Eagles Over the Kennebec

So, the big news this morning is!

The Cat Farm cats have been interviewed by Annie's Book Stop.  They talk about their writers, their favorite spots to sleep, and how they deal with the notoriety that comes with being Internet Stars.  Here's your link.

You still have a few days to read "Wise Child" on the Baen website.  Here's your link.

As of yesterday at about 4:00 pm EDT, the personalized books and some few just-signed had arrived at Uncle Hugo's in Minneapolis. In addition, the remaining cases were on a UPS truck headed for the same location.  They are expected to arrive on Thursday, July 7.

We've heard from two libraries that have received their copies of Alliance of Equals, and a report of a sighting in the wild, at a BN in Denton, Texas.  Anyone have any other sightings to report?  Amazon, which often jumps the gun on these things, is, last time I looked, still holding the line at "this item will ship on July 5."

I will set up a spoiler discussion space on Blog Without a Name, and pin it to the top, before we get crazy next week, so folks who read Really Fast have a place to Talk About It where they won't spoil things for the slower readers among us.

In other news, we had a series of rain squalls come through East Winslow last night, culminating in a Pretty Impressive Thunderstorm right around midnight.  This morning, as Steve pointed out, the pine trees are a-glitter with jewels.

. . .I don't really think there's much else to report.  Today's activities include starting the laundry and deciding what we're going to read from Alliance of Equals.  We've read Chapter Seven a couple times now, and we'd like to do something fresh.

It's a glorious morning so far, here in the Deep Woods; blue skies and breeze; going to warm up this afternoon, of course, but, hey -- it's July.

Those who celebrate the upcoming holiday -- have a great weekend.  Those who do not celebrate the upcoming holiday -- y'all have a great weekend, too.

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Progress on Book the Next
38,510/100,000 OR 38.5% complete

"Please understand that I must ask: Have you SEEN something?"

Mail arrived; no check.  At this point, I'm expecting that it got on the bus to Massachusetts (Massachusetts being "MA" according to the Post Office and Maine being "ME"; many people unfamiliar with addressing envelopes Simply Assume that Maine is "MA") and will be returned as "addressee unknown" to the agency in ten days or a month.

The betting pool is still open on whether or not the books arrive today.

Let's see. . .

Answer to question from the Roll Call:  Yes, we will be visiting Annie's Bookstop in Worcester on Friday, July 8, at 7 pm.  I talked to Trisha last night; she's not sure what happened to the calendar listing, but states that It Shall Be Fixed.  In the meantime, she sent along this link.  Hope to see lots of you there!

Considering all the questions which have been asked in Roll Call, I have a Question of my own:  Is it easier to ask a question where you know it won't be seen by anyone except, in this case, me?

On the schedule today is a podcast interview, writing, and staring out the window.

Yesterday, I did not write, but opted to read and rest my fingers after paying the scariest of the bills on the desk.

They say partly cloudy today, here, with thunderstorms on the overnight.

. . .and that's all I've got.

Everybody stay cool.

Today's blog title is brought to you by Train, "Calling All Angels."  Here's your link.

There has been a change in our book tour schedule.  Short form:  Pandemonium Books had a scheduling conflict, so we will not -- that is NOT -- be visiting them on this tour.

The new! improved! Alliance of Equals book tour looks like this:

July 5, 7 pm:  Flights of Fantasy, Albany, NY
July 8, 7 pm:  Annie’s Book Stop of Worcester, MA
July 9, 2 pm:  Toadstool Books, Milford NH
July 14, 7 pm:  Pandemonium Books, Cambridge MA Cancelled
July 16, 2 pm:  Children’s Book Cellar, Waterville ME
August 14, 2 pm:  Barnes and Noble, 1920 N. Rock Road, Wichita, KS

We are back from RavenCon, where we were feted and treated like sci-fi royalty.  Despite the 1900 mile round-trip from Maine to Williamsburg and back again, we arrived home fresh and bouncy and ready to deal with the laundry.  Or maybe not.

If you get a chance to go to RavenCon, do it!  Splendid con, well-run, and offering something for everyfan.  Kudos to Chair Mike Pederson, and his staff (whom I will not name, for fear of inadvertently leaving someone out).  And a special shout-out to Ginny Barnett, who volunteered to be our minion for the weekend, and did a superb job.

