Martha Wells's Blog, page 181
June 26, 2011
NASA VIP Tour Post IV
Continued from this post.
These are photos of our adventures in Building 9, with the lunar rover, the shuttle and space station mock-ups, our adventures climbing around in the shuttle mock-up without falling or hitting our heads, and much more.
Star Trek fans, look carefully at the poster:
These are a few views of the lunar rover.
This is another rover, which we thought of as Spiderman's Rover.
This was an area with all different surfaces, used to practice walking in space suits.
A giant robot arm, I think for the shuttle.
The shuttle mock-up. We didn't know we were getting in it yet.
They can put the mock-ups in all different positions, like pointing straight up, the way it would be for launch.
That's looking into the payload bay.
That's what you have to go through to get in.
And you do it like this.
Cabinets for putting things. The space seemed tiny, until we went up to the flight deck.
Looking through the locks into the payload bay.
The shuttle kitchen.
The shuttle toilet. It's very difficult to use it in space. It involves tubes, and air and suction.
The flight deck. Getting up the ladder (and getting down) was tricky, since it's a very narrow space without much headroom, and you're trying not to grab anything that isn't specifically a handhold. Getting down was awkward, since you can't see where your feet need to go. Part of the instructions for getting down involved shoving your hip into the back of the commander's chair because that will guide you straight down to the rungs you can't see. I ended up clinging very tightly to the commander's chair during this process.
That's all for now. At the con yesterday, we got to meet astronaut Stanley G. Love and see a presentation about his shuttle mission to the space station, and two space walks.
It's been a really excellent con.
These are photos of our adventures in Building 9, with the lunar rover, the shuttle and space station mock-ups, our adventures climbing around in the shuttle mock-up without falling or hitting our heads, and much more.
Star Trek fans, look carefully at the poster:
These are a few views of the lunar rover.
This is another rover, which we thought of as Spiderman's Rover.
This was an area with all different surfaces, used to practice walking in space suits.
A giant robot arm, I think for the shuttle.
The shuttle mock-up. We didn't know we were getting in it yet.
They can put the mock-ups in all different positions, like pointing straight up, the way it would be for launch.
That's looking into the payload bay.
That's what you have to go through to get in.
And you do it like this.
Cabinets for putting things. The space seemed tiny, until we went up to the flight deck.
Looking through the locks into the payload bay.
The shuttle kitchen.
The shuttle toilet. It's very difficult to use it in space. It involves tubes, and air and suction.
The flight deck. Getting up the ladder (and getting down) was tricky, since it's a very narrow space without much headroom, and you're trying not to grab anything that isn't specifically a handhold. Getting down was awkward, since you can't see where your feet need to go. Part of the instructions for getting down involved shoving your hip into the back of the commander's chair because that will guide you straight down to the rungs you can't see. I ended up clinging very tightly to the commander's chair during this process.
That's all for now. At the con yesterday, we got to meet astronaut Stanley G. Love and see a presentation about his shuttle mission to the space station, and two space walks.
It's been a really excellent con.
June 25, 2011
NASA VIP Tour Post III
Continued from this post
A few more Mission Control photos:
From the Apollo Mission Control:
This is the Red Phone.
</a>
The pneumatic tubes that carried messages (long long before email or faxes)
From the new Mission Control:
Another view of the new mission control, while the ship was docking with the space station.
The flight director's station.
The view from the space station's camera, and the Russian ship's camera.
More later. An astronaut is going to do a presentation at the con, with video of his shuttle mission. Then I'm doing my programming pretty much for the rest of the day.
Friday I had the Opening Ceremonies, plus:
8:00 PM Not So Happily Ever After - Alexis Glynn Latner (M), Derly Ramirez, Martha Wells, Rhonda Eudaly, Stina Leicht
On the real endings of fairy tales, origins, implications, etc.
