Martha Wells's Blog, page 35
May 28, 2020
So the massive hailstorm yesterday managed to miss most o...
So the massive hailstorm yesterday managed to miss most of the town except for our neighborhood. I'm sure our roof needs to be replaced because bits of it are out in the yard, which is trashed.
Most of my potted plants are dead, most of the trees lost at least half their leaves, my flowering bushes look like a car ran over them. The plastic buckets protecting the pond pump were shattered. The solar panel is broken. The water feature was a little more protected but the plants may be dead and I can’t find two of my ceramic fish. We'll be dealing with the insurance with the roof and whatever other damage we haven't found yet. At least we don't have skylights like the neighbors used to.
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Most of my potted plants are dead, most of the trees lost at least half their leaves, my flowering bushes look like a car ran over them. The plastic buckets protecting the pond pump were shattered. The solar panel is broken. The water feature was a little more protected but the plants may be dead and I can’t find two of my ceramic fish. We'll be dealing with the insurance with the roof and whatever other damage we haven't found yet. At least we don't have skylights like the neighbors used to.
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May 27, 2020
Ugh
We were just hit by a massive hailstorm, with golfball-sized hail. I posted a video on Twitter: https://twitter.com/marthawells1/status/1265730340947210242
We already called the insurance company and got an appointment. I'm sure we're going to need a new roof at least.
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We already called the insurance company and got an appointment. I'm sure we're going to need a new roof at least.
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May 26, 2020
NYT Review
Network Effect got reviewed in the New York Times!
"Network Effect introduces new characters and subtly different perspectives in a way that only amplifies its shocking joy. I caught myself rereading my favorite parts the way Murderbot rewatches episodes of Sanctuary Moon, and I can’t recommend it enough."
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/26/books/review/docile-murderbot-otaku-hotspur-shorefall.html
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"Network Effect introduces new characters and subtly different perspectives in a way that only amplifies its shocking joy. I caught myself rereading my favorite parts the way Murderbot rewatches episodes of Sanctuary Moon, and I can’t recommend it enough."
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/26/books/review/docile-murderbot-otaku-hotspur-shorefall.html
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Online Event
I've got an online event coming up this Saturday, May 30, at 2:00 CDT, for the Ringer Public Library: https://tockify.com/bcslibrary/detail/3194/1590865200000 It's on zoom and you have to sign up in advance. I'll probably be doing a reading and talking about Network Effect.
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May 20, 2020
Book Rec Wednesday
(If you've been following my book rec and new book listing posts for a while, you may have noticed this already, but while most book lists emphasize books by popular straight white men, this one emphasizes everybody else. I include books by straight white men, but in about the same percentage that other book lists include everybody else. I also try to highlight books that are less well known.)
(All the book list links below are to Bookshop (Bookshop is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support independent bookstores and give back to the book community), but most books are available at multiple outlets, like Kobo, iBooks, international Amazons, Barnes & Noble, etc. The short stories are usually on free online magazines.)
(Buy your audiobooks from an independent store here: https://libro.fm/story)
* Shuri by Nic Stone
An original, upper-middle-grade series starring the break-out character from the Black Panther comics and films: T'Challa's younger sister, Shuri! Crafted by New York Times bestselling author Nic Stone. Shuri is a skilled martial artist, a genius, and a master of science and technology. But, she's also a teenager. And a princess. This story follows Shuri as she sets out on a quest to save her homeland of Wakanda.
* Preorder Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson
The dangerous magic of The Night Circus meets the powerful historical exploration of The Underground Railroad in Alaya Dawn Johnson's timely and unsettling novel, set against the darkly glamorous backdrop of New York City, where an assassin falls in love and tries to change her fate at the dawn of World War II. Amid the whir of city life, a young woman from Harlem is drawn into the glittering underworld of Manhattan, where she's hired to use her knives to strike fear among its most dangerous denizens.
* Dragon Physician by Joyce Chng
Can Jixin succeed in a world of dragon racing run by powerful women? Can he fight the system and fulfil his dream of becoming a dragon rider? Or does he choose instead to be a dragon physician like his mother? Jixin finds his world suddenly changed when Lu Si, the scion of a Rookery owner, takes a shine on him. He is plunged straight into the lucrative world of dragon racing... Will his life change?
