Martha Wells's Blog, page 64
May 23, 2018
Comicpalooza
On May 25-27, 2018, there's Comicpalooza in Houston, one of the most fun conventions ever. It has celebrity signings, a dealers room and artists alley, a maker faire, usually a big NASA exhibit, gaming, concerts, live entertainment, and a huge list of panel programs and workshops on all kinds of things. https://www.comicpalooza.com/
My schedule is:
Friday
12:30 to 1:30 The Storytelling of Star Wars
Dominick D'Aunno, Martha Wells, Greg Leitich Smith, D.L. Young, K.J. Russell
2:00 to 3:00 Crafting the Perfect Sentence
C.D. Lewis, Seanan McGuire, Joe Lansdale, Martha Wells
Saturday
2:30 to 3:30 Signing at the Murder by the Book booth in Dealers Room
4:30 to 5:30 Worldbuilding for Short Stories, Novelettes, Novellas
Martha Wells, Seanan McGuire, Dantzel Cherry, Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam
Sunday
noon to 1:00 Story Engineering
Martha Wells, Seanan McGuire, Joe Lansdale, D.L. Young
comments
My schedule is:
Friday
12:30 to 1:30 The Storytelling of Star Wars
Dominick D'Aunno, Martha Wells, Greg Leitich Smith, D.L. Young, K.J. Russell
2:00 to 3:00 Crafting the Perfect Sentence
C.D. Lewis, Seanan McGuire, Joe Lansdale, Martha Wells
Saturday
2:30 to 3:30 Signing at the Murder by the Book booth in Dealers Room
4:30 to 5:30 Worldbuilding for Short Stories, Novelettes, Novellas
Martha Wells, Seanan McGuire, Dantzel Cherry, Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam
Sunday
noon to 1:00 Story Engineering
Martha Wells, Seanan McGuire, Joe Lansdale, D.L. Young
comments
May 22, 2018
So I Won A Nebula Award!!!!!
(There's some photos on the tumblr version of this post here:
https://marthawells.tumblr.com/post/174150343537/so-a-pretty-awesome-thing-happened-this-weekend)
So a pretty awesome thing happened this weekend where I won a Nebula Award for Best Novella.
The video here https://www.facebook.com/troyce/videos/10213791184147531/ is on Facebook, and I’m not sure if it’ll play for everybody, but it’s worth a shot.
The toastmaster was Martin P. Robinson, who is Mr. Snuffleupagus on Sesame Street, and it was such a great experience to meet him. I mean, not only did I win a major award, I got to meet a muppeteer and a muppet, and saw a live muppet performance from about five feet away. I can’t describe how awesome this was.
The full video of the entire ceremony is here, though you have to skip forward an hour to the start of the ceremony:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mqNUWHr0lM
comments
https://marthawells.tumblr.com/post/174150343537/so-a-pretty-awesome-thing-happened-this-weekend)
So a pretty awesome thing happened this weekend where I won a Nebula Award for Best Novella.
The video here https://www.facebook.com/troyce/videos/10213791184147531/ is on Facebook, and I’m not sure if it’ll play for everybody, but it’s worth a shot.
The toastmaster was Martin P. Robinson, who is Mr. Snuffleupagus on Sesame Street, and it was such a great experience to meet him. I mean, not only did I win a major award, I got to meet a muppeteer and a muppet, and saw a live muppet performance from about five feet away. I can’t describe how awesome this was.
The full video of the entire ceremony is here, though you have to skip forward an hour to the start of the ceremony:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mqNUWHr0lM
comments
May 14, 2018
NYT Bestseller List for Audio
I have trouble posting photos here, but here it is on Tumblr:
https://marthawells.tumblr.com/post/173901789202/here-is-a-photo-of-the-actual-nyt-bestseller-for
The photo of the actual New York Times Bestseller for Audio list with The Murderbot Diaries: All Systems Red, narrated by Kevin R. Free, at #8!
comments
https://marthawells.tumblr.com/post/173901789202/here-is-a-photo-of-the-actual-nyt-bestseller-for
The photo of the actual New York Times Bestseller for Audio list with The Murderbot Diaries: All Systems Red, narrated by Kevin R. Free, at #8!
comments
Weekend
It was a really good signing on Saturday at Murder by the Book in Houston. The store said there was about 40 people, plus mail orders, and I had a lot of fun. I brought three boxes of cookies and all of them got eaten, which is always a plus. We got their early and had lunch with friends, and wandered around a bit, so it was a long but fun day.
