Eagles Over the Kennebec

Have updated the Correct Reading Order page to include Dragon in Exile, which will be published in June.

Today's Baen Free Radio Hour features an interview with Sharon Lee (hey, that's me!) talking with Baen editor and podmaster Tony Daniel about Carousel Seas, and!  Chapter 39 of Larry Correia's Hard Magic, as read by Bronson Pinchot.   Here's your link.

We here in Central Maine are currently trembling under the weight of a Winter Storm Watch.  The weatherbeans are calling 5-8 inches of snowfall Saturday night, with a delicate inch or two of ice added on Sunday.  We are Charging All The Things and hoping that the power stays on.

In celebration of the Storm Watch, I went into town today to perform Necessary Errands, and to leave the cover art for Dragon in Exile in the capable hands of Amy Cyrway at the Framemakers.  If it's possible for anyone to be more excited about this art than Steve and me, then that person would be Amy.

Speaking of the Dragon in Exile cover art, Long-time and Always Intrepid Friend of Liad Mike Barker has worked out the kanji on the sign below the red dragon.  He tells me it reads "dragon dwelling in exile," which is so cool, I may still swoon.  But not before I ask if there is anyone in the studio audience, or perhaps someone playing along at home who reads Arabic.  Because I'd really like to know if the letters over the red door to Miri's right can be deciphered.

In other news, the Big Pile of Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries that I ordered before Christmas have arrived.  Seven books, no waiting.  That'll keep me busy for a while.  Especially since I'm, yanno, supposed to be writing a book.

We're looking at getting back to this whole writing thing on Monday.  Five weeks of being ill kind of took a sledgehammer to the writing schedule, the house schedule, the sleep schedule, and all the other schedules, with the possible exception of the cat-feeding schedule, though I vaguely recall Scrabble putting me on notice that she was considering filing a Formal Complaint.

It'll be exciting, getting everything all lined up again. Honestly, you wouldn't think, to look at us, that there were any schedules.  Just goes to show. . .something.

Everybody have a great weekend.

So, we taught Steve's doctor a new phrase today, "con crud."

That was after we rose early, after a very restless night, and I said to Steve, "You look worse than you did last night when we went to bed.  Should you call the doctor?"  and Steve said to me, "I think I'm going to call the doctor."

Phone call made, we were given a gratifyingly quick appointment with the Actual Doctor, who ordered a blood test which he admitted probably wasn't needed, but he's a conservative fellow, and prescribed cough medicine and rest.

So, that's the order of the day for at least half of the Lee-Miller Household.  I'm feeling much better than yesterday, myself (no headache.  MAN, I hate headaches.), but, with Steve's example before me, will try to weave some rest into the remainder of the day.

In other news, the FINAL final cover for Dragon in Exile was waiting in my inbox this morning, with a nice note from David Mattingly.  This is a full wrap cover, which means the scene starts on the front of the book and finishes up on the back.  I think it's gorgeous, and am pleased to see a nod to the very first cover to grace Agent of Change (art by Stephen Hickman).

For those who collect art, David is making a limited number of prints of this cover available.  If you're interested, write to him at davidATdavidmattinglyDOTcom

Here's the art:

. . .and that's that.

Yesterday, after having ourselves Spoken early at the polls, we decided to make a day of it, since a day doing Something was better than a day spent obsessively checking the news.  We therefore had breakfast at Governor's before hitting the interstate and heading south, the mp3 player jacked into Kineo's sound system so we didn't have to listen to any more political ads.

I have learned that Kineo the Wonder Subaru will pop a discreet warning light when I have 75 miles left on my current tank of gas, which is good to know.  The range for the  tank is about 500 miles.  Which is not only good to know, but downright amazing.

Once we were actually in the South, we did some scoping out of the Sanford-Springvale-Rochester NH megaplex, had a nice, light lunch at Green Tea and come home by way of Wells and Kennebunkport.  I tried to get a photo of the seals on the rocky island off of Wells Beach, but -- no luck.

For congoing folk:  Remember that Lee and Miller will be Principal Speakers at PhilCon.   We will not only be giving a speech -- which is a thing I do but rarely, so you know you want to hear this one -- but we will -- rather, our traveling companions will be hosting a Teddy Bear Tea* on Saturday, November 22 at 11 a.m.  Coffee, tea, cookies will be served, so bring your favorite stuffed animal to share an hour of refinement, relaxation and camaraderie.

Even if you don't like tea, or plushies, do plan on coming to PhilCon.  Artist GOH this year is Bob Eggleton; Special Guest is Kyle Cassidy.  In addition, dozens of other writers, and artists will be present.  There will be readings! panels! a dealers room full of all kinds of Amazing Stuff! and an art show to die for.

Really, you can't miss this.

In Dragon in Exile news, there had been two requests.

One for a blurb/synopsis of the book.  Here's that link (thanks to Chris Meadows for finding it).

