2012
The Serpent Sea, Night Shade Books. Also, the second ever audiobook of one of my books was published: The Serpent Sea AudioBook, by Audible.com, narrated by Christopher Kipiniak.
June 2012
A short story, "Revenants," in Tales of the Emerald Serpent
November 2012
A non-fiction article, "Donna Noble Saves the Universe" in Chicks Unravel Time Mad Norwegian Press.
December 2012
The Siren Depths, Night Shade Books.
Things by me that were sold to be published later:
April 2013
Emilie and the Hollow World, forthcoming from Strange Chemistry Books.
Spring 2013
A short story, with Jade from the Raksura books, "Mimesis" in The Other Half of the Sky, Candlemark and Gleam Press.
2014
Untitled Sequel to Emilie and the Hollow World, forthcoming from Strange Chemistry Books.
Four Raksura novellas to be published as ebooks by Night Shade Books
And, probably in 2014, the as yet untitled Star Wars novel that I should finish and send in this month.
Anyway, I am hugely grateful to my agent, Jennifer Jackson, for getting me out there again, the editors who took/are taking a chance on me, and my friends and family for putting up with me, and the readers who kept looking for me and the new readers who found me.
Things by me that got published:
January 2012
The Serpent Sea, Night Shade Books. Also, the second ever audiobook of one of my books was published: The Serpent Sea AudioBook, by Audible.com, narrated by Christopher Kipiniak.
June 2012
A short story, "Revenants," in Tales of the Emerald Serpent
November 2012
A non-fiction article, "Donna Noble Saves the Universe" in Chicks Unravel Time Mad Norwegian Press.
December 2012
The Siren Depths, Night Shade Books.
Things by me that were sold to be published later:
April 2013
Emilie and the Hollow World, forthcoming from Strange Chemistry Books.
Spring 2013
A short story, with Jade from the Raksura books, "Mimesis" in The Other Half of the Sky, Candlemark and Gleam Press.
2014
Untitled Sequel to Emilie and the Hollow World, forthcoming from Strange Chemistry Books.
Four Raksura novellas to be published as ebooks by Night Shade Books
And, probably in 2014, the as yet untitled Star Wars novel that I should finish and send in this month.
Anyway, I am hugely grateful to my agent, Jennifer Jackson, for getting me out there again, the editors who took/are taking a chance on me, and my friends and family for putting up with me, and the readers who kept looking for me and the new readers who found me.
December 28, 2012
Post-Holiday Report
I'm back, sort of. Not that I actually went anywhere. We've had one friend staying with us all this week, and two more friends who came up for Christmas day. We had a big dinner of ham, gravy, stuffing, garlic-braised green beans, baked beans, and then pumpkin pie and peppermint brownies. Then we sat around and watched Muppet Christmas Carol, then the Christmas Doctor Who episode, which I loved. Since then we've been watching movies, the last episode of Leverage, and eating leftovers. I thought I had a head cold yesterday, but today it looks like it was just a bad allergy attack. We've also had cold rain and low temps, but no ice.
I've managed to stick to my writing goal, which is really good, as the Star Wars book is due by January 31. I should hopefully be done with the first draft in the next ten days or so, then be able to get a bunch of revision done before I send it in.
For Christmas I got some DVDs, including the fourth season of Psych and a Poirot movie set, and I got Carla Hall's new cookbook. In our experience, UPS really dropped the ball on delivering stuff on time, while the post office came through with flying colors. I got a last minute online coupon for Barnes and Noble, so I ordered a DVD set for my husband. I selected the option that usually means UPS delivery, but a bit later got a notice saying they had switched it to the post office. Despite being last minute, it got delivered by Christmas eve, while we have a UPS package that has ordered much earlier and has basically been sitting in a UPS warehouse for five days and may eventually wander down here when they get around to it.
There may be some weirdness with LJ comments, because I've found a couple of places where I'm sure I posted an answer to a comment, and now it's not there. LJ is clearly trying to gaslight me, not knowing it's basically way too late for that.
Random Things:
The Raksura books made it to one top ten list here at the Cultural Gutter, yay! Along with some other great books.
Diana Pharaoh Francis' new book Blood Winter is out and she's posted the first chapter here.
I've managed to stick to my writing goal, which is really good, as the Star Wars book is due by January 31. I should hopefully be done with the first draft in the next ten days or so, then be able to get a bunch of revision done before I send it in.
For Christmas I got some DVDs, including the fourth season of Psych and a Poirot movie set, and I got Carla Hall's new cookbook. In our experience, UPS really dropped the ball on delivering stuff on time, while the post office came through with flying colors. I got a last minute online coupon for Barnes and Noble, so I ordered a DVD set for my husband. I selected the option that usually means UPS delivery, but a bit later got a notice saying they had switched it to the post office. Despite being last minute, it got delivered by Christmas eve, while we have a UPS package that has ordered much earlier and has basically been sitting in a UPS warehouse for five days and may eventually wander down here when they get around to it.
There may be some weirdness with LJ comments, because I've found a couple of places where I'm sure I posted an answer to a comment, and now it's not there. LJ is clearly trying to gaslight me, not knowing it's basically way too late for that.
Random Things:
The Raksura books made it to one top ten list here at the Cultural Gutter, yay! Along with some other great books.
Diana Pharaoh Francis' new book Blood Winter is out and she's posted the first chapter here.
December 24, 2012
Shopping and Cops
One of the friends who is doing Christmas with us got here on Saturday night, and yesterday we went shopping. (The university is out, so most of the town is relatively quiet.) We went to a discount store, went out to lunch, and then to a couple of the local artsy places in the historic downtown, that usually aren't open on Sundays. Then we decided to go to an antiques store that's having a big going out of business sale. After a couple of misses we found the right store, and as we drove up we thought it was closed because the small parking lot was empty. But we stopped to check and see if it was open, since half the places we'd gone to already had "closed Sunday" signs and were open anyway. We tried the door and it was open, but nobody was inside. The lights were on in the office, but no people. After standing there and yelling hello for a while, my friend went into the dark back rooms of the store, and I stood by the door in case murdering happened and someone had to run out into the street screaming. But there was no sign of anybody.
So we went outside and called the police, and a couple of minutes later two cop cars showed up. They searched the place again, and then came out and said they didn't think it had been robbed, because the computer was still there, and there was money on the counter. (I did wonder later if someone else had found it open but empty and shopped anyway, leaving the money on the counter for what they took, like it was one of those pick-your-own-fruit places with the money box and a scale.) The cops also said the handle lock on the door was kind of tricky, so they thought whoever had closed it on Saturday might have just messed up and thought it was locked when it wasn't. So that was that, and we fled to Barnes and Noble.
After that, we went home and had hamburgers and watched two of our Christmas movies (Love Actually and The Avengers). Today I'll make stuffing for tomorrow, and hopefully we'll continue our tradition of going out to eat at a really good Japanese restaurant.
So we went outside and called the police, and a couple of minutes later two cop cars showed up. They searched the place again, and then came out and said they didn't think it had been robbed, because the computer was still there, and there was money on the counter. (I did wonder later if someone else had found it open but empty and shopped anyway, leaving the money on the counter for what they took, like it was one of those pick-your-own-fruit places with the money box and a scale.) The cops also said the handle lock on the door was kind of tricky, so they thought whoever had closed it on Saturday might have just messed up and thought it was locked when it wasn't. So that was that, and we fled to Barnes and Noble.
After that, we went home and had hamburgers and watched two of our Christmas movies (Love Actually and The Avengers). Today I'll make stuffing for tomorrow, and hopefully we'll continue our tradition of going out to eat at a really good Japanese restaurant.
