Martha Wells's Blog, page 51
June 28, 2019
FYI WorldCon Dublin
If you're going to be near Ireland in August, the 15th-19th, the WorldCon is selling day passes:
https://dublin2019.com/memberships/day-passes/
The passes are discounted for Irish residents (who haven't attended a WorldCon before) and for young adults under 26 years old. But you can't buy the passes at the door on the day, you have to purchase them in advance.
You can also still buy a full membership, which also has a discount for young adults under 26.
comments
https://dublin2019.com/memberships/day-passes/
The passes are discounted for Irish residents (who haven't attended a WorldCon before) and for young adults under 26 years old. But you can't buy the passes at the door on the day, you have to purchase them in advance.
You can also still buy a full membership, which also has a discount for young adults under 26.
comments
June 26, 2019
ArmadilloCon 41
Coming up on August 2-4, 2019, I'll be Special Guest at ArmadilloCon 41 in Austin, Texas.
The major guest line-up is:
Guest of Honor: Rebecca Roanhorse
Toastmaster: Marshall Ryan Maresca
Fan Guest: Dan Tolliver
Editor Guest: Patrice Caldwell
Science Guest: Moriba K. Jah
Special Guest: Martha Wells
http://armadillocon.org/d41/
There will be lots of writers, artists, panels, readings, games, an art show, dealers, and hanging out in the lobby bar. It's a lot of fun and if you're anywhere nearby you should consider attending.
comments
The major guest line-up is:
Guest of Honor: Rebecca Roanhorse
Toastmaster: Marshall Ryan Maresca
Fan Guest: Dan Tolliver
Editor Guest: Patrice Caldwell
Science Guest: Moriba K. Jah
Special Guest: Martha Wells
http://armadillocon.org/d41/
There will be lots of writers, artists, panels, readings, games, an art show, dealers, and hanging out in the lobby bar. It's a lot of fun and if you're anywhere nearby you should consider attending.
comments
The Writer's Book of Doubt
Yesterday I got my contributor's copy of The Writer's Book of Doubt, by Aidan Doyle and illustrated by Kathleen Jennings.
Impostor syndrome. Thinking that your writing sucks. Feeling targeted by the rejection cannon. Despairing that no one is ever going to read your stories. Lost in Submissionland. Overwhelmed by radioactive brain weasels. The Writer’s Book of Doubt contains practical advice and inspiration for dealing with the problems of the writing life.
Here it is with Max doing his first cat with book shot: https://twitter.com/marthawells1/status/1143557134778535936
I have a short essay in the book along with a bunch of other cool writers:
With essays from: Aliette de Bodard, Delilah S. Dawson, Kate Dylan, Malon Edwards, Meg Elison, Kate Elliott, Lauren Herschel, S.L. Huang, Crystal Huff, Kameron Hurley, Matthew Kressel, R.F. Kuang, Fonda Lee, R. Lemberg, Likhain, Jeannette Ng, A. Merc Rustad, Mary Swangin, Bogi Takács, E. Catherine Tobler, Martha Wells, and Isabel Yap.
It comes out July in paperback and ebook, and preorder info is here:
https://www.aidandoyle.net/books/the-writers-book-of-doubt/
comments
Impostor syndrome. Thinking that your writing sucks. Feeling targeted by the rejection cannon. Despairing that no one is ever going to read your stories. Lost in Submissionland. Overwhelmed by radioactive brain weasels. The Writer’s Book of Doubt contains practical advice and inspiration for dealing with the problems of the writing life.
Here it is with Max doing his first cat with book shot: https://twitter.com/marthawells1/status/1143557134778535936
I have a short essay in the book along with a bunch of other cool writers:
With essays from: Aliette de Bodard, Delilah S. Dawson, Kate Dylan, Malon Edwards, Meg Elison, Kate Elliott, Lauren Herschel, S.L. Huang, Crystal Huff, Kameron Hurley, Matthew Kressel, R.F. Kuang, Fonda Lee, R. Lemberg, Likhain, Jeannette Ng, A. Merc Rustad, Mary Swangin, Bogi Takács, E. Catherine Tobler, Martha Wells, and Isabel Yap.
