Help Sharon and Steve Figure Some Stuff Out

[rolanni]

[Poll #1447477]

Comments

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

That's a wild stab guess at how old I was when I read Conflict of Honors, I'm not sure, but it has to be at least 6 years ago.

I used to do both renfaires and SCA events but I don't anymore.

[katmoonshaker.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, and I just turned 48 last Wednesday... we're off to habatchi tonight... muahahahahahahahaha (gotta love kids going to their dad's for the weekend)! I only know that I will not be the designated driver. ::weg::

PS I worked at Davis-Kidd Booksellers in Nashville, TN for three years before my knees went out running the Young Readers, Young Adult, & Science Fiction sections. I only had Conflict of Honors until I ran across some friends who had the other two which I begged to be allowed to borrow. Once the MM copies came out I grabbed them up and now have everything everything which I've read & reread and don't let out of the house but insist others get Their Own Copies. I'm now corrupting... ah... encouraging my children to read them.

Conventionaly speaking

[bookmobiler.livejournal.com]

The majority of my working life has been and still is in retail.
I get to WORK weekends. :(
May be one of these years at Boskone

[6-penny.livejournal.com]

I'd fill it out if I could access it.
The first book of yours I read was the S F Book Club issue...whenever that was.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

I first noticed you when "Plan B is now in effect!" showed up over and over in your .sigs on Usenet. I think at that time the first books were unobtainable; I bought them when reissued by a Publisher We Shall Not Name. (And enjoyed them, and *then* bought Plan B.)

[lagilman]

I have single-handedly gone through five copies of AGENT OF CHANGE because nobody ever gives 'em back...

[readinggeek451]

I don't work in either publishing or bookselling, but I am a librarian.

[patknuth.livejournal.com]

I goofed in my googling. The Nebula Awards were in Kansas City in 2002, not 2001.

[kalimeg.livejournal.com]

I used to do bookselling, but no longer do. I still freelance proofread occasionally.

I used to do SCA and RenFest, but no longer.

I addicted both Adam R and Martha B to the Liaden books, plus random others. Hey, it's what booksellers do.

[cailleuch.livejournal.com]

I guessed at when I read the first book. I own a copy of the original printing of Agent of Change because I recognized the cover when you were doing the auction. Visual memory! I think I bought it used. It now resides in the great library (boxes of books) in my wreck room downstairs.

I used to be the person in charge of production (design, typeset, proof, print & repair press) for a small magazine. I guess that would be yes to publishing. For the last twenty years I've been teaching 3D computer animation.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

I cry foul! You didn't say that answers would be tagged with names!

[grassrose.livejournal.com]

DANG IT! I went and checked the pub date of Agent of Change, figured all that, then blithely typed in "Carpe Diem" as the first book I read. That should have read "Agent of Change," of course.

[ariaflame.livejournal.com]

That's what 'detailed results viewable to: All' means.

[adina-atl.livejournal.com]

I work about twenty hours a year (yes, year, not month or week) for a book publisher, but I don't think that counts.

I found Conflict of Honors at an Air Force bookstore in Okinawa, Japan the day before I was supposed to fly to the U.S. I meant to read it on the plane, but finished it that night. And then I re-read and re-read it all the way across the Pacific.

[rdmasters.livejournal.com]

I had to answer both Yes and No to "Friends in the same age cohort", as the age spread of our friends is up to +-20 years.

It was the Baen eBook edition that got me hooked, back when it first appeared. What amazed me was that I had not heard of any of them before, as I used to be a ras-f(w) regular both before and after the Great Divide.

[(Anonymous)]

2. 33 (in 1988)
a. Agent of Change
b. yes, if an opening arises.
3. yes
a. yes - depending on con and my travel schedule
b. SCA - no, Renfaire - yes, several times each season, when I lived in Maryland
c. some, but not many.
d. commercial publishing - no.
e. no, but I would like to sometime.
f. N/a

Brom

[(Anonymous)]

1 69; 2 Whatever age would be for date of first Del Rey Agent of Change (I loaned that copy and never got it back); 3 Agent of Change; 4 Yes; 5 Yes; 6 No; 7 No; 8 No; 9 No (though I did authoring, editing, supervising of printers for scietific books, papers, and maps at various times over 30 years; 10 No.
Sidney

[ariaflame.livejournal.com]

Well it depends on what you mean by age cohort certainly. My definitions are fairly broad.

Carpe Diem I picked up second hand. I can't remember how now. Later I got given a book voucher, remembered it and picked up some more of the books. After that I was hooked and got the rest when I was able.

I'm fairly sure this was after I was part owner of a SF&F bookshop otherwise it would have been easier for me to obtain them.

[pedanther]

Context for one of my answers: I don't recommend anybody's books to other people, generally. My interpersonal interactions just don't roll that way, for some reason.

[ledav.livejournal.com]

Hah! I bet between the two of us we bought both copies they had in stock! I got Agent of Change, Carpe Diem and Conflict of Honor at the Kadena Base exchange book store also!

[pedanther]

I answered "Yes", because it felt right. Looking at the answers, I note that none of my friends who have answered this are really close to me in age, but it still feels right. Maybe we're all about the same age on the inside?