* The Green Man's Foe by Juliet E. McKenna
When you do a good job for someone, there's a strong chance they'll offer you more work or recommend you elsewhere. So Daniel Mackmain isn't particularly surprised when his boss's architect brother asks for his help on a historic house renovation in the Cotswolds. Except Dan's a dryad's son, and he soon realises there's a whole lot more going on. Ancient malice is stirring and it has made an alliance in the modern world. The Green Man expects Dan to put an end to this threat. Seeing the danger, Dan's forced to agree. The problem is he's alone in a place he doesn't know, a hundred miles or more away from any allies of his own.
* Preorder The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna
Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in fear and anticipation of the blood ceremony that will determine whether she will become a member of her village. Already different from everyone else because of her unnatural intuition, Deka prays for red blood so she can finally feel like she belongs. But on the day of the ceremony, her blood runs gold, the color of impurity-and Deka knows she will face a consequence worse than death.
* Burning Roses by S.L. Huang
When Rosa (aka Red Riding Hood) and Hou Yi the Archer join forces to stop the deadly sunbirds from ravaging the countryside, their quest will take the two women, now blessed and burdened with the hindsight of age, into a reckoning of sacrifices made and mistakes mourned, of choices and family and the quest for immortality.
* Preorder Hunted by the Sky by Tanaz Bhathena
Gul has spent her life running. She has a star-shaped birthmark on her arm, and in the kingdom of Ambar, girls with such birthmarks have been disappearing for years. Gul's mark is what caused her parents' murder at the hand of King Lohar's ruthless soldiers and forced her into hiding to protect her own life. So when a group of rebel women called the Sisters of the Golden Lotus rescue her, take her in, and train her in warrior magic, Gul wants only one thing: revenge.
* Other Covenants: Alternate Histories of the Jewish People edited by Andrea D. Lobel and Mark Shainblum
What if there are other timelines, other histories, other Jews? Would they still have a covenant with the one God, or would they know strange gods? Would they have survived banishment, pogrom and Holocaust? What if the Holocaust had not occurred? Or what if it had succeeded beyond Hitler’s darkest dreams?
* Latitudes of Longing by Shubhangi Swarup
A spellbinding work of literature, Latitudes of Longing follows the interconnected lives of characters searching for true intimacy. The novel sweeps across India, from an island, to a valley, a city, and a snow desert, to tell a love story of epic proportions. We follow a scientist who studies trees and a clairvoyant who speaks to them; a geologist working to end futile wars over a glacier; octogenarian lovers; a mother struggling to free her revolutionary son; a yeti who seeks human companionship; a turtle who transforms first into a boat and then a woman; and the ghost of an evaporated ocean as restless as the continents. Binding them all together is a vision of life as vast as the universe itself.
comments
(All the book list links below are to Bookshop (Bookshop is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support independent bookstores and give back to the book community), but most books are available at multiple outlets, like Kobo, iBooks, international Amazons, Barnes & Noble, etc. The short stories are usually on free online magazines.)
(Buy your audiobooks from an independent store here: https://libro.fm/story)
* Shuri by Nic Stone
An original, upper-middle-grade series starring the break-out character from the Black Panther comics and films: T'Challa's younger sister, Shuri! Crafted by New York Times bestselling author Nic Stone. Shuri is a skilled martial artist, a genius, and a master of science and technology. But, she's also a teenager. And a princess. This story follows Shuri as she sets out on a quest to save her homeland of Wakanda.
* Preorder Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson
The dangerous magic of The Night Circus meets the powerful historical exploration of The Underground Railroad in Alaya Dawn Johnson's timely and unsettling novel, set against the darkly glamorous backdrop of New York City, where an assassin falls in love and tries to change her fate at the dawn of World War II. Amid the whir of city life, a young woman from Harlem is drawn into the glittering underworld of Manhattan, where she's hired to use her knives to strike fear among its most dangerous denizens.
* Dragon Physician by Joyce Chng
Can Jixin succeed in a world of dragon racing run by powerful women? Can he fight the system and fulfil his dream of becoming a dragon rider? Or does he choose instead to be a dragon physician like his mother? Jixin finds his world suddenly changed when Lu Si, the scion of a Rookery owner, takes a shine on him. He is plunged straight into the lucrative world of dragon racing... Will his life change?
* The Green Man's Foe by Juliet E. McKenna
When you do a good job for someone, there's a strong chance they'll offer you more work or recommend you elsewhere. So Daniel Mackmain isn't particularly surprised when his boss's architect brother asks for his help on a historic house renovation in the Cotswolds. Except Dan's a dryad's son, and he soon realises there's a whole lot more going on. Ancient malice is stirring and it has made an alliance in the modern world. The Green Man expects Dan to put an end to this threat. Seeing the danger, Dan's forced to agree. The problem is he's alone in a place he doesn't know, a hundred miles or more away from any allies of his own.
