Flowers of Vashnoi spoiler thread
(...and typo reportage zone.)
Since there seem to be some speed readers out there (and the story is short), herewith the promised spoiler discussion space for persons who have already read the story and wish to talk about it with each other.
Have fun, be nice...
Ta, L.
Later: Hm, I observe there seem to be two entries for "The Flowers of Vashnoi" here on Goodreads. They should be combined or collated somehow. No idea how, as I have no idea how they even appear in the first place, but presumably someone must be doing something, somehow.
Later still: The duplication problem seems to have been fixed, with no more effort from me than venting my woes vaguely into the air. It's sort of like magic. Be careful what you wish for...
Pleased, L.
Since there seem to be some speed readers out there (and the story is short), herewith the promised spoiler discussion space for persons who have already read the story and wish to talk about it with each other.
Have fun, be nice...
Ta, L.
Later: Hm, I observe there seem to be two entries for "The Flowers of Vashnoi" here on Goodreads. They should be combined or collated somehow. No idea how, as I have no idea how they even appear in the first place, but presumably someone must be doing something, somehow.
Later still: The duplication problem seems to have been fixed, with no more effort from me than venting my woes vaguely into the air. It's sort of like magic. Be careful what you wish for...
Pleased, L.
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J wrote: "... shouldn’t “...insect smashed under an, oh God, stumpy bare foot” be “...insect smashed under a, oh God, stumpy bare foot"?No, the rule for a vs. an is whether the next word in the sentence-as-it-actually-exists starts with a vowel sound or not. This is a case where if it sounds wrong, it is wrong. (And "a, oh God" definitely sounds wrong to me. So Lois had it right.)
cavyherd wrote: "Hit "~FIN" and: "Yes? And??" So yeah. Totally want more. But we take that as a given, right?I'm curious: you'd said it had "hit the wall and died on impact." What was the wall, and how did it get..."
The wall was a bunch of things: health distractions, another work starting up/finishing -- the was sometime between CVA and GJ&RQ -- but mostly, I felt, "This is starting to turn into "The Mountains of Mourning" in the lowlands. Haven't I already written that once?" So I held out for both some other plot, and some longer plot, neither of which deigned to appear. The story went on strike, instead. Kind of a management-labor dispute. So, as time wore on, I wrote it off as the one thing I'd started and never finished.
Meanwhile, I'd got onto the Penric e-novella experiment, which of course went very well indeed, and gave me more practice at both the length/s and the marketing format. So earlier this spring, thinking I had perhaps been watching anime for a little too long, I was poking at a couple of Penric ideas that refused to sprout, and got to thinking about this tale that was already surely at least half done (3/4ths, it eventually turned out) and how it was doing no one any good sitting on my hard drive. So I started poking at it again, and lifted my self-imposed ban on revisiting the theme. There are writers out there who make their whole careers out of writing the same tale over and over. Surely I should be allowed one...
I made one jab at expanding it by adding viewpoints, at which the story sneered, then also gave up on making it long. (Despite the never-ending review chorus of "It's too short!" every time I put out a novella. That, I have decided, I just need to get used to, like mosquitoes in summer.) I also made several adjustments in the backstory, mainly of Vadim and Ma Roga, most of which never appear on the page but nonetheless closely shaped the possible, and the thing FINALLY finished up.
(Well, plus final edits and contacting Ron for a cover, and writing the vendor-page copy, and a few other chores.)
And now I am back on break.
Ta, L.
Kate wrote: "The 'vaguely illegal' thing is that all of the stores your ebooks are in use their own proprietary DRM that my ereader does not handle (nor do most of the non-Kindles that exist in the world), so I..."...I have the Nook app, on my iPad. Never had a problem accessing content (though i do have to order books through the web portal). Curious what your set up is, such that you express difficulties.
Martha wrote: "J wrote: "... shouldn’t “...insect smashed under an, oh God, stumpy bare foot” be “...insect smashed under a, oh God, stumpy bare foot"?No, the rule for a vs. an is whether the next word in the se..."
Without the sub-clause it would certainly be "a". Perhaps the argument could be worked around like this:
"...insect smashed under, oh God, a stumpy bare foot"
Kosigan wrote: "Without the sub-clause it would certainly be "a"...."Which is irrelevant: you wouldn't use "an blue apron", would you?
Juli wrote: "Kosigan wrote: "Without the sub-clause it would certainly be "a"...."Which is irrelevant: you wouldn't use "an blue apron", would you?"
I'm confused. You seem to be making my point for me, but in a way that makes it sound like you disagree. You wouldn't say "an stumpy foot" would you? And yet, with the sub-clause there, that is precisely what is happening, which does make it relevant.
Perhaps, as with not splitting infinitives (a guideline, not a rule, I know), the indefinite article should not be split from its noun (with optional preceding adjectives).
I'm so glad you found a outlet for these novella's - both ones set in Mile's land and the Pendric series. I'm always happy to give you the price of entry for an hour or two of the joy of a good story. I'll echo others comments and hope for more with Ekaterina, Gregor and other stories set in this universe. I hope that these continue to generate fun ideas in your mind, and enough for your pocketbook to be worth working on.
The sole and only thing relevant to the choice of indefinite article is the starting sound of the following word. Period, end of story. Hypotheticals like removing a phrase or adjective just confuse the matter and are irrelevant. Perhaps I should have used "an stumpy appendage" as my example? You can just as hypothetically remove "stumpy" as "oh God".(Or to approach from a different direction, I agree with your conclusion -- that it should be "an", as written -- but I think your statement about "what would happen if ..." is irrelevant, serving only to confuse the issue.)