The week going forward includes the writing of a short story, now that a workable idea has, however belatedly, finally shown up; finishing The Gathering Edge, which no, is not playing nice, but which will, byerlady, be off our desks before we leave for BaltiCon, or I'll know the reason why.

Steve will be leaving for Portland and the Maine Democratic Convention on Friday; I plan to join him on Saturday morning, for a full day of Democracy.  Since Bernie won Maine in the caucuses, I remain somewhat baffled as to the purpose of this particular exercise, but I suppose All Will Become Clear in time.

In other news, Baen has republished in ebook form Janet Kagan's Mirabile and also Hellspark.  Those who read here regularly know that Hellspark is one of our -- that's Steve and me -- favorite books in any genre; and between us, we've read a LOT of books.  Here's your link to Baen's Janet Kagan page; I hear that Mirabile has made it into Amazon's catalogue, but that Hellspark has yet to make an appearance.  (And, forestalling the inevitable -- No, Baen was not able to acquire Uhura's Song, which was of course, written as a work for hire in the Original Trek tie-in series.

In other, other news, we came home from RavenCon to find that the house-sitter had taken delivery of a case of Dragon in Exile mass markets.  They're pretty!

And that?  Is all the news that's fit to print.

What did y'all do while I was gone?

This is in the nature of a catch-up and reminder post.

A.  Order your signed and/or personalized copy of Alliance of Equals:  Uncle Hugo’s Science Fiction Bookstore in Minneapolis is now accepting pre-orders for signed and/or personalized copies of Lee and Miller’s 19th Liaden Universe® novel, Alliance of Equals, which will be published in July.  There is a deadline for pre-ordering personalized books (where “personalized” means the authors, in addition to their signatures, write something specifically requested by the person buying the book).  That deadline is June 1.  Here’s your link.

B. Liaden Universe® Store at OffWorld Design: Coffee mugs, denim shirts, t-shirts, polos!  New colors and items have been added, just in time for spring!  Here’s your link.

C. The eARC of Alliance of Equals is now on sale at Baen.com.  Here's your link.

D. For those who have read Alliance and want to talk about it, there's a spoiler discussion here.

Author Requests Assistance

Related to Point Number C, above:   The page proofs for Alliance of Equals landed here at the Confusion Factory.  It is apparent that the original manuscript was, ah, copy-edited with a very light hand.  So!  If you have the eARC, and notice errors, or things that seem like errors, please drop me a note at rolanniATkorvalDOTcom.  I will need chapter, page number and some of the text surrounding the error, so that I can find it.  Everyone assisting with this project will be thanked on the Acknowledgements Page in Alliance.  This is a matter of some little urgency, since the corrected pages need to be back at Baen Galactic Headquarters on April 12, which means they must leave Maine no later than April 11.

In other news, and in addition to proofing Alliance, Steve and I are still working on The Gathering Edge, which is due realsoonnow, and!  we have a short story due on May 15.

We'll be writer guests of honor at RavenCon, in Williamsburg, Virginia, April 29-May 1, which con kicks off a summer of travel, including attending the Maine Democratic Convention as delegates for our town, the weekend we return from RavenCon; attending BaltiCon as returning guests of honor for their Fiftieth Anniversary Bash; doing a mini-book tour in support of Alliance, and! traveling to Wichita, and Kansas City.

Our full schedule, insofar as it is presently known, can be found here.

Thanks for listening, for reading, and for all that you do.  Here, have a picture of Trooper and Belle, ignoring each other.

So!  We're home from Boskone.

Steve reports thusly:

We're trying to get back to normal, insofar as the writing life ever is normal. At Boskone we had 13 program items, 3 official or formal breakfast meetings, several official dinner meals, 2 between program meetings with colleagues... No I didn't get to as many parties as usual.... Meanwhile, if our trip down was on a packed train our trip back was serene and quiet -- we were the only business class passengers all the way from Boston to Brunswick.

. . .which makes for a fairly full convention.  I was called upon to moderate one panel, which was. . . quite broad in terms of scope, and I admit, I had a few moments of trepidation, thinking that the discussion would last 15 minutes after which we would all adjourn to the bar.  Happily, my co-panelists were brilliant and well-informed, and the audience very interested in the topic. . . so the ship was safely brought into port.