(Usual note: If you read Artificial Condition, or any of my books actually, please consider reviewing it somewhere, like Amazon, GoodReads, etc. It really does help. And if you want to read it at your library, you can recommend they buy it in hardcover or ebook or audiobook. Most libraries have a recommendation form either in paper or on their website. And you may be able to get it through interlibrary loan, too.)
I'll be at the Nebula Awards Conference in Pittsburgh, PA, this weekend since All Systems Red is a finalist in the Best Novella Award.
The full list of finalists is here.
The mass autographing on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 is open to the public, so if you're in the area, come and check it out.
There will be a (free) mass autograph session for attending authors on the Sunday afternoon at 1:00pm. This signing is open to the public as well as to the Nebula Conference attendees.
SFWA will operate an onsite book store that will carry as many of the participating authors’ books as possible.
Sunday, May 20th, 1-3 PM
Pittsburgh Marriott City Center, Grand Ballroom
112 Washington Place
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Comicpalooza
Then on May 25-27, 2018, there's Comicpalooza in Houston, one of the most fun conventions ever. It has celebrity signings, a dealers room and artists alley, a maker faire, usually a big NASA exhibit, gaming, concerts, live entertainment, and a huge list of panel programs and workshops on all kinds of things.
My schedule is:
Friday
12:30 to 1: 30 The Storytelling of Star Wars
Dominick D'Aunno, Martha Wells, Greg Leitich Smith, D.L. Young, K.J. Russell
2:00 to 3:00 Crafting the Perfect Sentence
C.D. Lewis, Seanan McGuire, Joe Lansdale, Martha Wells
Saturday
2:30 to 3:30 Signing at the Murder by the Book booth in Dealers Room
4:30 to 5:30 Worldbuilding for Short Stories, Novelettes, Novellas
Martha Wells, Seanan McGuire, Dantzel Cherry, Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam
Sunday
noon to 1:00 Story Engineering
Martha Wells, Seanan McGuire, Joe Lansdale, D.L. Young
comments
(Usual note: If you read Artificial Condition, or any of my books actually, please consider reviewing it somewhere, like Amazon, GoodReads, etc. It really does help. And if you want to read it at your library, you can recommend they buy it in hardcover or ebook or audiobook. Most libraries have a recommendation form either in paper or on their website. And you may be able to get it through interlibrary loan, too.)
I'll be at the Nebula Awards Conference in Pittsburgh, PA, this weekend since All Systems Red is a finalist in the Best Novella Award.
The full list of finalists is here.
The mass autographing on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 is open to the public, so if you're in the area, come and check it out.
There will be a (free) mass autograph session for attending authors on the Sunday afternoon at 1:00pm. This signing is open to the public as well as to the Nebula Conference attendees.
SFWA will operate an onsite book store that will carry as many of the participating authors’ books as possible.
Sunday, May 20th, 1-3 PM
Pittsburgh Marriott City Center, Grand Ballroom
112 Washington Place
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Comicpalooza
Then on May 25-27, 2018, there's Comicpalooza in Houston, one of the most fun conventions ever. It has celebrity signings, a dealers room and artists alley, a maker faire, usually a big NASA exhibit, gaming, concerts, live entertainment, and a huge list of panel programs and workshops on all kinds of things.
My schedule is:
Friday
12:30 to 1: 30 The Storytelling of Star Wars
Dominick D'Aunno, Martha Wells, Greg Leitich Smith, D.L. Young, K.J. Russell
2:00 to 3:00 Crafting the Perfect Sentence
C.D. Lewis, Seanan McGuire, Joe Lansdale, Martha Wells
Saturday
2:30 to 3:30 Signing at the Murder by the Book booth in Dealers Room
4:30 to 5:30 Worldbuilding for Short Stories, Novelettes, Novellas
Martha Wells, Seanan McGuire, Dantzel Cherry, Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam
Sunday
noon to 1:00 Story Engineering
Martha Wells, Seanan McGuire, Joe Lansdale, D.L. Young
comments
May 9, 2018
New episode of Return to Dominaria
Episode 9 in Return to Dominaria has been posted:
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/return-dominaria-episode-9-2018-05-09
Only three more to go!