It comes out July in paperback and ebook, and preorder info is here:
https://www.aidandoyle.net/books/the-writers-book-of-doubt/
comments
June 25, 2019
Weekend at the ALA Report
This past Friday I got up at 4:00 am to fly to Washington DC for the American Library Association Conference. I haven't been to Washington since I was a kid, so this was a lot of fun, plus I love the ALA.
This is a huge event, for publishers, libraries, and companies that cater to libraries. There are free books, a lot of free books, either in piles for the taking or in booths where you request them and see if the publishers have copies to give away. There are tons of book signings where they give you more free books. There are library equipment vendors doing book sorting machine demos and handing out free coffee and tea and pastries and occasionally alcohol. (Booklist was giving out Bloody Marys on Sunday morning.)
I got to the hotel around 1:00 and went out to lunch at Capital Burger with my friend who is the curator of the SF/F collection at Cushing Memorial Library and Archives at TAMU. Then I basically napped until 7:00 when it was time for a publisher dinner with the Tor people, the other authors and the librarians from the Agency, Consent, and Power in SF/F panel (scheduled for the next day).
We went to Oyamel, which is one of Jose Andres' restaurants. On the way there, we passed Ford's Theater and I thought, hah, that as the same name as... Oh, right, it is that one.
At Oyamel the food was so good, I can't even describe it. We got a multi-course sampler menu, which included incredible guacamole, salads, pork belly tacos, beef ribs slow-cooked for 18 hours, shrimp, tuna ceviche, tamales, tres leches cake and a chocolate with passionflower desert. Andres also does molecular gastronomy and I had a salt cloud margarita, where a cloud of salt sits on top of it so you get just a hint of it salt every time you drink, and it doesn't dissolve in and make the margarita too salty. It was so delicious I had two.
We staggered out of there around 11:00, and went back to the hotel, and I actually slept pretty good, which is unusual for me on the first day of a conference.
Saturday was the big day for me. I had a signing at the Tor/Forge booth in the exhibit hall. They had 100 copies of the Murderbot books to give away free. Basically the way the book signings work is that people come by the booth and pick up tickets, then get in line. (That way you don't stand in line for an hour and then find out they ran out of books.)
https://twitter.com/marthawells1/status/1143588357357940736
The exhibit hall is huge and packed, especially around the publisher areas, and so the people working the booths have to use signs and try to keep their line organized. I had a big line which was awesome and it didn't really slow down up until around over half the books had been given out. Then people realized there was a signing going on with no line and started making a line again. The last book went about three minutes before I was supposed to stop signing, so it worked out great.
Then I walked around the exhibit hall some, and found some free books, and ran into my friend who is the map curator for Cushing. We were going to meet for lunch later and decided to just go now. The convention center was like a giant crowded labyrinth and we felt like we would probably never find each other again except by accident. We took an uber a little distance away and ended up eating at a nice Greek place near Ford's Theater, next to the house where Lincoln died. Then we came back and went through the graphic novel and game area and got more cool free stuff.
Then I went back to the hotel to drop off my free stuff and rest before the panel, then came back. By pure luck I had seen the room it was going to be held in when we were trying to find our way back to the exhibit hall after lunch so I was able to retrace my steps and get there in time.
https://twitter.com/marthawells1/status/1142523047712296960
As you can see from the photo, there were about 225 people there. The other panelists were Malka Older, Sarah Gailey, and John Scalzi. The topic was Agency, Consent, and Power in SF. Everyone in the audience was given a tote bag with a book from each of us and then after the panel we signed them, so the whole this went from about 4:00 to after 5:30.
(https://twitter.com/marthawells1/status/1142558390897520641 They had large posterboards of our book covers.)
Then I went back to the hotel to collapse for a bit. There was another dinner that night with more Tor authors, and it was a lot of fun getting to talk to everyone. Plus I managed to order too much food and felt bad I couldn't finish it.