Our kaffeeklatsch was filled to overflowing, by reason of the alternate players joining those who were considered the A-team by convention programming.  We didn't mind the extra people, but the programming chair did come by to make certain that Steve and I weren't distressed by having so many attendees -- which was very kind of her, and proper care and feeding of one's guests.  I was able to assure her that we were fine, but!  Do, please, try to abide by the rules of the convention, even if they seem silly.  Convention programming folks really have a lot on their plates during the con and it's to everyone's advantage to follow the rules, and let them conserve energy so they can deal with major problems (if any, and:  avert) in a calm and thoughtful manner.  Thanks.

The mass book party was swell -- there was cake!  Between those who came to our autographing, and the various vendors in the room, we signed a metric ton of books -- all of them ours -- and though I bought books*, I confess to Earring Fail, and! even though I have identified a need for more bling on the lapel of the Coat of Many Pockets -- I also had Bling Failure.

A special shout-out to Garth Nix, who took time out from his signing at the mass book party, to come over and chat with us for a few moments.  As a general rule, we try not to inflict ourselves on Sitting GoHs, because -- having been in the chair -- we know that they have lots of people who want -- and deserve their attention.

Our next con, for those interested, is RavenCon, April 29-May 1, in Williamsburg.  Where we we be Writer Guests of Honor.  After that, we'll be returning Guests of Honor at BaltiCon 50.

And now, I have bills to pay, tax returns to review, and errands to run -- must have food!, especially as the weatherbeans are calling Weather, starting tonight -- and then, we need to get back to work on The Gathering Edge.

---------

*Books purchased:  Foxglove Summer, Ben Aaronovitch; Karen Memory, by Elizabeth Bear; Written in Red, by Anne Bishop; The House of Shattered Wings, Aliette de Bodard; and Uprooted, Naomi Novick.

. . .though there was one terrifying moment when I thought I hadn't left enough room in my backpack for my book.  Turns out that there was just enough room.  Close one, though.

So, the important news first:  SFWA has named C.J. Cherryh its 32nd Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master.

And there was much rejoicing.

She was a huge influence on me, as on several generations of writers.  Why?  The list is long, including a long list of believably alien aliens from the Iduve, straight through to the Atevi; top-notch worldbuilding that left no detail to chance; complex, compelling stories, (most of which have aged very well), and human characters that are as complex and multifaceted as any real human you might encounter, and writing that is always strong and clear.

If you haven't read any Cherryh, now might be the time to sample her.  Hunter of Worlds, Cuckoo's Egg, The Faded Sun Trilogy:  Kesrith, Shon'Jir, and Kutath -- that'll get you started.

Very well deserved.

Back here at the Cat Farm and Confusion Factory, we're packed and ready to head out 'way too early tomorrow morning to catch the first train from Brunswick to Boston.  Despite urging from their fans, the cats have decided to remain at the Farm, in order to entertain the house-sitter, who would otherwise be all by herself, and where's the fun in that?

So, Steve and I will be at Boskone -- alone and unsupervised!  For those coming in late, here is the Lee and Miller Schedule, and here is the Full Boskone Schedule.

We will be reading from Chapter 7 of Alliance of Equals during our scheduled reading time at noon on Saturday.

I'll check in intermittently from the con for those who can't attend this year.  If you are attending -- we're looking forward to seeing you!

Today's blog post brought to you by John Denver, "Leaving on a Jet Plane."  Here's your link.

Oh, let's see, where was I?

Milford, New Hampshire, I think.  Yes -- we had a great time talking with the science fiction readers group at Toadstool Books' Milford location on Thursday.

On Friday, our intrepid and very patient driver conveyed us to Annie's Book Stop in Worcester, where we talked with a SRO crowd of avid Liaden readers, some of whom had traveled from the far kingdoms of Connecticut and Boston and New York state.  We had a great time, and returned to the hotel tired, but happy.

Saturday, we shifted residence again, to our old standby, the Fairfield Inn, in East Greenbush.  From there, we visited Northshire Books in Saratoga Springs, where I could have happily spent the day, but duty called.  We spoke to a small crowd of familiar faces, and I got to talk about The Telling Detail in public, which is always a pleasure, and so back to base and a late dinner at, yes, Denny's.  (Fish.  And salad.  Honest, for those who fear for our longevity when we dine out: We've made it this far, after all.)

Sunday afternoon, we had a pleasant lunch at Maria Perry's house with the Flights of Fantasy book club, before removing to the store, where an amazing number of people waited for us, considering that it was a Truly Gorgeous day.