Today it will be:
12:00 noon No WEMs Allowed: Multiculturalism Steampunk - Alexis Glatner, Kathy Thornton, Martha Wells, O.M. Grey (M), Mel White
1:00 Autographing
3:00 Guest of Honor interview
4:00 guest of honor reading
A few more Mission Control photos:
From the Apollo Mission Control:
This is the Red Phone.
</a>
The pneumatic tubes that carried messages (long long before email or faxes)
From the new Mission Control:
Another view of the new mission control, while the ship was docking with the space station.
The flight director's station.
The view from the space station's camera, and the Russian ship's camera.
More later. An astronaut is going to do a presentation at the con, with video of his shuttle mission. Then I'm doing my programming pretty much for the rest of the day.
Friday I had the Opening Ceremonies, plus:
8:00 PM Not So Happily Ever After - Alexis Glynn Latner (M), Derly Ramirez, Martha Wells, Rhonda Eudaly, Stina Leicht
On the real endings of fairy tales, origins, implications, etc.
Today it will be:
12:00 noon No WEMs Allowed: Multiculturalism Steampunk - Alexis Glatner, Kathy Thornton, Martha Wells, O.M. Grey (M), Mel White
1:00 Autographing
3:00 Guest of Honor interview
4:00 guest of honor reading
NASA VIP Tour Post II
Continued from this post
We also toured the Neutral Buoyancy Lab, which has a giant (very giant) water tank, filled with mock-ups of the shuttle and the space station modules, where the astronauts train for space walks. And the Antarctic Meteorite Collection lab.
That's me, my husband, and Ann VanderMeer, who is editor guest of honor.
These are some of the modules that were moved outside the pool for maintenance.
The pool is very large. Think of how big the shuttle is and how big the space station is and imagine them sitting in a pool with a lot of other stuff. No, bigger than that.
The shuttle mock-up.
A module being lowered into the giant pool by the equally giant crane. One of the computers was reflecting an image into the glass, that's what that "windows" logo is.
We also went to the Antarctic Meteorite Collection.
The meteorites are collected in Antarctica and come from various asteroids, the moon, and Mars. They're put into the cabinets to be tested and examined, so they won't be contaminated by anything in the air.
Me demonstrating putting your hands into the gloves to work inside the cabinets. Ignore my expression, I'm terrible at having my picture taken.
Me and Big Lou. Big Lou actually fell to earth twice. Once when it came from space, and once when it was being lifted in a crate by a helicopter, and it broke through the bottom of the crate. Big Lou is very heavy.
I still have a lot of photos to go, and a lot more to talk about, but I need to get dressed and eat breakfast and go to the convention. Today I have my guest of honor interview and reading and a signing, and a panel. Plus, this is the one year anniversary of Night Shade Books making an offer for The Cloud Roads. So yay!
Continued in this post.
We also toured the Neutral Buoyancy Lab, which has a giant (very giant) water tank, filled with mock-ups of the shuttle and the space station modules, where the astronauts train for space walks. And the Antarctic Meteorite Collection lab.
That's me, my husband, and Ann VanderMeer, who is editor guest of honor.
These are some of the modules that were moved outside the pool for maintenance.
The pool is very large. Think of how big the shuttle is and how big the space station is and imagine them sitting in a pool with a lot of other stuff. No, bigger than that.
The shuttle mock-up.
A module being lowered into the giant pool by the equally giant crane. One of the computers was reflecting an image into the glass, that's what that "windows" logo is.
We also went to the Antarctic Meteorite Collection.
The meteorites are collected in Antarctica and come from various asteroids, the moon, and Mars. They're put into the cabinets to be tested and examined, so they won't be contaminated by anything in the air.
Me demonstrating putting your hands into the gloves to work inside the cabinets. Ignore my expression, I'm terrible at having my picture taken.
Me and Big Lou. Big Lou actually fell to earth twice. Once when it came from space, and once when it was being lifted in a crate by a helicopter, and it broke through the bottom of the crate. Big Lou is very heavy.