[pakwa26.livejournal.com]

Damn. Missed the poll. Lessee... 47, 41, Scout's Progress, Yes, Yes, No, No, No. Something else? 2003 should have been a good year for sales for you guys, I can see by the backs of my books that a very intensive period of purchasing and reading went on then. Also, I don't lend books anymore, it's waaaaaaaaaay too hard to get them back (especially these ones. I had to beg my S-I-L to get Scout's Progress back).

[adina-atl.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow! When? I bought mine before Carpe Diem was published, so August or September of 1987 or 1988? (I was leaving for college.) That store had the most pitiful collection of SF--or rather books in general--so it was a miracle finding anything readable, let alone that great.

[missingvolume.livejournal.com]

I just recently lent out the audio book to someone to hook them since they listing to a ton of audios.

[(Anonymous)]

1. 54 years
2. 45 years
3. "Balance of Trade" from SciFi Book Club
4. Yes!
5. Yes
6. No cons
7. No fairs, altho I know some who do
8. No
9. No, but I'm the Director of a public library
10. Yes, both
11. Flights of Fantasy, Albany, NY
12. Bought Liad books and donated them to my library. Not many of my immediate patrons read SciFi, but I'm always excited to see your books go out on interlibrary loan!

Cathy C

[amm-me.livejournal.com]

My book-crazy librarian buddy pointed out the first three Del Rey paperbacks to me in Lone Star Books and Comics in Arlington, TX and said, "Those are really good." I guess I read Agent of Change first.

My answers in the poll about my friends is somewhat deceptive, as I go out very little and don't have many friends, so don't fantasize hordes of fiftysomethings I'm turning on to Lee and Miller. But I'm working on my cousin.

[ledav.livejournal.com]

I was there at that time from '87 to '91. I was only a kid though about 12 when I first bought Agent of Change. Wow blast from the past!

[keristor.livejournal.com]

I started reading the Liaden books (in order, I actually managed to buy all 6 of the first ones -- AoC, CoH, SH, LC, PB, ID) -- at the same bookshop at the same time!), some time after ID was published (2001) and before BoT was published (2004), so my "what age" answer is an informed guess. It's not drasticaly far out anyway.

Re. the SCA: I used to be a member, 1988 to 1991; I have been a member of the Far Isles (which used to be SCA originally but then broke off); I have been to a lot of events in the past (including Pennsic in 1989) but now rarely get to any events of either FI or SCA. We don't have RenFaires (or anything really much like them) in the UK. Make of that mess what you will...

Re. "Are your friends more or less in your age cohort": my friends range from early 20s to around 60 (possibly some a tad outside that range), so I ticked both boxes because they are both more and less in my age cohort. (If I had a cohort: I don't even have the minimum of 300 soldiers.) Also I tend to consider most fans to be around the same age as I consider myself, which is somewhere around late 20s / early 30s (i.e. somewhere vaguely post-university, regardless of whether they've done Higher Education or not, it doesn't seen to make much difference) unless they force an awareness of the difference (for instance by admitting that they hadn't even born when the Apollo programme ended!), so by my reckoning they are all near enough the same age.

Poll

[(Anonymous)]

I would have use the poll if I’d been able to figure out how to.
Just call me a follower of General Ludd.

# 1 61 Terran Years
# 2 54 Terran Years
Partners in Necessity
Yes
#3 The cohorts gleaming in purple are my own age.
The cohorts gleaming in gold are mostly younger.
# 4 I used to. I haven’t for years.
# 5 Re. the SCA, see answer # 6
Re. Renaissance Fairs, see answer # 6
# 6 Yes (Parenthetically, “My friends don’t read”? Are you guys kidding?)
# 7 No
# 8 No

Comment: I used to be much involved in Science Fiction Fandom, the SCA, and—via the SCA—the Patterson’s Renaissance Fairs. And, once, a fair set in the days of Gloriana’s daddy, Great Harry VIII. Only two of those cohorts involved “The sheen of their spears like stars on the sea.”

Re: Poll

[pedanther]

I think you have to be logged in to LiveJournal to answer a poll, even when it says "Open to: All".

the great book question

[(Anonymous)]

I'm 25, I was maybe 15 when I found Agent of Change in my high school library. I then found and bought the original edition in a used book store.
I do encourage others to read your books.
My friends are generally in my age range.
I attend neither conventions nor SCA events/RenFaires.
My freinds do read SF/F.
I don't work in the publishing/bookselling industry.
I have never met either Sharon or Steve.
Annemarie S

[keristor.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly. I don't actually think much about the 'real' age of my friends, I just regard them as "about the same age as me" (unless they comment about not being born when Apollo finished, or about being adult when Sputnik was launched, which rather gives it away). "The same age on the inside" describes it nicely.

[damara.livejournal.com]

I read Agent of Change, Conflict of Honors and Carpe Diem very close together... and got most upset when there was no fourth book. Took years before I found more Liaden stuff but I kept looking.

And I am really glad I did. As are four or five of my friends. Heck, my Mom even has read the novels. :)

[debmats.livejournal.com]

I just realized that I put the wrong age again. I'm still 48!

Re:pushing your books? For Valentine's Day, I sent out copies of Partners in Necessity to 5-6 friends... And then they sent out copies. =)

[hairmonger.livejournal.com]

I found Agent of Change on the shelf of a bookstore when it was first published, bought it, read it that night, and went back the next day for the other two. Then I waited. And waited. I thought you all had died! The relief when I found Plan B was enormous. Thanks for your perseverance.

Mary Anne in Kentucky