Got up the next morning, and since I was leaving in the afternoon, packed my stuff and checked it at the bellstand. I went back over to the exhibit hall and picked up a few more books and got to see Dr. Hayden doing a photo op at the Library of Congress exhibit. Then we did our panel at the PopTop (popular topics) stage in the exhibit hall.
https://twitter.com/marthawells1/status/1143581394964291584
On the panel were me, Sarah Gailey, Malka Older, and Arkady Martine, with John Scalzi moderating. It only lasted about a half hour but I thought it went very well, and the people seemed to like it. Then we did a free book signing again for the audience.
Then I said goodbye to everyone and went off to lunch with Caitlin Starling at a Cuba brunch place which was both delicious and beautifully decorated. We came back, and while waiting for the crosswalk, saw a taxi cab pull out in front of an ambulance and almost cause a massive wreck. There was a slight reluctance to cross the street at that point, but we made it. I went back to the hotel and saw someone had collapsed and was waiting for a stretcher in front of the bellstand.
(I love the ALA, but it's kind of exhausting for everybody. It's so huge, and spreads over the entire convention center and dozens of hotels and a shuttle bus system to get around, and there's a lot of walking on very hard floors, even though the booths often put down extra carpet.)
On the ride to the airport we drove past the Washington Monument and the African American Museum, which is way bigger and more gorgeous even than it looks in photos.
Then I got to the airport to find out my second flight was canceled and I was going to have to spend the night in Dallas. So I got my husband to call the DFW airport hotel and managed to get a reservation for the last available room for that night, which was a huge relief. So I didn't get home until Monday morning.
(A ton of flights were canceled due to weather. The hotel was the happiest Hyatt in the land, because everyone was just so obviously relieved to be in it and not sleeping on the airport floor. It was literally like a big party in there. And the hotel was handing out toothbrushes and etc. because most people had ended up there with no luggage.)
comments
This is a huge event, for publishers, libraries, and companies that cater to libraries. There are free books, a lot of free books, either in piles for the taking or in booths where you request them and see if the publishers have copies to give away. There are tons of book signings where they give you more free books. There are library equipment vendors doing book sorting machine demos and handing out free coffee and tea and pastries and occasionally alcohol. (Booklist was giving out Bloody Marys on Sunday morning.)
I got to the hotel around 1:00 and went out to lunch at Capital Burger with my friend who is the curator of the SF/F collection at Cushing Memorial Library and Archives at TAMU. Then I basically napped until 7:00 when it was time for a publisher dinner with the Tor people, the other authors and the librarians from the Agency, Consent, and Power in SF/F panel (scheduled for the next day).
We went to Oyamel, which is one of Jose Andres' restaurants. On the way there, we passed Ford's Theater and I thought, hah, that as the same name as... Oh, right, it is that one.
At Oyamel the food was so good, I can't even describe it. We got a multi-course sampler menu, which included incredible guacamole, salads, pork belly tacos, beef ribs slow-cooked for 18 hours, shrimp, tuna ceviche, tamales, tres leches cake and a chocolate with passionflower desert. Andres also does molecular gastronomy and I had a salt cloud margarita, where a cloud of salt sits on top of it so you get just a hint of it salt every time you drink, and it doesn't dissolve in and make the margarita too salty. It was so delicious I had two.
We staggered out of there around 11:00, and went back to the hotel, and I actually slept pretty good, which is unusual for me on the first day of a conference.
Saturday was the big day for me. I had a signing at the Tor/Forge booth in the exhibit hall. They had 100 copies of the Murderbot books to give away free. Basically the way the book signings work is that people come by the booth and pick up tickets, then get in line. (That way you don't stand in line for an hour and then find out they ran out of books.)
https://twitter.com/marthawells1/status/1143588357357940736
The exhibit hall is huge and packed, especially around the publisher areas, and so the people working the booths have to use signs and try to keep their line organized. I had a big line which was awesome and it didn't really slow down up until around over half the books had been given out. Then people realized there was a signing going on with no line and started making a line again. The last book went about three minutes before I was supposed to stop signing, so it worked out great.