I still have a lot of photos to go, and a lot more to talk about, but I need to get dressed and eat breakfast and go to the convention. Today I have my guest of honor interview and reading and a signing, and a panel. Plus, this is the one year anniversary of Night Shade Books making an offer for The Cloud Roads. So yay!
Continued in this post.
June 24, 2011
LJ would let me upload photos, but not actually post. Her...
LJ would let me upload photos, but not actually post. Here's my NASA tour post on another journal: http://marthawells.dreamwidth.org/116036.html
NASA VIP Tour
As guest of honor at ApolloCon, I got to go on an all day VIP tour of NASA with my husband and editor goh Ann VandeMeer. It was incredible. We saw stardust in a lab. We saw an unmanned Russian supply ship dock with the international space station from Mission Control. We saw meteors recovered from Antarctica that came from asteroids, the moon, and Mars. We saw lunar rocks. We climbed in and out of the space shuttle simulator and I got to sit in the commander's seat. We saw them putting a module down in the giant (and I mean giant) water tank in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab. I really can't describe how awesome all this was.
This is one of the plates filled with aerogel medium where the stardust particles were captured. (We're looking at it through a glass partition into the lab.)
A particle of stardust.
This is the old mission control from the Apollo missions. We were allowed to walk around in it but the regular tours aren't
Me at flight controller's station.
The new mission control for the International space station. (We were in the observation area.)
This is the Russian ship approaching the station. We saw it dock, from the ship's viewpoint, and saw the lock start to cycle.
The view from the ship.
The center screen. The station moves very fast. We saw it go from South America to Africa while we were watching. We could hear the Russians talking from their mission control on the sound system.
For Stargate fans, this is where they keep an eye on Atlantis.
And Thor
That's Kwatsi Alibaruho, the first black flight controller. We did actually see him from the front when he walked in, but weren't fast enough to get a picture.
I'll post more from the other labs and the shuttle simulator later. (Hopefully LJ won't bork when I post this.)
This is one of the plates filled with aerogel medium where the stardust particles were captured. (We're looking at it through a glass partition into the lab.)
A particle of stardust.
This is the old mission control from the Apollo missions. We were allowed to walk around in it but the regular tours aren't
Me at flight controller's station.
The new mission control for the International space station. (We were in the observation area.)
This is the Russian ship approaching the station. We saw it dock, from the ship's viewpoint, and saw the lock start to cycle.
The view from the ship.
The center screen. The station moves very fast. We saw it go from South America to Africa while we were watching. We could hear the Russians talking from their mission control on the sound system.
For Stargate fans, this is where they keep an eye on Atlantis.
And Thor
That's Kwatsi Alibaruho, the first black flight controller. We did actually see him from the front when he walked in, but weren't fast enough to get a picture.
I'll post more from the other labs and the shuttle simulator later. (Hopefully LJ won't bork when I post this.)
June 21, 2011
Snippet Post 1
I picked fairly long snippets, since I'm not sure how much I'll be able to post for the rest of the week.
One from the first chapter of The Serpent Sea, which should be coming out from Night Shade Books early next year:
Moon stretched out, taking advantage of having the roof nearly to himself, basking in the sun before the clouds covered it. Stone was still sitting on the edge, looking out over the mist-wreathed forest, his expression preoccupied. "So what's this place like?" Moon asked him.
"A tree."
Moon swore under his breath. He had gotten that much from everybody else. They were all very enthusiastic about it, but nobody had been able to say how much work they were going to have to do to make it habitable. "Fine, don't tell me."
Stone snorted. "I just told you. A tree."
Moon rolled onto his stomach, pillowed his head on his arms, and pretended to go to sleep, one of the only effective ways of dealing with Stone when he was in this mood. He had been hoping for something not much different from the ruin where the court had lived before, except more defensible. He had lived in trees, and they weren't comfortable. And he had seen how fast the Arbora could build temporary shelters, but they would have no time to do that before the rain hit.
