Bears and Bearish

I think that I may not have mentioned here that there's a "new" eChapbook up at the Nook and Kindle stores* -- a single story entitled "The Day They Brought the Bears to Belfast," by Sharon Lee.  This story is a reprint; if you have the SRM paper-book Double Vision, you have this story in your possession.

An interesting factoid about this particular story, which was written, it says here, in 2002, is that it was the first story we ever offered on the read-it-and-donate-if-you-like-it model.   I believe it earned a hundred dollars over the four or five months that it was on the web -- less than a penny a word, with less than a fifth of the people who read it (based on page hits -- yes, yes:  I know, but that's what it's based on) donating. 
 
I considered the experiment to have delivered mixed results.  On the one hand, some people had read the story (more, indeed, than would have read the story had I tried to sell it to a magazine, since magazines pretty much don't buy our-or-my stories, and by 2002 I had long since stopped submitting), and some of those had liked it enough to donate.  That total donations hadn't been at the then-pro rate of $0.03/word was. . .disappointing.

Another interesting factoid about "...Bears..." is that it is, of course, a True Story.  But it's also a true story about the First Annual Belfast Bearfest, in Belfast, Maine.  While everything didn't happen Exactly as I Wrote It -- that's the True Story part -- the fact of the Bearfast is true, and some of the bears described in the story were indeed on the streets of Belfast, to the delight of visitors, though, as it came about, not to the delight of all the residents/business owners, some of whom deemed the whole business "undignified."

Steve and I came to the Bears by accident.  My brother-in-law and his wife were just completing their annual trip to Maine, and wanted to meet us for lunch and catch-up before they took off back south, for home.  Based on where they were and where we were, we decided that Belfast made the most sense as a meet-point.

And so we went, all unaware of Bears.

Our first inkling that Something Was Up, was as we entered town.  A strangely shaped shadow drew my eye upward, and there! just over the telephone wires!  Was a bear! in a bi-plane!

I pointed, but just then Steve, who was driving said, "Look! There's a bear on a bicycle!"

There were also lots of people afoot, cameras in play, so our progress down Main Street was slow enough that we got to see quite a number of Bears before arriving at the town landing, the Weathervane, and our highly-bemused relatives.

"Did you know. . .THEY were going to be here?" my sister-in-law asked, pointing at a leather-jacketed bear  wearing a rocket-pack.

"No," I said, "but I'm glad they are."

*  *  *

In other news, I'm not a very good invalid. 

I may have mentioned that we are without fail to turn in Dragon Ship before we leave for Chattacon.  We are, indeed, Very Nearly Finished the book, and I'm really, really looking forward to getting it onto somebody else's desk so that I Never Have To Look At It Again (cue laugh track). 

Faithful auditors of this journal will recall that on Monday I thought it would be fun to roll down an icy hill and sprain my ankle.  I did this thing (so that you! don't! have! to!)  and may reliably report that it isn't nearly as much fun as you might think.  Especially the sprained ankle part, which means a more-or-less permanent residence on the couch, bad leg elevated, while I type on the Leewit.

Now, I adore the Leewit; she's light and portable and I can type rough drafts and blog entries on her all day long without hearing a word of complaint.  What she's no good for at all, however, is doing the last-draft cut-n-pastes, scene rearrangements, and the inevitable etcetera.

Yesterday, Steve gave his Scene to me.  I redlined it whilst reclining on the couch, then, after lunch, I went back to my office, the big screen, and the full-sized keyboard, and keyed in the revisions.  I did not ignore my ankle; I propped it up on a paper box underneath the desk.  And then I went to work for a couple hours.

This proved to be an error.  The ankle swelled up again; the pain, which had backed down, returned with a vengeance, resulting in a very bad night, and?  I still have work to do that must be done at the big desk (The Big Desk), so that's where I'll be, after lunch. 

Who said being a writer wasn't risky and dangerous?

* * *

The near-term schedule is starting to look a little too interesting, but that's balanced by a (for now, at least) lack of projects due in the second half of the year.  Here's what I've got so far:

January 16 -- Dragon Ship (due November 15) turn in
January 17 -- leave for ChattaCon
February 15 -- tax stuff due to accountant
February 17 -- leave for Boskone
March 9 -- talk at Limestone Magnet School
March 15 -- Necessity's Child (due January 15) turn in
March 20? -- turn in short story for Baen website
April 5 -- talk at Rockland Public Library
May 15 -- Trade Secret (due March 15) turn in
May 22-ish -- leave for ConQuesT

. . .we've just been asked by a colleague to participate in a project; not sure of the deadline for that, yet.  Plus, we intend more stories for Splinter Universe, and we're still kicking around the idea of a Kickstarter Project -- obviously, that'll be something for the second half of the year. 

Well.  All I can say is that quitting the day-job was an Inspired Move; I honestly don't know where I'd fit it in.

_______________
*Coming eventually to Smashthing -- note the word "eventually."  The Smashwords translation process is. . .I think "cumbersome and picky" is not an unfair assessment. . .compared to those for Kindle and Nook, which is why the Smashwords edition always goes up last. . .and is sometimes, as now, Very Tardy.

For those paper-oriented folks -- yes, we're still trying to crack the paper book nut; no, we don't have a solution yet; and, unfortunately (see schedule above) don't know when we might have a solution.  There are only so many things we can fit around the edges of edges of other things.

Thank you for your patience.