Martha Wells's Blog, page 167
January 5, 2012
Bella
First, a brief history of my cats:
Kate was the first cat I had as an adult, the first cat that was all mine. An ex-roommate gave her to me when Kate was already 13 years old, with the expectation that Kate would soon die. Kate lived another 10 years, much of it just her and me in poorly air-conditioned student apartments. It was actually my vet (also inherited from the ex-roommate) who said one day that he had been seeing Kate for an awfully long time, looked up her chart and realized she was over 20. She slept on my head, and once in the early morning stretched out a paw and accidentally hooked a claw in one of my nostrils. (Fortunately she was also a very smart cat and realized immediately what she'd done, and waited calmly for me to unhook her.) She died of heart failure, at home, in my lap, in 1997 when I was working on the galleys of The Death of the Necromancer.
Harry was a kitten when I found him at night in an ice storm outside my apartment. Harry died in August of 2010, and I wrote about him here. He was two months shy of 20.
We got Bella as a kitten from the animal shelter when Kate died, and she's probably close to 16 years old. She's been losing weight for a couple of years, but at first that was okay, because she was a bit overweight. But she was down to 8 pounds last October, and now she's nearly down to 7. We had complete blood tests and urine tests and every other bodily fluid test done at the vet (same vet I've had since Kate), and the results are all negative. There is nothing wrong with her. She eats, she doesn't throw up food, she plays a bit, purrs a lot, sleeps a lot, doesn't seem to be in pain. But she's wasting away. So, yeah, there's something wrong with her. For me, 16 is not old for a cat. 16 is when we start to notice that, oh yeah, the cat might be getting kind of middle-aged now.
So right now we're just waiting to see what happens, and plying her with expensive cat foods that come in pouches and smell very very bad, and guarding her food from Tasha who would otherwise gorge on it like a Roman emperor at an orgy.
Bella:
Bella with Spike, our dog who died of cancer in 2008:
Bella forcing affection on Harry:
Tasha as a kitten forcibly grooming Harry:
Kate was the first cat I had as an adult, the first cat that was all mine. An ex-roommate gave her to me when Kate was already 13 years old, with the expectation that Kate would soon die. Kate lived another 10 years, much of it just her and me in poorly air-conditioned student apartments. It was actually my vet (also inherited from the ex-roommate) who said one day that he had been seeing Kate for an awfully long time, looked up her chart and realized she was over 20. She slept on my head, and once in the early morning stretched out a paw and accidentally hooked a claw in one of my nostrils. (Fortunately she was also a very smart cat and realized immediately what she'd done, and waited calmly for me to unhook her.) She died of heart failure, at home, in my lap, in 1997 when I was working on the galleys of The Death of the Necromancer.
Harry was a kitten when I found him at night in an ice storm outside my apartment. Harry died in August of 2010, and I wrote about him here. He was two months shy of 20.
We got Bella as a kitten from the animal shelter when Kate died, and she's probably close to 16 years old. She's been losing weight for a couple of years, but at first that was okay, because she was a bit overweight. But she was down to 8 pounds last October, and now she's nearly down to 7. We had complete blood tests and urine tests and every other bodily fluid test done at the vet (same vet I've had since Kate), and the results are all negative. There is nothing wrong with her. She eats, she doesn't throw up food, she plays a bit, purrs a lot, sleeps a lot, doesn't seem to be in pain. But she's wasting away. So, yeah, there's something wrong with her. For me, 16 is not old for a cat. 16 is when we start to notice that, oh yeah, the cat might be getting kind of middle-aged now.
So right now we're just waiting to see what happens, and plying her with expensive cat foods that come in pouches and smell very very bad, and guarding her food from Tasha who would otherwise gorge on it like a Roman emperor at an orgy.
Bella:
Bella with Spike, our dog who died of cancer in 2008:
Bella forcing affection on Harry:
Tasha as a kitten forcibly grooming Harry:
Yet More Question Answers
I think I have one more set to answer after this one.
