Journeyman

It has been a hectic couple days and so far today we can say:

Kin Ties is up. That's a new Liaden Universe story on user-supported Splinter Universe. All you folks who have lists of free stories on the web should check out http://splinteruniverse.com, thanks.

We've decided which car to take to the train station.

Coffee is made.

We have suggestions for several good places to eat in Chicago.

I'm going to do a close-up recheck on the lily count, which from the dry deck shows 2 and a tangle.

The cats are watching the suitcases and piles with ... caution.

Lots on the list for today -- but more coffee and breakfast comes next.

PS ... why doesn't LJ know how to spell Liaden Universe by now? After all, you can find it in Wikipedia...

Yes, I'm still working on Dragon Ship. Some days major progress, sometimes Theo or Bechimo dig heels in and we don't go quite so far. Still, we slog forward on our memtrek, yessir.

I'm still on Second Life, but in throes of busy summer I'm not getting in often. Will try to do better.

As mentioned on twitter -- well, heck, here's the tweet, as sent from the Bechimo account this morning:

1/2 way to my goal, THX! Clarion West Write-a-Thon fundraiser, need another $299. Support Dragon Ship & my blog,too! http://clarionwest.net/events/writeathon/SteveMiller

In re the Write-a-Thon, there's still time, I suspect, for an extra writer to join in --and readers, after you give me some support (heh)... you can always wander about and add some for the rest of the great writers taking part, or just send the cost of a single Pinbeambooks.com ebook ($2.99) or more to the Clarion West folks to help out. I mean this: without Clarion West there's a very good chance there would not have been a Liaden Universe story arc for you guys to read! The next best thing may be written by someone you help here!

On other fronts, plans are moving forward for WorldCon, and the Lee & Miller part in it. As luck has it, there *will be* a Friends of Liad table at ReNovation! Go team! Now the question is, what do we need to have at the table? So far, it looks like ... Friends of liad (We have several volunteers so far) ... and paperstuff and a banner.

So, for the table:

Lists of Liaden books, and chapbooks, and the like. Maybe a bibliography. Maybe some of the stuff that was being put together for that Guide could be brought up to spec in pieces. How about pronunciations(?) Gah, well, that pronunciation stuff may depend on time at this end. Cards/paper with the room number of the FoL party. Maybe some overview of the Second Life presence that various FoL folks have. Ah ... a card with contact info for FoL mailing list, our blogs, the Lee & Miller twitter accts, the Facebook groups. Display books (and chapbooks if we have any left by then) ... If I can get it working maybe we can have a slideshow photoscreen of various Liaden book and story art.

Srsly, who has other ideas on this -- we have barely 4 weeks to go before we board the train, and we can't do all of it the last Friday before we go. Also, if you'll be in the area but aren't up to joining WorldCon this late in the game, we'll try get the room numbers for the FoL party out to folks somehow. These are usually busy-but-quiet parties, low-key, and a refuge from the hurly-burly of bidding parties. Yes, the FoL party usually rocks -- comfortably.

Oh, and that banner. I need someone more or less in the area or who will be at the con to receive some shipments from me: we still have one of the banners here but one has gone missing -- do *you* have a Friends of Liad banner rolled up in a mailing tube somewhere? One for the room might be nice if it can be found.

And elsewise: www.pinbeambooks.com has been a success so far -- for example, at one point TimeRags II was one of the top 100 poetry books in amazon's ranking of US poetry available on the Kindle (Sigh, OK. think we sold 4 or 5 copies that day, but still.....) We're also looking around to see what else we might do to bring the all-ebooks, all-the-time folks into the Liaden Universe tent.

Oh, and too, we're going to be part of another really special ebook thing, RSN -- copywriters are sharpening their quills even as I type -- one that may get mucho attention when it breaks. Names you know will be involved, yessir!

And, so I can get back to Theo, who has to face thiz leedle problem that came via pinbeam late last night, and which may involve a certain favor not yet invoked.... to do that, a summary summery wrap-up and renotification of stuff:

1: story goes forth

2: you can help me meet my personal support goals for Clarion West, which did wonders for me, thx.

3: WorldCon is on track, and us via Amtrak to it -- and and so, I ask if you have ideas for the Friends of Liad who will be there, or for the FoL table, or for the FoL parties, or wish to help out in person, or help with other FoL events (we'll be having some kind of FoL event to go along with the Post WorldCon signing in Minneapolis, for example) ... Volunteer, offer, help, give advice -- thanx.