He heard the wood creak as Stone moved around, stretching out on the other half of the roof. Then Stone said, "It's a mountain tree, the place our court originally came from."
Moon opened his eyes a slit, to see Stone lying on his back with one arm flung over his eyes. A mountain tree. Moon turned the words over, searching for familiarity, hoping it stirred his memory. For all he knew, he had lived in one as a child, but he didn't remember it. "I don't know what that is."
Stone's voice was dry. "You will before nightfall."
And one for the people who wanted random bits from my other books: This is from The Death of the Necromancer, which came out from Avon Eos in 1998, before steampunk was popular, and was a Nebula-nominee.
The Death of the Necromancer
Octave merely asked, "You still own Doctor Viller's apparatus? Is any of it here?"
Nicholas felt another chill. He does know too much. "Again, you show too much curiosity for your own good, Doctor. I suggest you go, while you still can. If you have some complaint to make against me, or some suspicion of criminal activity on my part, you may take yourself to the Prefecture and bore them with it."
Octave smiled. "Then it is here."
Nicholas stood. "Doctor, you have gone too far--"
Crack, catching the change in tone, took a step forward. Octave reached for the walking stick still lying on the table, as if he meant to go. The gesture was entirely casual; if Nicholas hadn't already been on the alert he would never have seen the spark of blue spell light that flickered from Octave's hand as he touched the cane.
Nicholas was already gripping the edge of the heavy round table; with one swift effort he lifted and shoved it over. It crashed into Octave and sent the man staggering back.
Light flickered in the room, jagged blue light bouncing from wall to wall like ball lightning. Octave staggered to his feet, his stick swinging back to point toward Nicholas. He felt a wave of heat and saw spellfire crackle along the length of polished wood, preparing itself for another explosive burst. Crack was moving toward Octave, but Madeline shouted, "Get back!"
Nicholas ducked, as a shot exploded behind him. Octave fell backward on the carpet and the blue lightning flared once and vanished with a sharp crackle.
Nicholas looked at Madeline. She stepped forward, holding a small double-action revolver carefully and frowning down at the corpse. He said, "I wondered what you were waiting for."
"You were in my line of fire, dear," she said, preoccupied. "But look."
One from the first chapter of The Serpent Sea, which should be coming out from Night Shade Books early next year:
Moon stretched out, taking advantage of having the roof nearly to himself, basking in the sun before the clouds covered it. Stone was still sitting on the edge, looking out over the mist-wreathed forest, his expression preoccupied. "So what's this place like?" Moon asked him.
"A tree."
Moon swore under his breath. He had gotten that much from everybody else. They were all very enthusiastic about it, but nobody had been able to say how much work they were going to have to do to make it habitable. "Fine, don't tell me."
Stone snorted. "I just told you. A tree."
Moon rolled onto his stomach, pillowed his head on his arms, and pretended to go to sleep, one of the only effective ways of dealing with Stone when he was in this mood. He had been hoping for something not much different from the ruin where the court had lived before, except more defensible. He had lived in trees, and they weren't comfortable. And he had seen how fast the Arbora could build temporary shelters, but they would have no time to do that before the rain hit.
He heard the wood creak as Stone moved around, stretching out on the other half of the roof. Then Stone said, "It's a mountain tree, the place our court originally came from."
Moon opened his eyes a slit, to see Stone lying on his back with one arm flung over his eyes. A mountain tree. Moon turned the words over, searching for familiarity, hoping it stirred his memory. For all he knew, he had lived in one as a child, but he didn't remember it. "I don't know what that is."
Stone's voice was dry. "You will before nightfall."
And one for the people who wanted random bits from my other books: This is from The Death of the Necromancer, which came out from Avon Eos in 1998, before steampunk was popular, and was a Nebula-nominee.
The Death of the Necromancer
Octave merely asked, "You still own Doctor Viller's apparatus? Is any of it here?"