Then I walked around the exhibit hall some, and found some free books, and ran into my friend who is the map curator for Cushing. We were going to meet for lunch later and decided to just go now. The convention center was like a giant crowded labyrinth and we felt like we would probably never find each other again except by accident. We took an uber a little distance away and ended up eating at a nice Greek place near Ford's Theater, next to the house where Lincoln died. Then we came back and went through the graphic novel and game area and got more cool free stuff.
Then I went back to the hotel to drop off my free stuff and rest before the panel, then came back. By pure luck I had seen the room it was going to be held in when we were trying to find our way back to the exhibit hall after lunch so I was able to retrace my steps and get there in time.
https://twitter.com/marthawells1/status/1142523047712296960
As you can see from the photo, there were about 225 people there. The other panelists were Malka Older, Sarah Gailey, and John Scalzi. The topic was Agency, Consent, and Power in SF. Everyone in the audience was given a tote bag with a book from each of us and then after the panel we signed them, so the whole this went from about 4:00 to after 5:30.
(https://twitter.com/marthawells1/status/1142558390897520641 They had large posterboards of our book covers.)
Then I went back to the hotel to collapse for a bit. There was another dinner that night with more Tor authors, and it was a lot of fun getting to talk to everyone. Plus I managed to order too much food and felt bad I couldn't finish it.
Got up the next morning, and since I was leaving in the afternoon, packed my stuff and checked it at the bellstand. I went back over to the exhibit hall and picked up a few more books and got to see Dr. Hayden doing a photo op at the Library of Congress exhibit. Then we did our panel at the PopTop (popular topics) stage in the exhibit hall.
https://twitter.com/marthawells1/status/1143581394964291584
On the panel were me, Sarah Gailey, Malka Older, and Arkady Martine, with John Scalzi moderating. It only lasted about a half hour but I thought it went very well, and the people seemed to like it. Then we did a free book signing again for the audience.
Then I said goodbye to everyone and went off to lunch with Caitlin Starling at a Cuba brunch place which was both delicious and beautifully decorated. We came back, and while waiting for the crosswalk, saw a taxi cab pull out in front of an ambulance and almost cause a massive wreck. There was a slight reluctance to cross the street at that point, but we made it. I went back to the hotel and saw someone had collapsed and was waiting for a stretcher in front of the bellstand.
(I love the ALA, but it's kind of exhausting for everybody. It's so huge, and spreads over the entire convention center and dozens of hotels and a shuttle bus system to get around, and there's a lot of walking on very hard floors, even though the booths often put down extra carpet.)
On the ride to the airport we drove past the Washington Monument and the African American Museum, which is way bigger and more gorgeous even than it looks in photos.
Then I got to the airport to find out my second flight was canceled and I was going to have to spend the night in Dallas. So I got my husband to call the DFW airport hotel and managed to get a reservation for the last available room for that night, which was a huge relief. So I didn't get home until Monday morning.
(A ton of flights were canceled due to weather. The hotel was the happiest Hyatt in the land, because everyone was just so obviously relieved to be in it and not sleeping on the airport floor. It was literally like a big party in there. And the hotel was handing out toothbrushes and etc. because most people had ended up there with no luggage.)
comments
June 18, 2019
comments
June 17, 2019
ALA Schedule
I'll be at the American Library Association Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. next weekend. https://2019.alaannual.org/
Saturday
10:00 to 11:00 I'll be signing at the Tor.com booth in the Exhibit Hall
4:00 to 5:00 Agency, Consent, and Power in Science Fiction and Fantasy in 146B
with Sarah Gailey, Malka Older, John Scalzi, Martha Wells
There will be a signing afterward.