4: www.pinbeambooks.com is up and running, as is the new kid on the block, Splinter Universe, which is a direct product of Sharon preparing for a long summer vacation -- with luck one that will last for years. That's at www.splinteruniverse.com in case you haven't been there.

5: Have fun. We hope to see you in person sometime in the next short while. If i forgot something, which usually do, I'll include it down the road.

I haven't mentioned this recently, but in this well-connected (or perhaps over connected!) world it bears repeating: I'm probably not ignoring you on purpose --or at all-- if I fail to reply to something you've posted online, or mailed to me. In part it's that I'm stretched thin, and in part it is that, given the number of places people can send me notes, letters, emails, and comments, I may simply not have had time to read what you wrote -- or time to understand that this wasn't simply a *comment* you had for me, but something you expected an answer to, right now or RSN.

The thing is, over time, I've met a lot of people online and offline, as a fan and as a writer and sometimes as reviewer . Alas, people tend to think that since we've met once, or corresponded once, I have as clear a memory of them as they do of me. I wish this could be  true -- and in many cases it is. But in lots of cases (say you asked me a question from the audience while I was on a panel at ArtKane or TorCon or one of the several hundred other conventions I've been to) it isn't true.  Yes, we've interacted, and possibly I'll recall your face, but forgive me, my mind is far from infinite.  Harder, just because you've read my words or story it doesn't mean you've met me -- you've experienced the voice of the story and not necessarily my own voice or ideas. Miri pulls the trigger easier than I do.

Also, there are some kinds of things I tend not to reply to, out of policy.  If you *tell me* what story or novel I must write next, or what detail I must fit in, forgive me, but I won't likely reply.  There's a chance that scene, idea, or what have you is already incorporated into what we're working on, just as there's a chance we've already rejected it. if you insist on telling me these things I *must do* multiple times -- or if you already have -- chances are I won't see your note. Yes, I have filtering software and I'm not afraid to use it!

Now, you can tell me you'd like to see a story about such-and-so, or including more of whoever.  That's cool, and we take that into consideration when time permits.  But to say you need us to produce a particular story at a particular time? No. Only editors and agents (and co-authors, of course!) get to do this.  Additionally, over the years I and we  --the Lee and Miller we -- have been constrained at time by contracts and by copyright. So, no, we cannot just zip off the second book in the Beneath Strange Skies series as much as Jerel may deserve it, just as we may have an editorial direction to let Jethri sit on his pile of old-tech awhile longer, or prior contracts that mean something else gets written first.

Please note: really, this is serious special stuff, pay attention here! If you write to to tell me you know, in detail, what the plot of our next book should be, I'll urge you to please hold that letter and take your keyboard in hand and write your own story, create your own universe, answer that need yourself -- and not in a hazy fanfic, but in the full-fledged realization of your inner plotmonster. Now, I've been living with my plotmonster since 1962 or so (that'd be about when I *finished* my first self-generated, non-school driven story on paper) and it must play. If you have a plotmonster, let it play in a fresh space, and not where some line in a story you've never read (I've had a few million words published  for pay since 1968 -- have you read them all?) means it can't be done without trashing something.

So, yep, I get busy with life, and with stories, and with having a dozen or more venues where my attention is demanded. If I don't reply today, it most likely isn't on purpose. The world is too much with us.

Ticky box alert! Poll on Best Liaden novel ever: http://rolanni.livejournal.com/541254.html Ticky box alert! Tell your friends!

Seriously -- I tweeted the above to all 24 or 25 of my followers, but that won't go far, so you can help, especially if you're on LJ or Baen's bar or a mailing list, or even off in rec.arts.sf.written ...  If you're on other groups that talk about Liaden stuff, let them know about this poll if you would.
Not only is there a ticky box part, but there's an essay portion if you're so inclined!

Thanks from both of us!

Steve
(and for Sharon)

Section One --

Among the questions we are most frequently asked at conventions and in email is -- "Where is the best place for me to buy your book -- for you as an author?"

The answer is: yes. Buy my book.

