The Prodigal Blogger

Last night I finally sent off version 2.0 of Inexplicables, which means holy shit, look at this: A blog post! I've been more or less offline (save the occasional tweet) for the last week, making a fierce final push to clean up that story and hand it over to my impossibly patient editor Liz - and long may her praises be sung.

So now that's done, and I have a moment to breathe. Not a day, not an hour. But a moment, and I'll take it - thank you very much. Shorter projects have been queuing up while I wasn't looking, and a handful of smaller deadlines are looming in the next few months; but this is wholly manageable, and not nearly as much pressure as fixing something I broke last year.

I feel like now my New Year can begin ... now that I've gotten the last of the overdue 2011 business off my plate. I'm not playing catch-up anymore. Now I only have to keep my head above water. More or less.
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And now I will roundup some recent immodest links. As you do.
George R. R. Martin's Hugo recs - Because I have exactly zero shame, that's why. Also, he's brilliant - and you should listen to him. On all matters. Except possibly football. [:: ducks the inevitable GRRM-thrown shoe ::]

The Steampunk Scholar is here for your audio book needs - All of them. Forever. Seriously, it's one hell of a list - and my books make the cut, so *whew* for that...

Speaking of steampunk: This is "Steampunk Girl" - A fun song about a steampunk girl named Cherie who goes to school and writes a book. For the record, it's not about me ... but John is a friend, and we'd chatted about this ages ago. I'm just tickled that he finally put it out there.

Best Steampunk Stories reviews Boneshaker - I love it when people recommend this book as an intro to steampunk, mostly because so many people still insist that it isn't steampunk - what with it being set in America and all.

Tales to Tide You Over reviews it too - And I also love it when people talk about there being a "twist" at the end. I had no idea there was a twist at the end when I wrote it.

Chicks With Crossbows reviews Hellbent - CWC says I'm "urbane, sharp and downright brilliant," oh wait. No. They're talking about the protagonist. *sigh*

The incomparable Jess Nevins urges a steampunk rethink - A great piece by a dear friend who - full disclosure for the lazy clickers - quotes me a bit. But don't read the comments. Here there be nerdfights and woe. And possibly monsters.