Science Fiction and Fantasy has always held a mirror up to nature and continues to explore themes that resonate in contemporary society. As our current culture grapples with issues such sexual assault, bodily autonomy, classism, racism, and consolidation of power, both political and economic, science fiction and fantasy writers have been responding with works that illuminate our current situation. By creating new worlds to set their stories, these authors are able to present trenchant contemporary issues as metaphor, which can make it easier for ideas to be debated and discussed and even subversively change people’s minds.
Sunday
11:00 to 11:50 Spotlight on Science Fiction and Fantasy in the Exhibit Hall, Poptop Stage
with Martha Wells, Malka Older, Sarah Gailey, and Arkady Martine. John Scalzi will moderate.
https://www.eventscribe.com/2019/ALA-Annual/fsPopup.asp?Mode=presenterInfo&PresenterID=668635
comments
Saturday
10:00 to 11:00 I'll be signing at the Tor.com booth in the Exhibit Hall
4:00 to 5:00 Agency, Consent, and Power in Science Fiction and Fantasy in 146B
with Sarah Gailey, Malka Older, John Scalzi, Martha Wells
There will be a signing afterward.
Science Fiction and Fantasy has always held a mirror up to nature and continues to explore themes that resonate in contemporary society. As our current culture grapples with issues such sexual assault, bodily autonomy, classism, racism, and consolidation of power, both political and economic, science fiction and fantasy writers have been responding with works that illuminate our current situation. By creating new worlds to set their stories, these authors are able to present trenchant contemporary issues as metaphor, which can make it easier for ideas to be debated and discussed and even subversively change people’s minds.
Sunday
11:00 to 11:50 Spotlight on Science Fiction and Fantasy in the Exhibit Hall, Poptop Stage
with Martha Wells, Malka Older, Sarah Gailey, and Arkady Martine. John Scalzi will moderate.
https://www.eventscribe.com/2019/ALA-Annual/fsPopup.asp?Mode=presenterInfo&PresenterID=668635
comments
June 11, 2019
Signal Boost
Hey, if possible, my friend Tara O'Shea could use some help. https://www.gofundme.com/tarafundmk2
She's also looking for work doing publication design, ebook conversion, cover design and illustration, publicity materials, copy-proofing, and editorial services for publishers or self-pubbed authors.
comments
She's also looking for work doing publication design, ebook conversion, cover design and illustration, publicity materials, copy-proofing, and editorial services for publishers or self-pubbed authors.
comments
June 6, 2019
Book Recs
A few book recs. I'm trying to get back to doing this on a regular basis:
* Unraveling by Karen Lord
Dr. Miranda Ecouvo, forensic therapist of the City, just helped put a serial killer behind bars. But she soon discovers that her investigation into seven unusual murders is not yet complete. A near-death experience throws her out of time and into a realm of labyrinths and spirits. There, she encounters brothers Chance and the Trickster, who have an otherworldly interest in the seemingly mundane crimes from her files. It appears the true mastermind behind the murders is still on the loose, chasing a myth to achieve immortality. Together, Miranda, Chance, and the Trickster must travel through conjured mazes, following threads of memory to locate the shadowy killer.
* The Fire Opal Mechanism by Fran Wilde
Jewels and their lapidaries and have all but passed into myth. Jorit, broke and branded a thief, just wants to escape the Far Reaches for something better. Ania, a rumpled librarian, is trying to protect her books from the Pressmen, who value knowledge but none of the humanity that generates it. When they stumble upon a mysterious clock powered by an ancient jewel, they may discover secrets in the past that will change the future forever.
* Far From Home: Peter and Ned's Ultimate Travel Journal by Preeti Chhibber
Peter Parker's off to Europe with his classmates from school! How does Spider-Man stay one step ahead of the bad guys while on the road, while keeping his identity a secret?
* Audiobook Echo in Onyx by Sharon Shinn
Brianna loves her new job as maid to Lady Marguerite. Like many high nobles, Marguerite is attended by echoes, silent creatures who look exactly like her and move in perfect synchronicity. News soon comes that Marguerite has been invited to the royal city as a potential bride for the crown prince. Brianna is delighted to accompany Marguerite to the city - and perhaps get a chance to continue her own flirtation with Nico, one of the king's inquisitors. Then, disaster strikes on the road when they come under attack. The brutal assault forces Marguerite and Brianna to concoct a desperate plan. Their subterfuge just might work - but only if Brianna can keep Nico from learning the truth. And only if Marguerite can give up her own secret, doomed romance.