Not splitting the article from its noun, as you say, is a guideline, and there's lots of wiggle room, because of varying opinions on what constitutes an allowable preceding modifier. I think the phrasing as written is effective exactly because it stretches the rule: putting "oh God" between the article and the adjective-and-noun emphasises the emotion of the interjection.
And now back to your regularly scheduled non-pedantic activities... :-)
I loved the story, especially with the allusions to Piotr. I found myself thinking about something that Miles (or maybe Aral) said about the insurgants against the Cetagandans using their bastard infants in a terror campaign, and thought maybe the memory of that bothered Piotr more than he let on, hence the decision to look the other way at the informal succour of radiation mutant babies.Also, let me add that I really like the series of novellas that have been appearing at pretty frequent intervals, and it seems like a good way to proceed with stories that might not get written otherwise. Not that I wouldn’t love a new novel that was part of an existing series, or something completely new, if that’s what presents itself to the author. I’ve been reading your writing since the first three Baen paperbacks came out in the eighties, and I trust your judgment.
Chuck wrote: "Also, let me add that I really like the series of novellas that have been appearing at pretty frequent intervals..."Me, too! I'm so glad that Lois is writing them, and I hope she continues to find enough writerly satisfaction in them to continue to create more.
"Channeled his Inner Piotr" suddenly made me wonder just how much of that "Inner Piotr" formed the basis of Miles's "Admiral Naismith" persona. Perhaps the Little Admiral was not so far removed from Vorish origins as I had always thought. (Or as far removed as Miles intended and believed it to be.)
"Channeled his Inner Piotr" suddenly made me wonder just how much of that "Inner Piotr" formed the basis of Miles's "Admiral Naismith" persona. Perhaps the Little Admiral was not so far removed from Vorish origins as I had always thought. (Or as far removed as Miles intended and believed it to be.)
Just to clarify about how books appear... anyone can add a new book. After it's created, only folks with librarian permissions can edit them (which includes merging two entries for the same book). I suspect you have several folks who follow you with that permission (given how popular you are), and one of them dealt with that after reading your post. But if you need something like that done in the future, you can post in one of the librarian groups to get someone's attention quickly.
Should there have been an update file for this, incorporating any corrections that have been made?
Kosigan wrote: "Should there have been an update file for this, incorporating any corrections that have been made?"We haven't made one yet.
(None of the reported errata were too horrifying, so it's slipped down my queue. And now the page proofs for "The Prisoner of Limnos" have dropped on me...)
(Meanwhile, I'd been reading the HarperCollins e-edition of Passage, and was vexed to find a recurrent error where the last sentence in a paragraph of dialogue, following some interjection or stage business, is frequently bounced to a new paragraph, as if the line indicated a new speaker. Aargh. I do not have the endurance to try to get lumbering giant HC to fix this.)
Ta, L.
Beautiful cover for "The Flowers of Vashnoi." I have been a fan since "Shards of Honor", and in fact gave up my name to "poor Vorharopulos", and met you (I think twice) at cons.
So, Can I hope to get a paper copy of of this novella at some time? I have a strange relationship with letters on a page vs e-text.
(Also, I hate Kindle with a passion. Maybe okay for airplanes and beach reading, but unsuitable for savoring/keeping/re-reading.)
Thank you, and of course best wishes for your your health.
Alexandra Haropulos
Whoever: Getting old is not for the faint of heart.
Susan wrote: "Beautiful cover for "The Flowers of Vashnoi." I have been a fan since "Shards of Honor", and in fact gave up my name to "poor Vorharopulos", and met you (I think twice) at cons.
So, Can I hope t..."
Ah, hi! Yes, I do remember you.
Subterranean Press will be doing a deluxe hardcover chapbook of "The Flowers of Vashnoi" in due course. Not real soon -- they still have one more Penric to chew through.
Ditto Blackstone Audio, btw. Due Oct. 23, according to Downpour's website. https://www.downpour.com/the-flowers-...
Ta, L.
Despite the never-ending review chorus of "It's too short!" every time I put out a novella.But at least that means readers want "MOAR PLZ!" right?
Well, if more of that story happens, I for one am here for it.
This is a possible typo for the ebook of Memory, from chapter 6 (page 90 of 463). Should it be Sergeant Bothari? "Strange mercies, Illyan. You kill me so courteously. But he nodded, and stumbled to Illyan’s little lavatory. Illyan followed him to the door; then, apparently deciding he would stay on his feet this time, left him alone. The face in the mirror was indeed unfit to be seen, bloody and ravaged. It was very like the face he had last seen looking back at him the day Sergeant Beatrice had been killed, except about a hundred years older now. Illyan will not shame a great name. Neither should I. He washed carefully, though he failed to get all the bloodstains out of his torn collar and the cream-colored shirt opened under it."
Celtic wrote: "This is a possible typo for the ebook of Memory, from chapter 6 (page 90 of 463). Should it be Sergeant Bothari? "Strange mercies, Illyan. You kill me so courteously. But he nodded, and stumbled t..."
I believe it is indeed intended to be Beatrice, although either doomed sergeant would do. At this range, I don't remember my intent. (I did write it a quarter century ago, eep.)
Ta, L.
Of course, Beatrice from Borders of Infinity! It threw me since I don't think she's ever referred to as Sergeant Beatrice. Thank you. As you say, both are low points for Miles. While Bothari is a much more frequent reference point for his internal monologue, I felt Beatrice's death was infinitely sadder - no complicated mixture of emotions to dull that pain.
I'm curious: you'd said it had "hit the wall and died on impact." What was the wall, and how did it get resurrected?