We were very lax on the photographic side this time -- if anyone has pictures from any of our events, we'd love to see them!  Kate Reynolds took this picture of us getting ready to read from Dragon in Exile.

Everybody seemed to have fun -- we did!  Many books were signed, and eventually we wended our way back to base, said a fond farewell to our noble driver, and retired to Denny's for dinner (Chicken Bourbon -- we split what Denny's fondly believes to be one serving.  We did sin slightly by taking a slice of cheesecake (one, which we split) back to the room for a late dessert).  Returning to the room, we packed, I read, Steve perused Facebook, and so early to bed, in anticipation of Monday's adventure.

Yesterday. . .was Monday.  Enterprise Rent-a-Car responded nobly to our 7:30 a.m. call, and sent Billy to pick us and our luggage up and take us to the East Greenbush location in order to fill out paperwork and take charge of the keys to a sleek black Jeep Compass, which we proceeded to drive north to Brunswick.  We reclaimed Kineo from Amtrak long-term parking, turned the Jeep back to the Enterprise location on Pleasant Street and beat feet to the Cat Farm and Confusion Factory, with a short stop at the Waterville Hannaford to pick up a few groceries.

Trooper and Scrabble were on paw to greet us upon arrival.  Sprite left her Ivory Tower as we were putting the groceries away, and. . . we shall, gentle reader, draw a curtain over the intimacies of the joyous homecoming.

This morning was about sleeping late, and getting the receipts in order to send on to the publisher, and skritching cats.  Steve has been a ball o'fire, and has already started the laundry.  This afternoon after lunch (salad!), and possibly a nap, will be about paying the bills that arrived while we were gone, and balancing checkbooks, brushing cats (all of whom swear that Mary did not brush them; or anyway, she did, but not The Right Way) and perhaps peering cautiously at the 200+/- legitimate emails that are waiting for my attention.  Or maybe I'll take up a corner of the sofa and read The Martian, which I'm finding Very Slow, but not quite irritating enough to give up on.  Honestly, though; if the hero of this novel had been a woman?  It would have been dismissed as a Mary Sue of the Highest Order.  Also -- cardboard characters, much?

. . .I think that catches me up.

So!  What've y'all been doing for the last week?

So, last night, Steve and I turned Alliance of Equals, the 19th novel in the Liaden Universe®, in to Madame the Editor at Baen.

This morning, we posted the seventh chapter of Shan and Priscilla Ride Again.  Here's your link.

Tomorrow, we're getting on the Downeaster at Oh Ghod O'Clock, heading for Boston and the first stop on the Lightning Northeast Book Tour in Support of Dragon in Exile.

Today, we still need to do an InfoDump, pack, hand off the keys to the house-sitter -- and I need to clean off my desk.

Why do I need to clean off my desk, you ask?

This is why:

Also?  the milk crate in the bottom right of the picture is full of Alliance-related papers, too.

So!  What're you doing today that's fun?

EDITED TO ADD:

As recently mentioned here in this blog; Steve and I were part of the 10th Annual Books in Boothbay Celebration, held at the Boothbay Railway Village.  We arrived slightly early for the afternoon, "adult authors" session, so we got to tour the room during the children's authors' session, which was an unplanned-for bonus.

Because the committee thought of everything, and provided all attendees with free tickets to the Village and the exhibits, we were also able to ride the antique narrow-gauge steam train:

We had our tickets punched by Ethan, the Youth Conductor of the Day:

After our train ride, which encircled the Village Green, following a pleasantly wood-side track, we wandered through the village, though we did not feed the goats -- I think Steve has pictures of the goats -- and came back to the town hall (that would be the Railway Village's town hall, not the Boothbay Town Hall) in time to be served a lovely lunch.  We picnicked under the trees with several of our fellow celebrants, then went inside to start up the afternoon session.

Here's a picture of the space, as we're just getting underway:

We found our place in the back of the room, next to Chris Holm and his wife, Katrina, who were charming tablemates, and proceeded to Get Down to Business.  It was lovely to spend the afternoon talking to people who were passionate about books, and great to meet so many new readers.

After the signing was over, there was an Author Reception the lawn, which was perfectly lovely.  Steve and I, alas, had to leave early, due to needing to drive home to Central Maine.

So, we had a splendid time -- the committee really knows how to treat authors right! -- and we're glad we took the day off to enjoy.