Nicholas felt another chill. He does know too much. "Again, you show too much curiosity for your own good, Doctor. I suggest you go, while you still can. If you have some complaint to make against me, or some suspicion of criminal activity on my part, you may take yourself to the Prefecture and bore them with it."
Octave smiled. "Then it is here."
Nicholas stood. "Doctor, you have gone too far--"
Crack, catching the change in tone, took a step forward. Octave reached for the walking stick still lying on the table, as if he meant to go. The gesture was entirely casual; if Nicholas hadn't already been on the alert he would never have seen the spark of blue spell light that flickered from Octave's hand as he touched the cane.
Nicholas was already gripping the edge of the heavy round table; with one swift effort he lifted and shoved it over. It crashed into Octave and sent the man staggering back.
Light flickered in the room, jagged blue light bouncing from wall to wall like ball lightning. Octave staggered to his feet, his stick swinging back to point toward Nicholas. He felt a wave of heat and saw spellfire crackle along the length of polished wood, preparing itself for another explosive burst. Crack was moving toward Octave, but Madeline shouted, "Get back!"
Nicholas ducked, as a shot exploded behind him. Octave fell backward on the carpet and the blue lightning flared once and vanished with a sharp crackle.
Nicholas looked at Madeline. She stepped forward, holding a small double-action revolver carefully and frowning down at the corpse. He said, "I wondered what you were waiting for."
"You were in my line of fire, dear," she said, preoccupied. "But look."
ApolloCon etc
Many Things:
First Thing: My email started working late yesterday morning so I should be caught up now. Also, hoping we'll get rain today or tomorrow. There have been a couple of forest fires in the area.
T2: This is going to be a crazy busy week for me because I'm going to be guest of honor at ApolloCon this weekend in Houston. We will all be having lots of fun without you. (Unless you're coming too, then we'll be having fun with you.) I don't know how much time I'll have for posting, but I'll try to do a few.
T3: The Clarion West Write-a-Thon: my goal is 15,000 words on the third Cloud Roads book, and yesterday I tore apart and re-wrote chapter 1 and part of 2. I have no idea what my word count was, because I took out a lot, wrote two new scenes, and re-arranged a lot.
T4: the snippet poll. Snippets from The Serpent Sea are winning by a large margin, but a lot of people also wanted random snippets from other books, so I think I'll do both. I'll try to do a snippet post later today when I'm more awake.
T5: Links:
SF Signal: Girl Cooties: A Personal History by Judith Tarr Judith talks about gender and publishing.
CBC News: Canadian Rioters Tried to Burn a Chapters Bookstore
Greg van Eekhout: The color of The Boy at the End of the World
I am multiracial. My skin is light brown. My features are a mix of, well, Dutch and Indonesian. People often don't know what to make of me. When people see me, sometimes they see a person of color. Sometimes they see an Asian person. (Indonesia is in Asia, so that makes sense.) Sometimes they see a Latino person. Sometimes they see a white guy with a tan. When people don't know what you are, they will sometimes project their own expectations on you.
The auction to help with author L.A. Banks' medical expenses starts today.
Cynthia Leitich Smith: It Gets Better: Authors & Illustrators Unite an "It gets better" vid from childrens and YA authors and illustrators.
Austin YNN: Copper thieves shut down Austin library indefinitely
Gillum said the Ruiz branch caters to more than 30-thousand Austinites a month.
"We're just filled with kids and teenagers normally all through the summer while they're away from school," Gillum said. "Not this year."
FEMINIST HULK MEET MS. MAGAZINE: THE SEQUEL
First Thing: My email started working late yesterday morning so I should be caught up now. Also, hoping we'll get rain today or tomorrow. There have been a couple of forest fires in the area.
T2: This is going to be a crazy busy week for me because I'm going to be guest of honor at ApolloCon this weekend in Houston. We will all be having lots of fun without you. (Unless you're coming too, then we'll be having fun with you.) I don't know how much time I'll have for posting, but I'll try to do a few.
