Liaden Universe® InfoDump No. 90

Liaden Universe® InfoDump No. 90
To WorldCon we shall go…

Free Reading! Coupon Offer
1. “Intelligent Design” will be retired from the Baen front page on Monday, August 15, to make way for a brand! new! story! Once it is retired, “Intelligent Design” will be added to the free eBook compilation of front page stories, which can be downloaded here.

2. “Kin Ties” will be available for free reading at Splinter Universe on August 12 (that’s Friday!). To help people who may not have read its elder brother, “Changeling,” we (that’s Steve and Sharon, acting as Pinbeam Books) are offering a more-or-less half-off coupon for the eBook. This coupon is Smashwords-specific. All you need do is go here, choose your preferred format and use coupon code KB93Q (not case sensitive) at checkout. The coupon will expire on August 12 (yep, that’s still Friday).

Bestseller Lists!
1. A friendly bookseller lets us know that Ghost Ship has hit the Bookscan Bestselling SF List for the week of August 1. Which isn’t too bad for a book with a pub date of August 2. 

2. Speaking of Ghost Ship — there’s a nice review at SFRevu

3. Also! The editors at Amazon.com (why does a bookstore have editors? No, on second thought, I don’t want to know) have chosen Ghost Ship for inclusion in their Fall Reading Preview   (http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=br_lf_m_1000535991_grlink_6?ie=UTF8&plgroup=6&docId=1000535991)

4. Even cooler, Uncle Hugo’s has posted its bestsellers for July, with Ghost Ship at the top of the list — but that’s not the cool part. The cool part is that of the 12 bestselling trade editions for July, Lee and Miller books hold 11 spots, cheated — cheated! — of a full house by the presence of Warrior Sheep #1:  The Quest of the Warrior Sheep. (Note to self: Get a copy of Warrior Sheep #1)

5. Proving that mere planetary divides such as oceans and hemispheres mean nothing to those who call deep space home, Ghost Ship appears on the bestseller list at Galaxy Bookstore in Sydney, Australia.

WorldCon or Bust!
1. We (that’s Steve and Sharon) are going to be traveling for a few days, with a WorldCon at the end of it. This means our access to Things Internetly will be limited, first by the conditions of the train and then because we’ll be enjoying the con. So! If you should see Ghost Ship or any other Lee and Miller book or story on a bestseller list, or see a review (Amazon reviews not counting), sing out, do!

2. While we’re traveling (see #2, above) we’ll be keeping in touch somewhat via Twitter and Facebook. To join us on Twitter and share the news: Liaden Universe fans & Friends of Liad at and before the convention should try #liadens for news; @Clankorval is Sharon Lee, @bechimo is Steve Miller.

Twitter may be most useful for non-attendees for catching glimpses of the Worldcon action at Renovation where it looks like several dozen Friends of Liad will be joining the fray for a FoL fan table, parties, FoL breakfast, Lee & Miller kaffeeklatsch, L & M signings, and more. You can check up on the schedules of the intrepid Cat Farm and Confusion Factory contingent by looking over the (ahem) 70 plus page Pocket Program downloadable here.  There are some day rate and at the door memberships still available if you just can’t resist a late decision, or know someone who can make it in your stead.

3. Watch the skies — most WorldCons produce at least one Marvel or Wonder, and some produce both.

But wait, there’s more!
On SATURDAY, August 27, from 2:30 until 4 p.m. Steve and Sharon will be signing Ghost Ship (and other books. Yes, you can bring books you already own to be signed and/or personalized) at UNCLE HUGO’S SCIENCE FICTION BOOKSTORE AT 2864 Chicago Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55407-1320. For more information, check out the Uncle Hugo’s site. A local meal or two with readers and fans is also likely.

Can’t make it to WorldCon?
Lee and Miller will be Guests of Honor at the following upcoming conventions — maybe we’ll see you at:

THE GREAT NEW ENGLAND STEAMPUNK EXPOSITION
September 16-18, 2011
Courtyard Marriott/Central Massachusetts Expo Center
Fitchburg, Massachusetts

http://www.thegreatnewenglandsteampunkexhibition.com/index.html

Steve and Sharon will be Guests at this Steampunk Extravaganza. Other attending luminaries include but are not limited to Abney Park, Phil and Kaja Foglio, and Jake von Slatt.

