Journeyman

Right,

besides the spacing problem with Allies I'd lost my checklist of inclusions. You'd think I'd have this down by now: a title page, check; page with copyright and bibliographic information,check; stories, check; barcode and ISBN on cover somewhere, check; ummmm... ummm... oh. Duh!

Right. Since we sell a fair number of chapbooks to retail outlets, and since retail outlets will reach some readers who aren't specifically looking for us when they pick up that odd little booklet...we try to make sure there's an "About The Authors" in each of our chapbooks. After all, we've had a reader tell us they were in a store/at a con somewhere and "I picked up a copy of your latest chapbook with the vague idea that the names sounded familiar...glanced at the about the authors.... and then tingle...BAM! OH, they're still writing! It's THEM!"

So, this will just about fit in Allies. My morning's work...

Sharon Lee and Steve Miller are the celebrated co-authors of the best-selling Liaden Universe® series and have been writing together since the first "Kinzel" stories hit Fantasy Book in the early 1980s. They began work on the first Liaden story in 1984 and have published a dozen novels and several dozen short works in that series alone. Along the way they've become fan favorites at SF conventions from California, USA to Fredericton, Canada, with Guest of Honor and Special Guest appearances at PenguiCon, COSine, AlbaCon, Trinoc*con, ConDuit, MarsCon, PortConMaine, ShevaCon, BaltiCon, SiliCon, Second Life Library, and elsewhere.

They count Meisha Merlin, Ace Books, Phobos, and Buzzy Multimedia among their English language publishers and have several foreign language publishers as well. Their short fiction, written both jointly and singly, has appeared in Absolute Magnitude, Catfantastic, Dreams of Decadence, Fantasy Book, Such a Pretty Face, 3SF, and several incarnations of Amazing.

Their work has enjoyed a number of award nominations, with "Scout's Progress" being selected for the Prism Award for Best Futuristic Romance of 2001 and "Local Custom" finishing second for the same award. "Local Custom" was published by Buzzy Multimedia as an audio book read by Michael Shanks -- StarGate's Daniel. "Balance of Trade," appeared in hardcover in February 2004 and hit Amazon.com genre bestseller lists before going on to win the Hal Clement Award as Best YA Science fiction for the year. Their most recent Liaden novels are "Crystal Soldier" and "Crystal Dragon" -- and as usual they have a book due out in the spring.

Their backgrounds -- Steve was Vice Chair of the Baltimore in 80 WorldCon bid as well as Founding Curator of Science Fiction for the University of Maryland's SF Research Collection, while Sharon has been Executive Director, Vice President, and President of the Science Fiction Writers of America; together they were BPLAN Virtuals, an ebook publisher in the late 1980s -- give them a unique perspective on the science fiction field.

.... and I think this will fit. Just about fit. Bring that font down .5 and maybe it'll fit....sigh. Back to work.

1.0001

First, a thank you to everyone who commented here on my questions about Liaden Universe Companion(R) Volume 1. Great turnout, useful discussion, helpful...

As my partner pointed out, however "comments are hard to quantify. What we need is an official SRM Marketing Poll!" and so she built one and you can visit it and have your feeling quantified if you haven't already. You can also compare your reaction with other people's reaction. Go, Rolanni!

Elsewise, stuff:

I hate getting an earworm that I can't recall all the words to, so I can't really sing along to it. I don't mean Chopin or Bach of course, because I can't sing to them, anyway. I often use earworm music as the base for silly songs I sing to Scrabble while I brush her -- she, like Patia before her, seems to expect this strange habit of mine these days... she visibly relaxes when I sing, especially if I sing her name....and it helps get her brushed, which is *a good thing* for sure. Dadatodah da... ta scrabblecat tadata...

A brief note:

yes, my stepfather is recovering from his recent fall in the driveway in Owings Mills. His eye wasn't cut, though it was a near thing, so his face is merely bruised; and I'm not sure from the descriptions of the cast-and-treatment if it is wrist that is cracked or his arm higher up. At 80 I figure any fall is non-trivial. If you know any good bone-mending recitations, feel free to recite them now.

More...

Last night we got an advance order for Allies from someone I know. I haven't seen this person in...oh... a decade or two. And this is part of what I love about the sf community -- the person I'm thinking of (is not green) is someone I first met through the power of fanzine fandom sometime around 1968 or 1969, I guess, back when I was just getting started in my self-appointed specialty as a book reviewer. Right... I have fannish friends and acquaintances I've known for 40 years and more... and it's a great feeling to open up an email and know that they're still there and that we still have the SFictional community in common, and it gives me hope that someone I first met in person at DisCon II in DC might bump into me at NASFIC 9...30 odd years (some of them very odd) later.

News!

I think I have discovered where (and who) the monster in the ceiling is. The monster in the ceiling (is green) isn't really *in* the ceiling, but Scrabble thinks he is, and so, sometimes, does Mozart. Rolanni seems to think so, too, but she's not here for me to show this wonder to at the moment...

See, we've been having rain and wind, wind and rain. In the midst of this temperate Maine weather Scrabble began dashing down the hall, throwing herself across the bed, and launching herself onto the dresser to leap onto Rolanni's jewelry box and then... stare. Sometimes she not only stares, but she stretches, and with the added height of dresser and jewelry box under her toes she actually touches the ceiling and... the inside of the outside wall near the ceiling. This by way of keeping track of the unseen (is green) monster.

In the night both Scrabble and Mozart could be found on the dresser. I assume they were staring, I know they were reaching and scratching, trying to get at...something.

Our first thought was that we must have chipmunk/squirrel/bluejay/Cthulhu/Shub-Niggurath taking cover from the elements. This is a charming, sleep-inducing idea. Then recalling recent comments from an old (well, not that old) old Mainer Jhetley about the wind pushing water under the shingles and causing things to drip.... which could of course make the cats wish to dash about like mad-cats, charging the roof...

but now I think that's not it, either. It seems that the monster (is evergreen) lives in the middle of the lawn, and sways in the breeze. Just this summer, in fact it has grown to the point where its branch tips intersect -- in windy weather only -- the lines bringing in phone and cable service. Those have attachments on the side of our house right where the bedroom is... at about ceiling height. And, when the branches (is evergreen) sway in the wind the lines move and the various connectors creak and complain.

Thus does science overcome ... back, you there, get away from there, I say, back! Back!

And later today, if I get a chance, I'll be back. I have several photos, taken from my driveway, to share.

Back... Ok, no more fried crickets for you! (Is green)

Dear Friends of Liad and all the ships at sea:

we discover from recent email queries that some Ace editions of the Liaden books are becoming increasingly difficult to find. We have on hand a few copies of most of the Ace editions, and in fact can put together all of two complete extra sets of the more or less current Ace editions,

Agent of Change
Conflict of Honors
Carpe Diem
Plan B
I Dare
Local Custom
Scout's Progress
Balance of Trade

while we have a few more of the other books, the limiting factors are the Prism award-winning books Scout's Progress, of which we have 2 copies beyond the working/author copies we need, and Local Custom, of which we have three.

so should we:

1) let you guys know and accept offers for the set from the regulars in case someone here still needs a complete signed set of the Ace books...

2) or put them on eBay and compete with all the other people who are trying to sell the books at what seem to us to be outrageous prices?

I will mention that in the next few days I will be listing the other books on the SRM website, though I may try some eBay auctions as well. I also have a few extra copies of some of our other books which I'll be listing as direct purchase from the SRM site in the coming days...

Also, we have two unbound/uncut, suitable for custom binding copies of I Dare. Do you think they're eBay items?

Steve