T3: The Clarion West Write-a-Thon: my goal is 15,000 words on the third Cloud Roads book, and yesterday I tore apart and re-wrote chapter 1 and part of 2. I have no idea what my word count was, because I took out a lot, wrote two new scenes, and re-arranged a lot.
T4: the snippet poll. Snippets from The Serpent Sea are winning by a large margin, but a lot of people also wanted random snippets from other books, so I think I'll do both. I'll try to do a snippet post later today when I'm more awake.
T5: Links:
SF Signal: Girl Cooties: A Personal History by Judith Tarr Judith talks about gender and publishing.
CBC News: Canadian Rioters Tried to Burn a Chapters Bookstore
Greg van Eekhout: The color of The Boy at the End of the World
I am multiracial. My skin is light brown. My features are a mix of, well, Dutch and Indonesian. People often don't know what to make of me. When people see me, sometimes they see a person of color. Sometimes they see an Asian person. (Indonesia is in Asia, so that makes sense.) Sometimes they see a Latino person. Sometimes they see a white guy with a tan. When people don't know what you are, they will sometimes project their own expectations on you.
The auction to help with author L.A. Banks' medical expenses starts today.
Cynthia Leitich Smith: It Gets Better: Authors & Illustrators Unite an "It gets better" vid from childrens and YA authors and illustrators.
Austin YNN: Copper thieves shut down Austin library indefinitely
Gillum said the Ruiz branch caters to more than 30-thousand Austinites a month.
"We're just filled with kids and teenagers normally all through the summer while they're away from school," Gillum said. "Not this year."
FEMINIST HULK MEET MS. MAGAZINE: THE SEQUEL
June 20, 2011
Clarion West Write-a-Thon
First off, courtesy of dreamhost, my email is down. So if you're emailing me, I can't tell.
Links:
The Cloud Roads, and many other lovely books, are on The Book Smugglers' List of the Best Books of 2011 So Far
Charles Saunders has a new book out! Damballa It's an adventure pulp story set in 1930s Harlem.
Liz Hand linked to NPR: 'Good Stuff': Cary Grant's Daughter On Growing Up
Clarion West Write-a-Thon:
I've signed up for the Clarion West Write-a-Thon here. You can see the other writers listed here
Read about what Clarion West is here. Clarion West is a nonprofit literary organization and is committed to equal opportunity. Although there are fine science fiction and fantasy writers of all ethnicities, races, and genders, historically the field has reflected the same prejudices found in the culture around it, leading to proportionately fewer successful writers of color and women writers than white male writers. Within the limitations of the workshop, Clarion West is dedicated to improving those proportions.
The goal of the Write-a-Thon is: Our goal now is to get 270 Write-a-thon donors. We'll gladly accept donations of any amount. Now till July 29 you can support Write-a-thon authors doing their best by donating to Clarion West when they accomplish their goals: help them, help the workshop, and help yourself as you sponsor the creation of more writing you'll want to read.
My writing goal is to write at least 15,000 words on the draft of the novel I'm currently working on. It's the next book in the Cloud Roads series, set after The Serpent Sea. (I didn't get much done yesterday because I was trying not to beat a scanner to death.)
My dilemma is that people are supposed to post snippets of their writing to encourage donations, but I don't want to spoil readers on the third book when the second book isn't out yet. So I've made a poll:
View Poll: Which Snippets?
Whatever it is, I'll post it behind an lj cut so people can skip it at will.
Links:
The Cloud Roads, and many other lovely books, are on The Book Smugglers' List of the Best Books of 2011 So Far
Charles Saunders has a new book out! Damballa It's an adventure pulp story set in 1930s Harlem.
Liz Hand linked to NPR: 'Good Stuff': Cary Grant's Daughter On Growing Up
Clarion West Write-a-Thon:
I've signed up for the Clarion West Write-a-Thon here. You can see the other writers listed here
Read about what Clarion West is here. Clarion West is a nonprofit literary organization and is committed to equal opportunity. Although there are fine science fiction and fantasy writers of all ethnicities, races, and genders, historically the field has reflected the same prejudices found in the culture around it, leading to proportionately fewer successful writers of color and women writers than white male writers. Within the limitations of the workshop, Clarion West is dedicated to improving those proportions.