CHATTACON 37
January 20-22, 2012
Chattanooga Choo Choo
1400 Market St
Chattanooga, TN 37402

http://www.chattacon.org/

Chattacon is a classic southern convention that Steve went to several times in very early incarnations — but hasn’t been back to for more than 30 years! This year coming, as for the last several, the convention will be held at Chattanooga Choo Choo — a train station turned into a hotel — a destination worth a trip all by itself! GOH list includes Steve Miller and Sharon Lee, Laura Anne Gilman, John Picacio – Artist GoH, Rachel Caine – Special Guest, and Mark Van Name – Toastmaster

Support your local bookstore
Uncle Hugo’s: http://www.unclehugo.com/
University Bookstore: http://www.bookstore.washington.edu/services.taf?dept=about&category=loca
Pandemonium Books: http://www.pandemoniumbooks.com/
Missing Volume: http://www.themissingvolume.com/
Borderlands: http://www.borderlands-books.com/
Dream Haven: http://www.dreamhavenbooks.com/
Flights of Fantasy: http://www.fof.net/
Mysterious Galaxy: http://mysteriousgalaxy.booksense.com/
Constellation Books: http://www.constellationbooks.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp
Children’s Book Cellar: http://www.indiebound.org/stores/childrens-book-cellar

All of the above folks do mail order and take want lists.

Blogs and other webly things of note:
Theo_Waitley is the discussion group for readers of Fledgling and Saltation: http://community.livejournal.com/theo_waitley/

Where Dragons Rest: http://community.livejournal.com/liaden_readers/

Steve Miller’s blog, Journeyman: http://kinzel.livejournal.com/

Sharon Lee’s blog, Eagles over the Kennebec: http://rolanni.livejournal.com/

SRM Publisher blog: http://srmpublisher.livejournal.com/

Sharon Lee’s “Professional” blog: http://sharonleewriter.com

Splinter Universe Discussion List: http://splinterverse.livejournal.com

Facebook Connections — please feel free to add us!

http://facebook.com/kinzel — Steve Miller

http://facebook.com/rolanni — Sharon Lee

Liaden Interest Groups on Facebook
Clan Korval: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=38719490864&ref=ts

Friends of Liad: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=16280839259&ref=ts

Flaran chamenthi: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=2213414696&ref=ts

GoodReads
Sharon’s Author Page:http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/57980.Sharon_Lee
*Steve’s on Twitter*: http://twitter.com/bechimo

*Sharon’s on Twitter, too*: http://twitter.com/ClanKorval

DISCLAIMER STUFF
This InfoDump is a product of the Liaden Universe®, accept no imitations. You have received this message because you asked for it. If you wish to subscribe to the Liaden Universe® email list, go: http://www.fireopal.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/liadenuniversenews

Originally published at Sharon Lee, Writer. You can comment here or there.

Appropos of nothing much

In the woods at the edge of a farmland, there lived a wolf. Hunting had been thin of late and his ribs showed through rough fur.

One evening, the wolf was prowling along the edge of the forest, looking, he said to himself, for deer, though in truth he would have settled for a mouse, or even a vole.

In the shadows up ahead, something moved. The wolf’s heart leapt — and fell, because it was no deer that moved toward him out of the dusk, but a sleek brown farm dog, out for a bit of a ramble.

“Well met, cousin!” the dog called to the wolf. “It’s been some time since we’ve talked.”

“So it has,” the wolf said resignedly, as the dog came close.

“Why, cousin, whatever has befallen you?”

“The hunting’s been a little thin,” the wolf said. “It’ll pick up eventually. It always does.”

“Starving can’t be good for you,” the dog scolded. “You know, you can be as well-fed as I am, if you’ll follow my advice.”

Now, generally the wolf didn’t think much of the dog’s intelligence. On the other hand, he could hardly dispute that the dog was in fine shape, while he…might not survive the winter.

So, he made himself humble and he said to the dog, “What must I do?”

“You must bark when a stranger approaches.  You must snarl at beggars, growl at thieves, and fawn on the people who live in the house. Do this, and you will get as much as you can eat, and more, as well as clean hay to sleep in, and a box to keep off the rain.”

This sounded almost too good to be true, and yet, the wolf said to himself, the dog was well-fed.

“To whom should I apply?” he asked, trembling at the thought of so much benefit in return for so little effort.

“Because we are cousins,” the dog said loftily, “I will sponsor you to my master. Come along and I will do so now.”

The wolf fell in beside the dog. They passed out of deep wood shadows into the twilight of the field-edge and there the wolf saw something alarming.

“Cousin!” he cried. “What has happened to you? Your neck — the fur is quite worn away, and the skin is chafed and raw!”

“Oh, that’s nothing,” the dog said. “Don’t mind it.”

“But, what has caused this?” demanded the wolf, thinking perhaps a thief hadn’t cared to be growled at.

“It’s only the mark of my collar,” the dog said, a little sharply. “Where my master fastens the chain.”

“What? Can you not wander as you please?”

“Of course not,” said the dog. “But that’s of no mind. My master lets me off the chain to ramble…quite often.” And he started off again, but the wolf didn’t move.

A few paces out, the dog stopped and looked over his shoulder.

“Well?” he said. “Aren’t you coming?”

“No.” The wolf shook his head. “Not at all. Never.”

And he turned around and ran back into the woods.

Better to starve free than be a fat slave
–Aesop

Originally published at Sharon Lee, Writer. You can comment here or there.