* Preorder The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna
Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in fear and anticipation of the blood ceremony that will determine whether she will become a member of her village. Already different from everyone else because of her unnatural intuition, Deka prays for red blood so she can finally feel like she belongs. But on the day of the ceremony, her blood runs gold, the color of impurity-and Deka knows she will face a consequence worse than death.
* Burning Roses by S.L. Huang
When Rosa (aka Red Riding Hood) and Hou Yi the Archer join forces to stop the deadly sunbirds from ravaging the countryside, their quest will take the two women, now blessed and burdened with the hindsight of age, into a reckoning of sacrifices made and mistakes mourned, of choices and family and the quest for immortality.
* Preorder Hunted by the Sky by Tanaz Bhathena
Gul has spent her life running. She has a star-shaped birthmark on her arm, and in the kingdom of Ambar, girls with such birthmarks have been disappearing for years. Gul's mark is what caused her parents' murder at the hand of King Lohar's ruthless soldiers and forced her into hiding to protect her own life. So when a group of rebel women called the Sisters of the Golden Lotus rescue her, take her in, and train her in warrior magic, Gul wants only one thing: revenge.
* Other Covenants: Alternate Histories of the Jewish People edited by Andrea D. Lobel and Mark Shainblum
What if there are other timelines, other histories, other Jews? Would they still have a covenant with the one God, or would they know strange gods? Would they have survived banishment, pogrom and Holocaust? What if the Holocaust had not occurred? Or what if it had succeeded beyond Hitler’s darkest dreams?
* Latitudes of Longing by Shubhangi Swarup
A spellbinding work of literature, Latitudes of Longing follows the interconnected lives of characters searching for true intimacy. The novel sweeps across India, from an island, to a valley, a city, and a snow desert, to tell a love story of epic proportions. We follow a scientist who studies trees and a clairvoyant who speaks to them; a geologist working to end futile wars over a glacier; octogenarian lovers; a mother struggling to free her revolutionary son; a yeti who seeks human companionship; a turtle who transforms first into a boat and then a woman; and the ghost of an evaporated ocean as restless as the continents. Binding them all together is a vision of life as vast as the universe itself.
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May 18, 2020
Mysterious Galaxy Signed copies of Network Effect
Mysterious Galaxy is still offering signed copies of Network Effect -- I know there was a glitch in their ordering system that was saying they were out, but the store does have something like 120 copies available, though I'm not sure how many are spoken for. If you still want a signed or personalized copy, it's worth checking, and if the online system tells you they're out, you might try emailing or calling the store.
https://www.mystgalaxy.com/Wells-05-2020
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https://www.mystgalaxy.com/Wells-05-2020
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May 16, 2020
Murderbot Playlist
In the q & a session after my reading at Flights of Foundry, I said I'd post my Murderbot play list, so here it is! This one is primarily for Network Effect
Adventure of a Lifetime - Coldplay
Heart-Shaped Box - Ramin Djawadi
Scream - Michael Jackson
There's Something in the Shadows - Amy Stroup
Best Friend - Sofi Tucker
All Stars (with ALMA) - Martin Solveig
Bottom of the Deep Blue Sea - Missio
We Don't Die - Tricky
Sabotage - Beastie Boys
Warm - SG Lewis
Lullabies (Adventure Club Remix) - Yuna
***
If you want to buy Network Effect in hardcover, here's a list onf independents who have it:
Tubby & Coos New Orleans: http://tubbyandcoos.com/specialorder/
Murder by the Book Houston: https://www.murderbooks.com/book/9781250229861
San Diego, Mysterious Galaxy: https://www.mystgalaxy.com/book/9781250229861
St. Louis, Left Bank Books https://www.left-bank.com/book/9781250229861
Toronto, Bakka Phoenix https://www.bakkaphoenixbooks.com/?q=h.tviewer&using_sb=status&qs=network+effect
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Adventure of a Lifetime - Coldplay
Heart-Shaped Box - Ramin Djawadi
Scream - Michael Jackson
There's Something in the Shadows - Amy Stroup
Best Friend - Sofi Tucker
All Stars (with ALMA) - Martin Solveig
Bottom of the Deep Blue Sea - Missio
We Don't Die - Tricky
Sabotage - Beastie Boys
Warm - SG Lewis
Lullabies (Adventure Club Remix) - Yuna
***
If you want to buy Network Effect in hardcover, here's a list onf independents who have it:
Tubby & Coos New Orleans: http://tubbyandcoos.com/specialorder/
Murder by the Book Houston: https://www.murderbooks.com/book/9781250229861
San Diego, Mysterious Galaxy: https://www.mystgalaxy.com/book/9781250229861
St. Louis, Left Bank Books https://www.left-bank.com/book/9781250229861
Toronto, Bakka Phoenix https://www.bakkaphoenixbooks.com/?q=h.tviewer&using_sb=status&qs=network+effect
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May 14, 2020
New Murderbot Novella April 2021
You can see the cover and announcement here: https://www.denofgeek.com/books/murderbot-diaries-fugitive-telemetry-cover-reveal/
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May 13, 2020
Good News!