The goal of the Write-a-Thon is: Our goal now is to get 270 Write-a-thon donors. We'll gladly accept donations of any amount. Now till July 29 you can support Write-a-thon authors doing their best by donating to Clarion West when they accomplish their goals: help them, help the workshop, and help yourself as you sponsor the creation of more writing you'll want to read.
My writing goal is to write at least 15,000 words on the draft of the novel I'm currently working on. It's the next book in the Cloud Roads series, set after The Serpent Sea. (I didn't get much done yesterday because I was trying not to beat a scanner to death.)
My dilemma is that people are supposed to post snippets of their writing to encourage donations, but I don't want to spoil readers on the third book when the second book isn't out yet. So I've made a poll:
View Poll: Which Snippets?
Whatever it is, I'll post it behind an lj cut so people can skip it at will.
June 17, 2011
Another Question
Thanks to everyone who bought City of Bones, I really appreciate it.
![[info]](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380451598i/2033940.gif)
malimar
asked: Purely out of curiosity (rather than out of actually hoping to sell anything):
I have the vague sense that it's possible to sell short stories, and it's possible to sell novels, but it's almost impossible to sell novellas/novelettes. (Too long for magazines or anthologies; too short for standalone books; books consisting of two or three novellas/novelettes are rare.)
Would you say this sense is at all accurate? And, speculatively, would you predict that the rise of ebooks might alter the future of novellas/novelettes in any way?
There are a few small press anthologies that feature novellas, but yes, the outlets for them are few and far between compared to short stories. I think a lot of writers are already putting out novellas/novelettes as self-published ebooks, and I think that's just going to continue, which is great. But like all ebooks, it works better for established writers who already have readers searching for their work on Amazon and B&N etc, and not so well for new writers without an audience.
Still taking writing questions on this post.
Links:
Book View Cafe: There's a Bimbo on the Cover of My Book: Verse One by Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff
When I sold my first novel shortly after this to the same publisher, I was terrified of what the cover might look like. Would I inherit another writer's bimbos?
The Alchemists of Kush by Minister Faust is now available on Kindle.
If The Alchemists of Kush hits the Kindle Top 100 today, I'll donate $500 to ship university textbooks to South Sudan's Dr. John Garang Memorial University.
The first chapter of The Whitefire Crossing by Courtney Schafer. I've read this book already and really enjoyed it. This is the blurb I gave it: "The Whitefire Crossing is a tense adventure fantasy, with magic, intrigue, and engaging characters in a desperate race to cross a deadly mountain range. The realistic detail of the mountain trek and the ever-present danger from the mages make this an exciting original read." The main page with the description and links is here.
Cracked.com: Five Reasons Life Actually Does get Better
Guys Lit Wire: The Final Tally on the Ballou High School Book Fair
malimar
asked: Purely out of curiosity (rather than out of actually hoping to sell anything):I have the vague sense that it's possible to sell short stories, and it's possible to sell novels, but it's almost impossible to sell novellas/novelettes. (Too long for magazines or anthologies; too short for standalone books; books consisting of two or three novellas/novelettes are rare.)
Would you say this sense is at all accurate? And, speculatively, would you predict that the rise of ebooks might alter the future of novellas/novelettes in any way?
There are a few small press anthologies that feature novellas, but yes, the outlets for them are few and far between compared to short stories. I think a lot of writers are already putting out novellas/novelettes as self-published ebooks, and I think that's just going to continue, which is great. But like all ebooks, it works better for established writers who already have readers searching for their work on Amazon and B&N etc, and not so well for new writers without an audience.
Still taking writing questions on this post.