(Card art by Eric Deschamps)
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More New Book Recs
(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.)
(I only link to one retail outlet in the book's listing, 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.)
Week 2 of trying to get back to a weekly schedule with these:
* Blood Orbit by K. R. Richardson
Eric Matheson, an idealistic rookie cop trying to break from his powerful family, is plunged into the investigation of a brutal crime in his first weeks on the job in Angra Dastrelas, the corrupt capital city of the corporate-owned planet Gattis. A newcomer to the planet, Matheson is unaware of the danger he's courting when he's promoted in the field to assist the controversial Chief Investigating Forensic Officer, Inspector J. P. Dillal, the planet's first cybernetically enhanced investigator. Coming from a despised ethnic underclass, the brilliant and secretive Dillal seems determined to unravel the crime regardless of the consequences.
* Zero Sum Game by S.L. Huang
Cas Russell is good at math. Scary good. The vector calculus blazing through her head lets her smash through armed men twice her size and dodge every bullet in a gunfight, and she'll take any job for the right price. As far as Cas knows, she’s the only person around with a superpower...until she discovers someone with a power even more dangerous than her own. Someone who can reach directly into people’s minds and twist their brains into Moebius strips. Someone intent on becoming the world’s puppet master.
* Perennial by Mary Anne Mohanraj
Perennial tells the story of Kate Smith, an aspiring artist facing a difficult cancer diagnosis, and Devan McLeod, a flower shop owner.
* The Nector of Nightmares by Craig Laurance Gidney
THE NECTAR OF NIGHTMARES was originally published as chapbook released by Dim Shores. It is a mosaic dark fantasy novelette with original illustrations by Orion Zaranga
* The Sisters Mederos by Patrice Sarath
House Mederos was once the wealthiest merchant family in Port Saint Frey. Now the family is disgraced, impoverished, and humbled by the powerful Merchants Guild. Daughters Yvienne and Tesara Mederos are determined to uncover who was behind their family's downfall and get revenge. But Tesara has a secret – could it have been her wild magic that caused the storm that destroyed the family's merchant fleet? The sisters’ schemes quickly get out of hand – gambling is one thing, but robbing people is another...
* The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising.
* A Study in Honor by Claire O'Dell
Dr. Janet Watson knows firsthand the horrifying cost of a divided nation. While treating broken soldiers on the battlefields of the New Civil War, a sniper’s bullet shattered her arm and ended her career. Honorably discharged and struggling with the semi-functional mechanical arm that replaced the limb she lost, she returns to the nation’s capital, a bleak, edgy city in the throes of a fraught presidential election. Homeless and jobless, Watson is uncertain of the future when she meets another black and queer woman, Sara Holmes, a mysterious yet playfully challenging covert agent who offers the doctor a place to stay.
* Song of Blood and Stone by L. Penelope
Orphaned and alone, Jasminda lives in a land where cold whispers of invasion and war linger on the wind. Jasminda herself is an outcast in her homeland of Elsira, where her gift of Earthsong is feared. When ruthless soldiers seek refuge in her isolated cabin, they bring with them a captive—an injured spy who threatens to steal her heart.
* Dragon Dancer by Joyce Chng
On the eve of Chinese New Year, Yao wakes the ancient sky dragon, Shen Long, from his year-long sleep, propelling Yao on a magical journey through the skies to battle the bad luck of the previous year and usher in the good.
* Short Story The Flight of Morpho Girl by Caroline Spector and Bradley Denton
* Short Story In the Blue Lily's Wake by Aliette de Bodard
comments
(I only link to one retail outlet in the book's listing, 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.)
Week 2 of trying to get back to a weekly schedule with these:
* Blood Orbit by K. R. Richardson
Eric Matheson, an idealistic rookie cop trying to break from his powerful family, is plunged into the investigation of a brutal crime in his first weeks on the job in Angra Dastrelas, the corrupt capital city of the corporate-owned planet Gattis. A newcomer to the planet, Matheson is unaware of the danger he's courting when he's promoted in the field to assist the controversial Chief Investigating Forensic Officer, Inspector J. P. Dillal, the planet's first cybernetically enhanced investigator. Coming from a despised ethnic underclass, the brilliant and secretive Dillal seems determined to unravel the crime regardless of the consequences.