Also, The Cloud Roads, the first in The Books of the Raksura series, is being reissued in mass market paperback in November, and you can preorder it here:
* https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-cloud-roads-martha-wells/1130887140?ean=9781949102185
* https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781949102185
* https://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Roads-One-Books-Raksura/dp/1949102181/
Bundles:
* Humble Bundle: Science Fiction by Start: https://www.humblebundle.com/books/science-fiction-start-books (The first three Raksura books are included in this bundle)
* Story Bundle: https://storybundle.com/pride The LGBT+ Fantasy Bundle, curated by Melissa Scott
comments
* Unraveling by Karen Lord
Dr. Miranda Ecouvo, forensic therapist of the City, just helped put a serial killer behind bars. But she soon discovers that her investigation into seven unusual murders is not yet complete. A near-death experience throws her out of time and into a realm of labyrinths and spirits. There, she encounters brothers Chance and the Trickster, who have an otherworldly interest in the seemingly mundane crimes from her files. It appears the true mastermind behind the murders is still on the loose, chasing a myth to achieve immortality. Together, Miranda, Chance, and the Trickster must travel through conjured mazes, following threads of memory to locate the shadowy killer.
* The Fire Opal Mechanism by Fran Wilde
Jewels and their lapidaries and have all but passed into myth. Jorit, broke and branded a thief, just wants to escape the Far Reaches for something better. Ania, a rumpled librarian, is trying to protect her books from the Pressmen, who value knowledge but none of the humanity that generates it. When they stumble upon a mysterious clock powered by an ancient jewel, they may discover secrets in the past that will change the future forever.
* Far From Home: Peter and Ned's Ultimate Travel Journal by Preeti Chhibber
Peter Parker's off to Europe with his classmates from school! How does Spider-Man stay one step ahead of the bad guys while on the road, while keeping his identity a secret?
* Audiobook Echo in Onyx by Sharon Shinn
Brianna loves her new job as maid to Lady Marguerite. Like many high nobles, Marguerite is attended by echoes, silent creatures who look exactly like her and move in perfect synchronicity. News soon comes that Marguerite has been invited to the royal city as a potential bride for the crown prince. Brianna is delighted to accompany Marguerite to the city - and perhaps get a chance to continue her own flirtation with Nico, one of the king's inquisitors. Then, disaster strikes on the road when they come under attack. The brutal assault forces Marguerite and Brianna to concoct a desperate plan. Their subterfuge just might work - but only if Brianna can keep Nico from learning the truth. And only if Marguerite can give up her own secret, doomed romance.
Also, The Cloud Roads, the first in The Books of the Raksura series, is being reissued in mass market paperback in November, and you can preorder it here:
* https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-cloud-roads-martha-wells/1130887140?ean=9781949102185
* https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781949102185
* https://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Roads-One-Books-Raksura/dp/1949102181/
Bundles:
* Humble Bundle: Science Fiction by Start: https://www.humblebundle.com/books/science-fiction-start-books (The first three Raksura books are included in this bundle)
* Story Bundle: https://storybundle.com/pride The LGBT+ Fantasy Bundle, curated by Melissa Scott
comments
June 4, 2019
Upcoming LIbrary Event
On Saturday, June 15 at 2:00 I'll be doing an author event at the Clara B. Mounce Public Library (in Bryan, Texas) where I'll talk about The Murderbot Diaries and Network Effect
https://tockify.com/bcslibrary/detail/2814/1560625200000
comments
https://tockify.com/bcslibrary/detail/2814/1560625200000
comments
June 3, 2019
Worldbuilding Magazine
There's an interview with me in Worldbuilding Magazine, the June issue on Gender and Relationships.
comments
comments