So I have some good news! Network Effect is #14 on the New York Times Bestseller List for print & ebook fiction!!!! https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/combined-print-and-e-book-fiction/
Thanks to Lee A. Harris, Irene Gallo, Lauren Anesta, my agent Jennifer Jackson, audiobook narrator Kevin R. Free and everybody at TorDotComPub!!!!!!!
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Thanks to Lee A. Harris, Irene Gallo, Lauren Anesta, my agent Jennifer Jackson, audiobook narrator Kevin R. Free and everybody at TorDotComPub!!!!!!!
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May 12, 2020
Dream Foundry Convention This Weekend
Flights of Foundry is this weekend, May 16-17. It's a free, donation-only, all online SF/F Convention.
https://flights-of-foundry.org/
Guests of honor are Ken Liu, Suzanne Walker, Wendy Xu, Liz Gorinksy, and Andrea Phillips and a bunch of other participants including me.
You do have to register to see the streams, but it's free.
My schedule is:
Saturday, May 16
10:00am CST
Martha Wells - Reading Martha Wells
Sunday, May 17
10:00am CST
Plot & Revision
Victoria Sandbrook • Valerie Valdes • Martha Wells • Meilssa Caruso
4:00pm CST
Scribere Ex Machina: Writing A.I. In Genre Fiction
Kurt Pankau • William Ledbetter • N. R. M. Roshak • Martha Wells • Laurence Brothers
***
Coming up:
* May 12th, 7 PM Central: In conversation with Ann Leckie, author of the Imperial Radch trilogy, at Left Bank Books https://www.left-bank.com/book/9781250229861 https://www.left-bank.com/event/martha-wells-network-effect
* May 13th, 7 PM Pacific: Reading with Mysterious Galaxy https://www.mystgalaxy.com/Wells-05-2020 https://www.facebook.com/mystgalaxybooks/ https://www.mystgalaxy.com/book/9781250229861
Mysterious Galaxy says you can still order signed books, but you may have to call the store because their online ordering is glitchy and says the book is not available even though it actually is.
***
Past events:
You can still see me and N.K. Jemisin here: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/murderbot/register
and me and John Scalzi here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Biheai6iuuo
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https://flights-of-foundry.org/
Guests of honor are Ken Liu, Suzanne Walker, Wendy Xu, Liz Gorinksy, and Andrea Phillips and a bunch of other participants including me.
You do have to register to see the streams, but it's free.
My schedule is:
Saturday, May 16
10:00am CST
Martha Wells - Reading Martha Wells
Sunday, May 17
10:00am CST
Plot & Revision
Victoria Sandbrook • Valerie Valdes • Martha Wells • Meilssa Caruso
4:00pm CST
Scribere Ex Machina: Writing A.I. In Genre Fiction
Kurt Pankau • William Ledbetter • N. R. M. Roshak • Martha Wells • Laurence Brothers
***
Coming up:
* May 12th, 7 PM Central: In conversation with Ann Leckie, author of the Imperial Radch trilogy, at Left Bank Books https://www.left-bank.com/book/9781250229861 https://www.left-bank.com/event/martha-wells-network-effect
* May 13th, 7 PM Pacific: Reading with Mysterious Galaxy https://www.mystgalaxy.com/Wells-05-2020 https://www.facebook.com/mystgalaxybooks/ https://www.mystgalaxy.com/book/9781250229861
Mysterious Galaxy says you can still order signed books, but you may have to call the store because their online ordering is glitchy and says the book is not available even though it actually is.
***
Past events:
You can still see me and N.K. Jemisin here: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/murderbot/register
and me and John Scalzi here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Biheai6iuuo
comments