* Zero Sum Game by S.L. Huang
Cas Russell is good at math. Scary good. The vector calculus blazing through her head lets her smash through armed men twice her size and dodge every bullet in a gunfight, and she'll take any job for the right price. As far as Cas knows, she’s the only person around with a superpower...until she discovers someone with a power even more dangerous than her own. Someone who can reach directly into people’s minds and twist their brains into Moebius strips. Someone intent on becoming the world’s puppet master.
* Perennial by Mary Anne Mohanraj
Perennial tells the story of Kate Smith, an aspiring artist facing a difficult cancer diagnosis, and Devan McLeod, a flower shop owner.
* The Nector of Nightmares by Craig Laurance Gidney
THE NECTAR OF NIGHTMARES was originally published as chapbook released by Dim Shores. It is a mosaic dark fantasy novelette with original illustrations by Orion Zaranga
* The Sisters Mederos by Patrice Sarath
House Mederos was once the wealthiest merchant family in Port Saint Frey. Now the family is disgraced, impoverished, and humbled by the powerful Merchants Guild. Daughters Yvienne and Tesara Mederos are determined to uncover who was behind their family's downfall and get revenge. But Tesara has a secret – could it have been her wild magic that caused the storm that destroyed the family's merchant fleet? The sisters’ schemes quickly get out of hand – gambling is one thing, but robbing people is another...
* The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising.
* A Study in Honor by Claire O'Dell
Dr. Janet Watson knows firsthand the horrifying cost of a divided nation. While treating broken soldiers on the battlefields of the New Civil War, a sniper’s bullet shattered her arm and ended her career. Honorably discharged and struggling with the semi-functional mechanical arm that replaced the limb she lost, she returns to the nation’s capital, a bleak, edgy city in the throes of a fraught presidential election. Homeless and jobless, Watson is uncertain of the future when she meets another black and queer woman, Sara Holmes, a mysterious yet playfully challenging covert agent who offers the doctor a place to stay.
* Song of Blood and Stone by L. Penelope
Orphaned and alone, Jasminda lives in a land where cold whispers of invasion and war linger on the wind. Jasminda herself is an outcast in her homeland of Elsira, where her gift of Earthsong is feared. When ruthless soldiers seek refuge in her isolated cabin, they bring with them a captive—an injured spy who threatens to steal her heart.
* Dragon Dancer by Joyce Chng
On the eve of Chinese New Year, Yao wakes the ancient sky dragon, Shen Long, from his year-long sleep, propelling Yao on a magical journey through the skies to battle the bad luck of the previous year and usher in the good.
* Short Story The Flight of Morpho Girl by Caroline Spector and Bradley Denton
* Short Story In the Blue Lily's Wake by Aliette de Bodard
comments
May 8, 2018
Murderbot Day!
Today (May 8, 2018) is Murderbot Day! Artificial Condition, the sequel to Hugo- and Nebula-nominated All Systems Red, is out today in ebook, hardcover, and audiobook, narrated by Kevin R. Free.
(If you would like a signed hardcover, contact Murder by the Book in Houston before Saturday, May 12 https://www.murderbooks.com/event/martha-wells)
Find an excerpt here:
https://marthawells.tumblr.com/post/173704738617/today-may-8-2018-is-murderbot-day-artificial
comments
(If you would like a signed hardcover, contact Murder by the Book in Houston before Saturday, May 12 https://www.murderbooks.com/event/martha-wells)
Find an excerpt here:
https://marthawells.tumblr.com/post/173704738617/today-may-8-2018-is-murderbot-day-artificial
comments
May 6, 2018
State of Me
So The Murderbot Diaries: Artificial Condition comes out Tuesday (5/8/2018) and the signing is this coming Saturday at Murder by the Book in Houston. https://www.murderbooks.com/event/martha-wells
This has been a weird week. I haven't gotten much done, but I figure after finishing Return to Dominaria I need a break. (I've been working on writing or revising it since before Christmas.) (FYI It's here: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/columns/magic-story and eight parts are posted with only four more to go until it's complete.)