![[info]](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380916456i/3231018.gif)
mkellis
asked: Leading question, but: are you going to put up a thread for Serpent Sea discussions (including spoilers)?
I don't think I will, mostly because having it on my LJ would mean I'd be sent the comments and be responsible for moderating (if it needed moderation) and I really don't have the time. But if someone else wants to do it, let me know where it is and I'll advertise it here.
Also: about 1/3 of the way in, and so very, very good. I'm reveling in the sensawunda of the settings.
Thank you!
puddleshark
asked: How do you keep track of what's going on in action scenes? Do you just have a very good visual memory, or do you have to have notes'n'plans'n'stuff?
Usually my action scenes aren't complicated enough to need plans. Because I stick to a tight personal POV, the character in the action scene only sees the portion of the scene they are interacting with. That character may have a vague idea what the others are doing, but she's mostly going to be focused on her part of the action, her goal, staying alive, etc. The fragments that she sees of the rest of the scene may make the whole thing seem a lot more complicated to plan than it actually was.
If you have multiple viewpoints in an action scene, which I hardly ever do, that would probably need a plan.
Okay, off to the recycling center, the post office, and the grocery store. Then I need to take another whack at this chapter.
One more reminder: I'll be doing a book signing for The Serpent Sea and The Cloud Roads at Murder by the Book, in Houston, Texas, on Saturday January 7 at 4:30, along with authors Kimberly Frost and Jaye Wells. Use this link to order signed copies online.
mkellis
asked: Leading question, but: are you going to put up a thread for Serpent Sea discussions (including spoilers)?I don't think I will, mostly because having it on my LJ would mean I'd be sent the comments and be responsible for moderating (if it needed moderation) and I really don't have the time. But if someone else wants to do it, let me know where it is and I'll advertise it here.
Also: about 1/3 of the way in, and so very, very good. I'm reveling in the sensawunda of the settings.
Thank you!
puddleshark
asked: How do you keep track of what's going on in action scenes? Do you just have a very good visual memory, or do you have to have notes'n'plans'n'stuff?Usually my action scenes aren't complicated enough to need plans. Because I stick to a tight personal POV, the character in the action scene only sees the portion of the scene they are interacting with. That character may have a vague idea what the others are doing, but she's mostly going to be focused on her part of the action, her goal, staying alive, etc. The fragments that she sees of the rest of the scene may make the whole thing seem a lot more complicated to plan than it actually was.
If you have multiple viewpoints in an action scene, which I hardly ever do, that would probably need a plan.
Okay, off to the recycling center, the post office, and the grocery store. Then I need to take another whack at this chapter.
One more reminder: I'll be doing a book signing for The Serpent Sea and The Cloud Roads at Murder by the Book, in Houston, Texas, on Saturday January 7 at 4:30, along with authors Kimberly Frost and Jaye Wells. Use this link to order signed copies online.
January 4, 2012
More Question Answers
I think I just had sinus issues yesterday; I feel much better today. Though I can't believe it's already Wednesday! This week is flying by.
Here's the next two questions:
kriz1818
asked: I enjoyed The Cloud Roads, but it left me wondering: Do you have a deep background explanation for why any planet (apparently magical or not) would have so many different intelligent species on it?
I have some ideas, but I really like to keep my world-building open-ended. I did a panel once with Warren Spector, about world-building in novels and game environments, and he talked about building your world one section at a time, leaving space for new ideas and discoveries, letting it grow organically as you go along, like you're exploring it rather than building it. So the world feels as complex as a real world, for both the reader/player and the writer.
That's a technique I've always used, because even as a kid reading old library books, I really didn't like stories that set boundaries for their worlds. When the story tells me there's nothing beyond this valley, or that there's no other intelligent species in the galaxy, it really feels like the horizon that started out limitless is now closed in and claustrophobic.