Links:
Book View Cafe: There's a Bimbo on the Cover of My Book: Verse One by Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff
When I sold my first novel shortly after this to the same publisher, I was terrified of what the cover might look like. Would I inherit another writer's bimbos?
The Alchemists of Kush by Minister Faust is now available on Kindle.
If The Alchemists of Kush hits the Kindle Top 100 today, I'll donate $500 to ship university textbooks to South Sudan's Dr. John Garang Memorial University.
The first chapter of The Whitefire Crossing by Courtney Schafer. I've read this book already and really enjoyed it. This is the blurb I gave it: "The Whitefire Crossing is a tense adventure fantasy, with magic, intrigue, and engaging characters in a desperate race to cross a deadly mountain range. The realistic detail of the mountain trek and the ever-present danger from the mages make this an exciting original read." The main page with the description and links is here.
Cracked.com: Five Reasons Life Actually Does get Better
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June 16, 2011
Answering Questions
sorka42
asked When writing, if you have a vague idea of where you are going in a chapter, but its not fully fleshing out, do you leave it unwritten or do you write a summary so you don't lose it while working on other parts of a story?I definitely write a summary. Whenever I come up with a plot point, or a way to work something out, or bits of dialogue, I try to write it down as soon as possible. It's very frustrating to me to be sitting there with a blank page and know that I came up with something that I really liked and now I can't remember it. I forget things like that a lot more easily when I'm stressed out, and I'm pretty much always stressed out.
surreul
had some questions: I just recently read the City of Bones (and loved it) and my guess is that you don't intent to return to that world. But I was wondering, when you were writing it, if you had thoughts on how the lives of Elen and Khat would turn out and if you had any other idea or plans for the krismen or even that world in general. Would love to hear it. I was also blown away by the original world building, not because I didn't expect it from you but because you've also built so many other original and fascinating worlds. I was wondering what is it that motivates you to keep creating new worlds instead of sticking to one universe the way some other authors do.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it! I did plan a sequel to City of Bones, and actually did offer it as a proposal to Tor, along with a proposal and the first few chapters of what later turned into The Death of the Necromancer. They turned down The Death of the Necromancer but did make a not very enthusiastic offer on the Bones sequel. But it took so long to hear back from them, that by that time I'd written a big chunk of Necromancer, and I didn't want to drop it. So we offered it to Avon instead who was very enthusiastic about it, and I dropped the idea for a City of Bones sequel.
The plot was that Elen would come to the city where Khat and Sagai were living, and make them a very good offer to come along on an expedition to find the exact center of the Waste, which was where they thought the original magical event happened that caused all the destruction. They were going to go, and find lots of strange things, and take refuge with Khat's relatives among the krismen at one point. But that's about all I remember of it. I've looked for the actual proposal, but it was lost in computer transitions long ago and I can't access the disks it was backed up on. Hopefully, I have it printed out somewhere and I'll rediscover it at some point. But there were never more than a couple of pages of it written, and that was mostly notes.
As to motivation, I just really like creating new worlds. And while the ones that are based on historical time periods (like the Ile-Rien books) are fun, creating weird worlds with strange stuff is much more fun for me. And I like pushing my creativity to try to come with even stranger stuff, which is why I really love writing The Cloud Roads books.
I think this is one of the reasons why I've never felt much urge to write an urban fantasy, even though I'm a big Buffy fan and I love mysteries with supernatural elements. A setting that was based on the modern world, any part of the modern world, would just not be that much fun for me. And like I said the other day, if you're not having fun, there's no point in writing it.
(A selfish note, I have City of Bones available as an ebook reprint from Amazon Kindle US, Amazon Kindle UK, and Barnes and Noble Nookbook, and if anyone hasn't read it already and is interested in it, purchasing it there will help defray the large amount of money I had to spend on doctor's appointments and stuff for my achey knees this week. Or The Element of Fire, which is available in those same places. Oh, and the Black Gate Blog recently did a very nice review of City of Bones.)
Still taking writing questions on this post.