In household news, we cleaned out the gutter above the front porch and figured out it must not be level or something because half of it still has standing water. On Friday I was looking at it through the bedroom window, trying to see if it was draining, and fell backward and managed to knock the cat tree over on top of me. I got a little bruised but not really hurt. (Falling on carpeted 50-year-old wooden subfloor is like falling on a trampoline.) But Jack the cat was in the room and for hours I think he was convinced something had come through the window and attacked me. He was afraid of that whole half of the room.
That night we went to the reopening of a restored movie theater in the downtown. It started as a hotel in the late 1880s, became a silent movie theater in the early 1900s, and opened as a regular theater in 1939. (I posted some photos on Facebook but here's the web site: https://www.queenbryantx.com/) It's showing classics mixed with recent movies like Moonlight, Lord of the Rings, etc. Another movie theater across the street from it collapsed several years ago and it's been turned into an open air live music venue.
It's part of a downtown revival program that's been working really well. When I first moved here the downtown was a wasteland of decaying buildings. Now a lot of them have been restored and are filled with locally owned shops, restaurants, a historic restored hotel, music venues. They get so many people for evening events and First Fridays (where they have live music in the streets and local groups have tables and bake sales) that they had to build a parking garage.
Anyway, it's interesting to see the changes. Facebook keeps showing me posts from 2008 -- 2009 when things were going really, really badly in my career. The contrast this year is really freaky. I have a Philip K. Dick Award nomination, an Alex Award, a Nebula Nomination, and two Hugo Nominations, and now as audiobook on the NYT Bestseller list. Just listing that makes me feel weird.
Anyway, that is the state of me today.
comments
This has been a weird week. I haven't gotten much done, but I figure after finishing Return to Dominaria I need a break. (I've been working on writing or revising it since before Christmas.) (FYI It's here: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/columns/magic-story and eight parts are posted with only four more to go until it's complete.)
In household news, we cleaned out the gutter above the front porch and figured out it must not be level or something because half of it still has standing water. On Friday I was looking at it through the bedroom window, trying to see if it was draining, and fell backward and managed to knock the cat tree over on top of me. I got a little bruised but not really hurt. (Falling on carpeted 50-year-old wooden subfloor is like falling on a trampoline.) But Jack the cat was in the room and for hours I think he was convinced something had come through the window and attacked me. He was afraid of that whole half of the room.
That night we went to the reopening of a restored movie theater in the downtown. It started as a hotel in the late 1880s, became a silent movie theater in the early 1900s, and opened as a regular theater in 1939. (I posted some photos on Facebook but here's the web site: https://www.queenbryantx.com/) It's showing classics mixed with recent movies like Moonlight, Lord of the Rings, etc. Another movie theater across the street from it collapsed several years ago and it's been turned into an open air live music venue.
It's part of a downtown revival program that's been working really well. When I first moved here the downtown was a wasteland of decaying buildings. Now a lot of them have been restored and are filled with locally owned shops, restaurants, a historic restored hotel, music venues. They get so many people for evening events and First Fridays (where they have live music in the streets and local groups have tables and bake sales) that they had to build a parking garage.
Anyway, it's interesting to see the changes. Facebook keeps showing me posts from 2008 -- 2009 when things were going really, really badly in my career. The contrast this year is really freaky. I have a Philip K. Dick Award nomination, an Alex Award, a Nebula Nomination, and two Hugo Nominations, and now as audiobook on the NYT Bestseller list. Just listing that makes me feel weird.
Anyway, that is the state of me today.
comments
May 3, 2018
Great News Today!
The Murderbot Diaries: All Systems Red (performed by Kevin R. Free) is on the Audiobook New York Times Bestseller list!
https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/audio-fiction/
comments
https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/audio-fiction/
comments
May 1, 2018
One Week Until New Murderbot Diaries
Artificial Condition, the second novella in The Murderbot Diaries series, will be out in ebook, hardcover, and audiobook on Tuesday May 8.
The audiobook is narrated by Kevin R. Free (
Cover art by Jaime Jones
You can find buying info and an excerpt on my web site here: http://www.marthawells.com/murderbot2.htm
I'll be doing a signing at Murder by the Book in Houston, Texas, on Saturday May 12 at 4:30. If you can be there and would like a signed hardcover you can order it online here: https://www.murderbooks.com/event/martha-wells But hurry, because you have to order it before the signing.
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