I know a lot of people really like to do more scientific world-building where you have everything worked out in a lot of detail before you start writing, and that's what really sparks their creativity. But for me, I like to feel like I'm working in a tiny part of a huge canvas. Basically, when/if I get to the point where it's important to the story to explain why there are so many different species, then I'll find that explanation.
I hope that makes some sort of sense and answers your question. Usually when I talk about this it's in person and I can gesture a lot and that seems to help. :)
thanate
asked: You've mentioned co-writing with someone else a couple times-- can you share anything about the logistics of that, or how it differs from your normal writing process?
I was co-writing with Aaron de Orive, and we wrote a middle grade fantasy novel. He came up with the characters and plot and a general idea of the world, and wrote the first chapter. Then I took it and went over it, made changes, and wrote the second chapter. He took that, went over it and made changes, and wrote the next chapter. As the book went on, I think the only thing that changed is that our sections of of writing the new parts got shorter and shorter, so we were exchanging them much more frequently. At one point, after some feedback, we went back and made some serious adjustments to the world-building.
(Email make co-writing much easier now. We live in different cities, so back in the 80s we would have had to mail each other sections and it would have taken forever.) The book has been making the publishing rounds but nobody has bought it yet. But it was the first attempt at a middle-grade book for both of us, so I think when we try it again, we'll have a much better handle on it.
Here's the next two questions:
kriz1818
asked: I enjoyed The Cloud Roads, but it left me wondering: Do you have a deep background explanation for why any planet (apparently magical or not) would have so many different intelligent species on it? I have some ideas, but I really like to keep my world-building open-ended. I did a panel once with Warren Spector, about world-building in novels and game environments, and he talked about building your world one section at a time, leaving space for new ideas and discoveries, letting it grow organically as you go along, like you're exploring it rather than building it. So the world feels as complex as a real world, for both the reader/player and the writer.
That's a technique I've always used, because even as a kid reading old library books, I really didn't like stories that set boundaries for their worlds. When the story tells me there's nothing beyond this valley, or that there's no other intelligent species in the galaxy, it really feels like the horizon that started out limitless is now closed in and claustrophobic.
I know a lot of people really like to do more scientific world-building where you have everything worked out in a lot of detail before you start writing, and that's what really sparks their creativity. But for me, I like to feel like I'm working in a tiny part of a huge canvas. Basically, when/if I get to the point where it's important to the story to explain why there are so many different species, then I'll find that explanation.
I hope that makes some sort of sense and answers your question. Usually when I talk about this it's in person and I can gesture a lot and that seems to help. :)
thanate
asked: You've mentioned co-writing with someone else a couple times-- can you share anything about the logistics of that, or how it differs from your normal writing process?I was co-writing with Aaron de Orive, and we wrote a middle grade fantasy novel. He came up with the characters and plot and a general idea of the world, and wrote the first chapter. Then I took it and went over it, made changes, and wrote the second chapter. He took that, went over it and made changes, and wrote the next chapter. As the book went on, I think the only thing that changed is that our sections of of writing the new parts got shorter and shorter, so we were exchanging them much more frequently. At one point, after some feedback, we went back and made some serious adjustments to the world-building.
(Email make co-writing much easier now. We live in different cities, so back in the 80s we would have had to mail each other sections and it would have taken forever.) The book has been making the publishing rounds but nobody has bought it yet. But it was the first attempt at a middle-grade book for both of us, so I think when we try it again, we'll have a much better handle on it.
January 3, 2012
Question Answers and Exciting Things
I feel kind of sick this morning. I really hope I'm not, because a) I don't have time and b) can't afford it.
Questions from this post.
I'm going to do about two a day, in the order I got them:
princejvstin
asked Is the ending of Serpent Sea intended to be a close to Moon's story as currently written? Do you have plans, desires or ideas for further stories involving Moon (or perhaps a completely different set of characters or even species) in The Three Worlds?