Now, it is true that we do not get a cut of used book sales, so we'd prefer new sales to used -- but if you can't afford to buy a new book we'd rather you read our books than not.  Historically we've had a lot of support from genre shops -- you'll see us name quite a few over time, especially appended to our Liaden Universe(R) Infodumps -- so go to your local independent store or genre shop and ask for our books there. You can even tell them all about our books if they don't already know.  This week coming, if you're close enough to do it comfortably -- you can buy our books at Children's Book Cellar in Waterville, ME -- where we will be reading and signing on Friday afternoon into the evening.  But really, in general, the answer is yes. Convention dealers may cost you more than Barnes and Noble or Amazon.com .. but in theory we should be getting the same royalty for a sale, either way. it may take us longer to get the royalty for some places than others -- but please, that's not really your concern as a supportive reader. The other hand is that as writers we've also had far more success with amazon than a lot of folks, in part because when we'd been out of print for so long many of the "regular" bookstores forgot about us while Amazon.com had a clear record -- people were buying our books new and used when they could find them ... and when Plan B came out and ran to #42 on the Amazon list one Sunday a few years back, they took note -- in fact I think nearly half the first year's sales of Plan B were through Amazon.

For the moment -- you  can help by requesting Fledgling and by telling your friends about Fledgling -- this is effectively the start of the new story arc, and it would be good to get as many people onboard now as we can. Tell your library, tell your friends and local SF club, and do mention us to the folks standing beside you in the bookstore, yessir. Word of mouth can be the key. heck -- you can even mention Fledgling in your own blog, or on your facebook wall ... and if you are on facebook, look for the liaden interest groups!

Section Two --

I should point out that we do have some of our books for sale at srmpublisher.com -- but not Fledgling or Saltation. In a few weeks we may find we have some "extra" copies of Fledgling leftover form our pre-order mailings, but watch for that news here or in Sharon's blog...but if you want other Lee & Miller stuff, be sure to visit http://www.srmpublisher.com, where sometime this week Misfits should be in stock.  Our printer is struggling with equipment and the chapbooks did NOT arrive last week as we expected.

Section Three --

Sometimes you have to read *something* that doesn't come from Lee & Miller. No, srsly!

So I see that Jim Hines has a new fantasy just out --   The Mermaid's Madness
http://www.amazon.com/Mermaids-Madness-PRINCESS-NOVELS/dp/0756405831/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254831251&sr=1-3

... and I'm not sure that you'll think of the Little Mermaid quite the same after you read it....


And so does the inimitable Laura Anne Gilman have a new fantasy --

http://www.amazon.com/Flesh-Fire-Book-One-Vineart/dp/1439101418/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254832441&sr=1-5

I have a special taste for Laura Anne's Flesh and Fire ... which deals with the magic of wine. Yessir!

Section Four --

About coming travels: no, we must skip Albacon this year -- we've got a reading and signing in Waterville on Friday evening and getting to
and from Albany takes 6 hours, so we'd have about 12 hours at the con on the weekend, plus gas bills... sorry folks.

After that, we're still not sure if Sharon will make Boskone in February, though I expect to ... again, the matter is travel time. If Sharon can finagle an extra Friday off... maybe. If not, the next time we'll travel together to a con may well be Oasis, where we'll be Guests of Honor in May in Orlando, and then to Duckon, where we'll be in June in Naperville. I note that Scott Raun, long tiome Friend of Liad, is Fan Guest of Honor at Duckon, so we're hoping for a good turnout of the mid-country Friends of Liad ... For that matter, we'll see if the Deep South Friends of Liad who've been after us for years to come their way think Florida is *too south* for them ... please understand that Sharon uses up her vacation time from the college to travel to these cons so that her "vacation" next year will consist of two Guest of Honor gigs and a visit to Raleigh for NASFIC -- so having our long time readers and supporters show up in force to join us at breakfast and help us party at night is really useful in terms of our relaxing.

Section Five --

See above re travel. Since we have to work out Sharon's absence from the college, if you know a convention thinking about us for a GoH slot for 2011, now is not too soon to discuss it seriously.  We expect to get to Renovation, (Worldcon 2011 http://www.renovationsf.org/) so... think around that. Places we haven't been GoH include the pacific Northwest, Canada (yes, we did attend InConsequential, Anticipation, Torcon 3 and other nearby events), the lower Midwest ... and we haven't been GoH in California since the late 1980s. Yep, got to keep time in mind since we'll travel there by train for most places over a 10 or 15 hour drive, and to some closer.

Section Six ---
whoa, do something fun, right now -- this is far too long a post for a pretty morning like today!

Liaden news arrives soon.