Two for information about the availability of limited edition prints of the Dragon in Exile cover.  I wrote to Mr. Mattingly and he says that there will be prints available when he's through with the final painting (Dragon in Exile will have a wrap-around cover, and he needs to finish up what will become the back panel).  When complete, the prints will be 13x19, formatted horizontally.  He estimates that he'll be done with the final in two weeks.  If you'd like a print, you can write directly to David Mattingly at:  davidATdavidmattinglyDOTcom.

. . .and I think that's all the news that's fit to print.

______________

*Not limited to Teddy Bears, all plushy friends are welcome.  Among the attendees of the Teddy Bear Tea at PenguiCon was a pink plush triangle wearing sunglasses.

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Progress on Alliance of Equals
16,310/100,000 OR 16.31% Complete

Now, on Liad, they would say: There are fifty High Houses.

Now, on Liad, they would say: A Dragon does not change its nature.

This was the scene of debauchery we discovered in our living room, yesterday afternoon:

This morning, we slept in somewhat, in celebration of the fact that tomorrow heralds the return of The Schedule.  Steve made us asparagus omelets with hollandaise sauce for breakfast, after which I retired to the couch to elevate my foot and finish the book I was reading.  Those tasks now accomplished, I will turn my attention toward speech-writing, and laundry-finishing, as Steve has dealt with the dishes.

For those playing along at home -- we've gotten feedback from a fan on Dragon on Exile, which I reproduce here:  "Wow."

So, that's coming in June 2015.

. . .and I think that's all the news that's fit to print.

I finished the Ultimating of Dragon in Exile in the wee hours of the morning. For those playing along at home, the word count stands at 127,690  -- or! 128% complete.

Today, I'll print out and Steve will read the book from "The. . ."  all the way to "own."  We are, just a smidge, ahead of schedule.

This timing is actually going to work well, because among yesterday's treasures was a call from our real estate agent, telling us that we need to vacate the house this afternoon so that it can be shown.  So!  This morning -- straighten the house and print out the manuscript.  This evening -- um?  Scrabble?  Rummy?  My Neighbor Tortoro?  Tomorrow -- we're scheduled to look at two houses in town in the afternoon, around which errands Steve will read the manuscript and I will read. . .something else.  After he finishes his read, I will fix any problems he has identified, or -- if it is a Perfect Manuscript, which is, of course, Exactly What We Expect(tm) -- I'll simply make sure things are spelled correctly, convert the manuscript to .doc and email it to Madame the Editor.

Whereupon there will be MUCH rejoicing.

Remember that the Birthday Planning Challenge to win a free! audio! edition! of Carousel Sun by Sharon Lee (hey, that's me!) is still going on.  Rules and entry forms HERE. Thanks to everyone who has entered so far; you guys think I'm some kind of adventurous.

And now?  I need to refill my coffee cup and turn on the Cat Eating Machine.

As I drink my first cup of coffee on this lowering and damp Saturday morning, 66% of Dragon in Exile's Penultimate Manuscript is Ultimate. This is down from yesterday evening's report to Facebook of 68%, because Steve needed to tweak the Last Missing Scene, and tweaking added words.  The Penultimate Manuscript, then -- and always realizing that this is a Fluid Thing -- stands at 125,000 words.  It is equally possible, in the upcoming process, that we will lose or gain words.  Occasionally, the word count at the end of the last edit remains exactly the same, but the specific words have all been altered.

In any case, I have 34% or about 36,000 words/190 pages of Penultimate Draft to transform into Ultimate Draft.  The 83,000 words that lie behind me had been pretty well gone over, and over, and over, so progress was swift.  The ones that lie ahead -- not so much with the polishing.  Expect progress to slow.

The final draft is due to Madame the Editor on Monday, September 15, and we're still well on track to meet that deadline.

For those playing along at home, I have heard from the Top Secret Office at Nook Press, which assures me that they are looking into the non-payment problem.  So, that.

And I think that's all I've got. Writers are boring when they're on deadline. . .

So!  What're you doing this weekend that's fun?

One of my friends reminded me that Labor Day is a day when we don't work.

But, yanno?

Historically, Labor Day has been a day when I do work, if by "working" we mean "writing," because the day-job was closed, which meant I had all day to write.

So, I'm a little sorry that I slept the whole Labor Day aspect of the weekend, because it's good to celebrate our own history, and the times that made us who we are.

In writing news, no the penultimate draft is not yet done.  Today, perhaps.

And, apropos of nothing much, save something, somewhere flashed across my radar, and I believe we ought to talk about these things, and not hide them in the corner. . .

A couple weeks ago, Robin Williams died after a long battle with a deadly disease, depression.