The book I'm currently working on now is about Moon, Jade, and the others, and takes place a few months after The Serpent Sea ends. At this point, I don't know if that will be the last book about them. I would like to do other books set in the Three Worlds, about the Raksura and/or about different characters, (like the crew of the Wind Ship Escarpment from this story), and I have a couple of books set in other worlds semi-started, but I have no idea yet what I'm going to work on next.
Eric Francis asked In today's market do you have a feel for whether short or long fiction is a better way to establish one's self? In other words, should I keep writing and trying to sell short stories, or should I focus solely on a novel?
I think it would depend on what your skill and inclination is. Some people are short story writers and never do novels or only do one once in a blue moon. Some people are novel writers and don't do short stories, except very occasionally. Some people can do both at will. If you write good short stories and they get published by pro magazines, get award nominations, etc, that will certainly establish you in the genre, but you probably won't get or be known by as many readers as a good novel would attract.
Writing the thing that excites your creativity the most, whether it's a short story or novel, is pretty much always the best way to go.
And there is a slew of exciting things this morning:
The Cloud Roads is a Salt Lake County Library Reader's Choice Book Salt Lake County Library patrons can vote on it or the other reader's choice books and enter to win a drawing for a gift card.
Three signed copies of The Cloud Roads are also prizes in the Worldbuilders fundraiser by Patrick Rothfuss Donate $10.00 to Heifer International and you'll be entered to win one of hundreds of prizes.
Paul Weimer of SF Signal has a review of The Serpent Sea yay, four stars! (beware of spoilers)
Keith West at Adventures Fantastic has a review of The Serpent Sea (not very spoilery at all)
Kate Elliott says nice things about me The Serpent Sea, Martha Wells, & talking up the books you love
If, in this age of social media, you ever wonder if talking about a book online, in person, over the phone, or anywhere, really — whether writing a review on your blog or up on goodreads or LibraryThing or Amazon — makes a difference: It does.
Visibility matters.
Visibility particularly matters for writers who don't often fall into the territory of bestsellerdom or persistent critical or award acclaim. It's hard to buy a book if one doesn't know it exists.
This is very true. Sometimes people ask what they can do to help their favorite writers, and the answer is talk about their books, online or offline, in whatever venue you are comfortable with. All the advertising money (and unless the book is a bestseller there is zero advertising money) doesn't matter if people aren't talking about the book. Whether you buy your books or check them out at the library, this is a power that readers have now.
Questions from this post.
I'm going to do about two a day, in the order I got them:
princejvstin
asked Is the ending of Serpent Sea intended to be a close to Moon's story as currently written? Do you have plans, desires or ideas for further stories involving Moon (or perhaps a completely different set of characters or even species) in The Three Worlds?The book I'm currently working on now is about Moon, Jade, and the others, and takes place a few months after The Serpent Sea ends. At this point, I don't know if that will be the last book about them. I would like to do other books set in the Three Worlds, about the Raksura and/or about different characters, (like the crew of the Wind Ship Escarpment from this story), and I have a couple of books set in other worlds semi-started, but I have no idea yet what I'm going to work on next.
Eric Francis asked In today's market do you have a feel for whether short or long fiction is a better way to establish one's self? In other words, should I keep writing and trying to sell short stories, or should I focus solely on a novel?
I think it would depend on what your skill and inclination is. Some people are short story writers and never do novels or only do one once in a blue moon. Some people are novel writers and don't do short stories, except very occasionally. Some people can do both at will. If you write good short stories and they get published by pro magazines, get award nominations, etc, that will certainly establish you in the genre, but you probably won't get or be known by as many readers as a good novel would attract.
Writing the thing that excites your creativity the most, whether it's a short story or novel, is pretty much always the best way to go.
And there is a slew of exciting things this morning:
The Cloud Roads is a Salt Lake County Library Reader's Choice Book Salt Lake County Library patrons can vote on it or the other reader's choice books and enter to win a drawing for a gift card.
Three signed copies of The Cloud Roads are also prizes in the Worldbuilders fundraiser by Patrick Rothfuss Donate $10.00 to Heifer International and you'll be entered to win one of hundreds of prizes.
Paul Weimer of SF Signal has a review of The Serpent Sea yay, four stars! (beware of spoilers)
Keith West at Adventures Fantastic has a review of The Serpent Sea (not very spoilery at all)
Kate Elliott says nice things about me The Serpent Sea, Martha Wells, & talking up the books you love
If, in this age of social media, you ever wonder if talking about a book online, in person, over the phone, or anywhere, really — whether writing a review on your blog or up on goodreads or LibraryThing or Amazon — makes a difference: It does.
Visibility matters.
Visibility particularly matters for writers who don't often fall into the territory of bestsellerdom or persistent critical or award acclaim. It's hard to buy a book if one doesn't know it exists.
This is very true. Sometimes people ask what they can do to help their favorite writers, and the answer is talk about their books, online or offline, in whatever venue you are comfortable with. All the advertising money (and unless the book is a bestseller there is zero advertising money) doesn't matter if people aren't talking about the book. Whether you buy your books or check them out at the library, this is a power that readers have now.
January 2, 2012
Taking Questions
Let's do this again:
Taking questions: Ask me questions, about writing in general, about publishing in general, about The Cloud Roads or The Serpent Sea or my other books, about whatever, and I'll try to make some coherent answers, either here or in a later post.
(For new friended people, I have a section on my website listing Links for Beginning Authors, with links to articles, resources, etc.)
Taking questions: Ask me questions, about writing in general, about publishing in general, about The Cloud Roads or The Serpent Sea or my other books, about whatever, and I'll try to make some coherent answers, either here or in a later post.
(For new friended people, I have a section on my website listing Links for Beginning Authors, with links to articles, resources, etc.)
January 1, 2012
So That Was 2011
This has been a very weird year for me, in a lot of ways. For my part, I sold two books after a multi-year hiatus and had the first one, The Cloud Roads come out and not tank, and later be made into an audiobook, which was an all-time first for me.
I was mostly busy with working with agent and editor and publisher to get the already completed manuscript for the The Serpent Sea ready to publish, plus working on the third book (no, it's not done yet, I flubbed that goal) and writing on other stuff which hasn't been bought/published yet. So 2011 was a big improvement on 2010 and such a vast improvement on 2009 that it feels like 2009 took place on some distant hell-planet in another lifetime.
But 2011 sucked enormously in many horrible ways for a lot of other people I know, friends of people I know, and people I just heard talked about online. It seemed like there was a never-ending series of disasters everywhere. And here it was also the year that the drought turned into the summer of firey death, where everyone who lived here had to look at maps and say, "I wish to go to this city; what route should I take to avoid burning to death?" and thousands of people lost houses and livelihoods. I can't even think about the damage to domestic and wild animals and the environment without crying.
So there was that. I just really want 2012 to be a year that goes relatively well for everybody.
***
Business stuff:
This is sort-of kind-of the official release date for The Serpent Sea, though the trade paperback is already available in many independent stores and preorders have been shipping from online retailers. I'd say if you want to get it, call the store first to check to see if it's in before you make a special trip, at least for this week.
Preordered ebooks should be shipping or descending or landing today or whatever it is they do on all the Amazons (I listed the links on this post). I don't see it on Nook yet, and I bet it won't be there until tomorrow or the 3rd at the earliest, and I don't see it on Kobo yet. It is available in a multitude of ebook formats at the Baen Webscription ebooks site for a discount price of $6.00. The Cloud Roads is also there.
(And please remember, authors don't control or set prices, formats, or much of anything else for ebooks, physical books, etc. And publishers are far more likely to pay attention to an email or letter from a reader than they are the author.)
ETA: Oops, forgot I wanted to include this: I'll be doing a book signing for The Serpent Sea at Murder by the Book, in Houston, Texas, on Saturday January 7 at 4:30, along with authors Kimberly Frost and Jaye Wells. Use this link to order signed copies online.