Think about that for a minute.  If that last word had been "cancer" or "diabetes" or "ALS" or Insert Your Favorite Killer Disease Here, people would have been praising his life, calling him a "fighter" and "courageous" and "an inspiration."  But the commentary about Williams' death is (mostly) about how he wimped out, how he had "wasted" those years still on his dance card, how he had somehow failed to seek the help that would have saved his life, accompanied by exhortations to those of us who also suffer from the same long-term disease to "get help."

Now, here's the thing.  As I understand it, Robin Williams did seek help for his disease.  He stopped self-medicating with alcohol and drugs; he entered rehabilitation; he sought therapy -- and by these methods he managed to control his disease, until, in the way of Killer Diseases, one day it was stronger than he was, and he died.

To say that Robin Williams "failed" because he finally, after a long fight, succumbed to his disease is like blaming a cancer patient for dying after the tumors outrun the radiation.

So, that.

Here today at the Cat Farm and Confusion Factory, on September 1, which is simultaneously Scrabble's twelfth birthday, and Labor Day --  it is hot and humid, almost a Baltimore day.  We have closed up the windows and turned on the portable air conditioner and the ceiling fans.  The cats have melted in various tried and tested melting spots, most of them on top of things -- file cabinets; bookcase; cat tree -- and the writers are at their desks.

It would be a nice day for a picnic at the lake -- and I hope that at least some of y'all are enjoying that gift.

* * *

Progress on Dragon in Exile

116,600/100,000 OR 116.6% complete

"What," he asked, staring at the screens, "is that?"

"Looks like a cruise ship to me," second board said, which he might have known she would do. 

"Yes, he said patiently, "but what is it doing in orbit around Surebleak?"

"Maybe they need ice."

So, yesterday I drove Kineo to Augusta, to, in fact, Charlie's Subaru, in order to have Routine Maintenance done.

This may not sound like much of an adventure.  To fully understand how very adventuresome it was as an undertaking, you need to recall -- or be told -- that All of Maine is tearing up the roads.  Not only is this the normal and usual Summer Road Construction, but various town are installing gas lines, so additional roads are being torn up for that purpose.  In Waterville on any given day, all of the East-West roads may be closed, forcing one to drive through the towns abutting in order to get from one side of the city to the other.  This meant, among other things, that I had to choose my route to I95 with care.  My information was that the town, or the gas company, had finished with tearing up River Road, so I went that way, and picked up the expressway in Sidney.

For a wonder, the segment of the expressway from Sidney to Augusta was not under construction, so I didn't get into real trouble until I reached Western Avenue, which is being Thoroughly Torn Up, and the turn into Charlie's service area.

This is an important turn on a busy road, and in Rational Times, commands its own turn lane, and its own light.  And a sign on the wire that supports the traffic control devices, which says:

LEFT TURN ON GREEN ARROW ONLY

Except, someone, in their infinite wisdom, had wrapped about four hundred yards of black construction plastic all around the Left Turn device, meaning that there was no legal way to get into the service area, except to drive down into Manchester, and turn around.

Ahead of me, the traffic coming from Manchester stretched for miles (it's a long hill; you can actually see for miles), packed like sardines.

I hesitated, wondering WTF?, and in my moment of hesitation an approaching truck stopped and flashed his headlights twice.  I seized the day, waved, and made the (illegal) left turn into Charlie's, where I left Kineo in care of the service manager and retired to the waiting room to read in the lovely air conditioning.

One good thing about the waiting room experience -- Charlie is remodeling his showroom, which the waiting room abuts, and the crew had moved the television Somewhere Else, leaving us four old women with our books in peace.

When it came time to leave, I had no fears of the light governing my turn onto Western Avenue; after all I would be turning right, and there was no law nor sign agin' it.

My light was red, as I approached.  I stopped the car, looked down to take the lid off of my water bottle, and looked up again to find that my light was green, the car to my right on Western Avenue had stopped in good order, and a jeep breaking from somewhere in the pack, roaring up the shoulder, slammed into the planet-sized pothole next to the stopped car, lofted completely off of the road, slammed back down onto the road halfway through the intersection and tore off down Western Avenue for the space of about eight car lengths, because did I mention that Western Avenue in that area is being Thoroughly Torn Up, with heavy equipment, and huge holes in the road, and all like that?

My light was still green, so I made the turn.

On the expressway on my way back to Waterville, I almost got pushed off the road by a Wide Load veering suddenly into my lane, but that's hardly worth mentioning.

Writing-wise, we're in the home stretch. WARNING: Authors at End-of-Book tend to be cranky.  This is due, in part, from having to hold the Whole Freaking Book In Your Head At Once.  You should notice no difference in my usual demeanor.

Also?  I'm posting a snippet below.  If the snippet or any word contained in the snippet offends you?  Please keep that information to yourself.  Thank you.

* * *

Progress on Dragon in Exile

102,000 out of 100,000 OR 102% complete

She had never seen that lamp before in her life.