I was mostly busy with working with agent and editor and publisher to get the already completed manuscript for the The Serpent Sea ready to publish, plus working on the third book (no, it's not done yet, I flubbed that goal) and writing on other stuff which hasn't been bought/published yet. So 2011 was a big improvement on 2010 and such a vast improvement on 2009 that it feels like 2009 took place on some distant hell-planet in another lifetime.
But 2011 sucked enormously in many horrible ways for a lot of other people I know, friends of people I know, and people I just heard talked about online. It seemed like there was a never-ending series of disasters everywhere. And here it was also the year that the drought turned into the summer of firey death, where everyone who lived here had to look at maps and say, "I wish to go to this city; what route should I take to avoid burning to death?" and thousands of people lost houses and livelihoods. I can't even think about the damage to domestic and wild animals and the environment without crying.
So there was that. I just really want 2012 to be a year that goes relatively well for everybody.
***
Business stuff:
This is sort-of kind-of the official release date for The Serpent Sea, though the trade paperback is already available in many independent stores and preorders have been shipping from online retailers. I'd say if you want to get it, call the store first to check to see if it's in before you make a special trip, at least for this week.
Preordered ebooks should be shipping or descending or landing today or whatever it is they do on all the Amazons (I listed the links on this post). I don't see it on Nook yet, and I bet it won't be there until tomorrow or the 3rd at the earliest, and I don't see it on Kobo yet. It is available in a multitude of ebook formats at the Baen Webscription ebooks site for a discount price of $6.00. The Cloud Roads is also there.
(And please remember, authors don't control or set prices, formats, or much of anything else for ebooks, physical books, etc. And publishers are far more likely to pay attention to an email or letter from a reader than they are the author.)
ETA: Oops, forgot I wanted to include this: I'll be doing a book signing for The Serpent Sea at Murder by the Book, in Houston, Texas, on Saturday January 7 at 4:30, along with authors Kimberly Frost and Jaye Wells. Use this link to order signed copies online.
December 31, 2011
Books Read
I hope everybody has a fabulous, safe new year's eve, and a better year in 2012.
I see a lot of year-end round-up posts, and thought I'd do a list of books I read. I'm not sure this is all of them, since I did remember a couple that I forgot to put into both GoodReads and LibraryThing. (I think there was a long period where I forgot to update both of those.) Plus I have a lot of to-be-reads left.
Troubled Waters by Sharon Shinn
My Life in France by Julia Child
As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto by Julia Child
The Broken Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin
Kraken by China Mieville
The Desert of Souls by Howard Andrew Jones
The Princes Of The Golden Cage by Nathalie Mallet
The Soul Mirror by Carol Berg
The Bone Palace by Amanda Downum
Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch
Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch
The Ninth Daughter by Barabara Hamilton (Barbara Hambly)
The Attenbury Emeralds by Jill Paton Walsh
A Marked Man by Barabara Hamilton (Barbara Hambly)
The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
Blood Maidens by Barbara Hambly
Up Against it by M.J. Locke (Laura Mixon)
The Dragon's Path by Daniel Abraham
The Whitefire Crossing by Courtney Schafer
A Knife in the Back by Bill Crider
Heartless by Gail Carriger
Cold Fire by Kate Elliott
Sup With the Devil by Barabara Hamilton (Barbara Hambly)
Where Shadows Dance by C.S. Harris
Oscar Wilde and the Vampire Murders: A Mystery by Gyles Brandreth
The Case of the Gilded Fly by Edmund Crispin
The Unexpected Miss Bennet by Patrice Sarath
Frequent Hearses by Edmund Crispin
The Sleeping Partner by Madeleine E. Robins
The Hidden Goddess by M.K. Hobson
The Shirt on His Back by Barbara Hambly
Vampire Forensics: Uncovering the Origins of an Enduring Legend by Mark Collins Jenkins
Ganymede by Cherie Priest
Naughty in Nice by Rhys Bowen
Murder by the Book by Rex Stout
The Kingdom of Gods by N.K. Jemisin
If Death Ever Slept by Rex Stout
Your Neighborhood Gives Me the Creeps: True Tales of an Accidental Ghost Hunter by Adam Selzer
The Shape-changer's Wife by Sharon Shinn
The Vault by Ruth Rendell
Murder Your Darlings by J.J. Murphy
The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man by Mark Hodder
The Hum and the Shiver by Alex Bledsoe
Pirate King by Laurie R. King
The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin
Currently reading: The Daemon Prism by Carol Berg
I see a lot of year-end round-up posts, and thought I'd do a list of books I read. I'm not sure this is all of them, since I did remember a couple that I forgot to put into both GoodReads and LibraryThing. (I think there was a long period where I forgot to update both of those.) Plus I have a lot of to-be-reads left.
Troubled Waters by Sharon Shinn
My Life in France by Julia Child
As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto by Julia Child
The Broken Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin
Kraken by China Mieville
The Desert of Souls by Howard Andrew Jones
The Princes Of The Golden Cage by Nathalie Mallet
The Soul Mirror by Carol Berg
The Bone Palace by Amanda Downum
Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch
Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch
The Ninth Daughter by Barabara Hamilton (Barbara Hambly)
The Attenbury Emeralds by Jill Paton Walsh
A Marked Man by Barabara Hamilton (Barbara Hambly)
The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
Blood Maidens by Barbara Hambly
Up Against it by M.J. Locke (Laura Mixon)
The Dragon's Path by Daniel Abraham
The Whitefire Crossing by Courtney Schafer
A Knife in the Back by Bill Crider
Heartless by Gail Carriger
Cold Fire by Kate Elliott
Sup With the Devil by Barabara Hamilton (Barbara Hambly)
Where Shadows Dance by C.S. Harris
Oscar Wilde and the Vampire Murders: A Mystery by Gyles Brandreth
The Case of the Gilded Fly by Edmund Crispin
The Unexpected Miss Bennet by Patrice Sarath
Frequent Hearses by Edmund Crispin
The Sleeping Partner by Madeleine E. Robins
The Hidden Goddess by M.K. Hobson
The Shirt on His Back by Barbara Hambly
Vampire Forensics: Uncovering the Origins of an Enduring Legend by Mark Collins Jenkins
Ganymede by Cherie Priest
Naughty in Nice by Rhys Bowen
Murder by the Book by Rex Stout
The Kingdom of Gods by N.K. Jemisin
If Death Ever Slept by Rex Stout
Your Neighborhood Gives Me the Creeps: True Tales of an Accidental Ghost Hunter by Adam Selzer
The Shape-changer's Wife by Sharon Shinn
The Vault by Ruth Rendell
Murder Your Darlings by J.J. Murphy
The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man by Mark Hodder
The Hum and the Shiver by Alex Bledsoe
Pirate King by Laurie R. King
The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin
Currently reading: The Daemon Prism by Carol Berg
December 29, 2011
We usually get dense fog in the Fall, which is kind of co...
We usually get dense fog in the Fall, which is kind of cool when driving to the Renaissance Festival, but we didn't really get any this year due to the drought and the fires. (The only fog around was the dense clouds of smoke.) But this morning we got dense fog, very dense fog, where the carlights looked like yellow pinpricks. I had to take the cat to the vet this morning in it, but by the time I was coming back, the sun peeped out and it all burned off within minutes.
I don't know what we're going to do for New Years. Maybe what we did for Christmas, which was sit around and watch movies and eat and read. I got Barbara Hambly's latest Benjamin January book Ran Away as a present so that will be on the reading menu, plus Carol Berg's new fantasy The Daemon Prism.
For watching I got all five seasons of The Guild. (That sounds like a lot but since it's a web series each season is only a little over an hour.) (There's also a new Guild comic book out focusing on Zaboo and written by Felicia Day and Sandeep Parikh.)
I also got the first season of Psych which I love, and the sixth season of the new Doctor Who, plus a DVD of the play .
I don't know what we're going to do for New Years. Maybe what we did for Christmas, which was sit around and watch movies and eat and read. I got Barbara Hambly's latest Benjamin January book Ran Away as a present so that will be on the reading menu, plus Carol Berg's new fantasy The Daemon Prism.
For watching I got all five seasons of The Guild. (That sounds like a lot but since it's a web series each season is only a little over an hour.) (There's also a new Guild comic book out focusing on Zaboo and written by Felicia Day and Sandeep Parikh.)
I also got the first season of Psych which I love, and the sixth season of the new Doctor Who, plus a DVD of the play .
December 28, 2011
The Serpent Sea eBook Versions
Surprise for me! The Serpent Sea is available on Kindle US early. ETA: (I think I misread the screen. The ebook may just be available for preorder.)
It is up for Kindle preorder on Kindle UK, Kindle Germany, and Kindle France, Kindle Spain, and Kindle Italy
I don't see it on the Nook yet, but I'll keep an eye on that. It will also be here on Baen Webscription ebooks, probably for $6.00, eventually, as well as Kobo.
It is up for Kindle preorder on Kindle UK, Kindle Germany, and Kindle France, Kindle Spain, and Kindle Italy
I don't see it on the Nook yet, but I'll keep an eye on that. It will also be here on Baen Webscription ebooks, probably for $6.00, eventually, as well as Kobo.
Favorite Posts
In lieu of other content, I'm going to link to some of my favorite posts from the Night Bazaar this past year:
Don't Let Them Take Your Reynards The Death of the Necromancer, published in 1998, was my third novel, and my first with a new publisher, Avon Eos. Everything went fine through the editorial process, right up until I received the copyedit, and found that one of the major supporting characters, Captain Reynard Morane, had been all but removed from the book. And it happened that Reynard was gay.
My Favorite Women
There were a lot of books with female protagonists, and sometimes the covers didn't show them as just sexy victims, but they aren't as memorable to me as this one. The book more than fulfills the promise of the cover, as Zelde fights her way up from street kid enslaved by a dystopian government to become a space pirate captain and a rebel. It's a rough raw R-rated story, and I was probably a little young for it, but I feel like it was what I needed to read at that time.
Don't Be That Guy The first review I saw for my first novel was in a national SF/F magazine, and from her summary of the plot, I could tell the reviewer hadn't actually read the book. She had read the somewhat misleading description on the jacket, and probably the first and last chapters, but not all that stuff in the middle. This wasn't the last time that happened to me. It isn't uncommon, and will happen at one point or another to most writers.
Favorite SF/F Worlds and Cultures These are all worlds that permanently impressed themselves into my brain, and greatly influenced my own writing.
Don't Let Them Take Your Reynards The Death of the Necromancer, published in 1998, was my third novel, and my first with a new publisher, Avon Eos. Everything went fine through the editorial process, right up until I received the copyedit, and found that one of the major supporting characters, Captain Reynard Morane, had been all but removed from the book. And it happened that Reynard was gay.
My Favorite Women
There were a lot of books with female protagonists, and sometimes the covers didn't show them as just sexy victims, but they aren't as memorable to me as this one. The book more than fulfills the promise of the cover, as Zelde fights her way up from street kid enslaved by a dystopian government to become a space pirate captain and a rebel. It's a rough raw R-rated story, and I was probably a little young for it, but I feel like it was what I needed to read at that time.
Don't Be That Guy The first review I saw for my first novel was in a national SF/F magazine, and from her summary of the plot, I could tell the reviewer hadn't actually read the book. She had read the somewhat misleading description on the jacket, and probably the first and last chapters, but not all that stuff in the middle. This wasn't the last time that happened to me. It isn't uncommon, and will happen at one point or another to most writers.
Favorite SF/F Worlds and Cultures These are all worlds that permanently impressed themselves into my brain, and greatly influenced my own writing.
