Eagles Over the Kennebec

Did some work on the Sekrit Project, checked the post office box, put gas in the car, went to the book club, hit the grocery store, came home and strung lights. Checked the route to the hospital in Rockport, bought next month's book club book -- Remarkably Bright Creatures -- my choice, because -- octopus.

Tomorrow I drive to the hospital in Rockport (ref "gas/car") for a nerve conduction test. I don't think a visit to the hospital to have electricity run through my body counts as a Writer's Day Off, even if I do get to drive to the coast. I also want to try to get to needlework tomorrow evening, so -- I may be scarce, but fear not! This is The Plan.

Wednesday looks like a free day, as does Friday, Thursday is mostly free, except for glass class, which I will try to go early so I can talk to my teacher about various fixups that probably need to be done.

So! How was your day?

Let there be light.  Left to right -- Steve's Office, Sharon's Office, Living room

Eek.

What went before ONE: I put together the new space heater, despite my fingers are still not working properly from yesterday's abuses, and why don't they just make screws bigger? But! Magnets are our friends. The assembled device was set to warming the bathroom, which it did with great efficiency and practically no noise. The elder space heater ROARED, so that will be a nice change, too, though I'll have to be Extra Vigilant to be sure I've turned it off.

Am now taking a break for some fig newtons and Trooper lap time before taking the old heater down to the Goblin Room and wrapping it in plastic.

What went before TWO: For those following along at home, the chapbook I've been talking about now and again will include: "Neutral Ground," written in September 2021 as a short story, which we/I then held because ... Because. -- a chapter pulled from Ribbon Dance, written in July 2023, and "Core Values," written in February 2025, and posted to Splinter Universe. The stories amount to 27,485 words, and there will definitely need to be Author Commentary, so call it 30,000ish words.

No date yet -- much needs to be done, aside from writing the commentary, but I said I'd keep people Informed.

What went before THREE: Rook, the "baby," weighs 12 lbs, 6 oz.
Trooper, the patriarch, weighs 13 lbs 1 oz.
Firefly weighs 11 lbs, 3 oz.
Tali has declined the opportunity to be weighed at this time.

Since this time last month, Trooper and Firefly have lost minor ounces; Rook has gained minor ounces.

So, that's actually good news.

What went before THREE-ANNA-HALF: Tali weighs 11 lbs 6 ounces.

What went before FOUR: 662 new words today, bringing the WIP to 33,487. I have signed up for Disney+, figuring Doctor Who will keep me busy until it's time to pack, and then manifest at BaltiCon.

Still need to do my ASL review, so I guess that's what I'll be doing after I lay out Happy Hour.

Everybody stay safe; I'll see you tomorrow.

Here's a picture of Firefly staying safe, in case you need a role model:

What went before FIVE: I'm to give a speech at Balticon, accepting the Heinlein Award. It's a short speech, and the current plan is to put it in the back of the chapbook discussed earlier today.

Thursday. Sunny, blue, and still.

Breakfast was eggs scrambled with ham, tomato, onion, the last spoonful of potato salad, and parmesean cheese. Which was quite a lot, actually, so light lunch will be in order. I still have a little bit of chicken salad, so that may be the solution, right there.  Tali stopped by as I was finishing up to have her ears massaged:

Things went slightly sideways last night, where I hit a wall -- and bounced. I went to bed early, and slept, but I'm still kind of groggy and half-functional, so am planning a half-collapsed day. The comfy chair, a pad of paper, and a pen are looking good, so that's where you'll find me until it's time to go to class.

How's everybody doing today?

Today's blog title brought to you by Mr. Bruce Springsteen, "Badlands"

Here's the official cat census:

When last we saw our heroine, she was doing Shameless Self-Promotion, as one does, signing bookplates, and starting to work on the next book, by which I mean, staring out the window, and making Cryptic Notes™.

That changed back toward the end of last week, when the edits for Diviner's Bow landed in my inbox, and I spent the next While dealing with that, doing my own chilly read-through, and making a (few) more corrections.

Of course, in pre-apocalyptic times, Steve would have taken half the manuscript; I'd've taken the other half.  We'd have talked over the editorial suggestions -- and anyway, that's not how we do things in this Brave New World, and it took me a good chunk of time to go through the 'script and consider the suggested changes.  I have only just today returned the manuscript to the editor.

In-between reading, correcting, considering, and inputting, I had the Waterville Fire Department come in and replace the 20+ year old smoke alarms in the house, which they did for free, because the Waterville Fire Department is Just. That. Cool.

I also went to the last meeting (for some number of months) of the book club, and did the 120-mile round trip to the cancer center, to chat with my oncologist.  I'm fine, though they took me off of the drug I'd been taken to help reduce the risk of a recurrence because of the still-inconclusive outcomes attached to my June Health Adventure.  Said drug being known to cause blood clots. That whole thing was much more upsetting than I had planned for, but, hey -- it was a nice morning for a drive.

I also went to a writer meetup and met writers, which is something I haven't done in a while.  I honestly don't know that I'll ever feel up to traveling to science fiction conventions again -- too very many people knew Steve, and Steve-and-Sharon.  OTOH, one does like to talk with people who Get It, so after much waffling, I went, and had a pleasant evening.  So -- four stars out of five:  may do again; encourage others to attend.

Somewhere in all there was also meeting a friend for coffee, grocery shopping, and hitting Home Depot up for paint (one of the smoke detectors had been painted (many times) to the wall, and brought paint with it when it finally was persuaded to let go.

Today was about cooking for the freezer, and making a loaf of cheese bread because I wanted cheese bread.  Tomorrow and Sunday will be about laundry, and dealing with all the things I let pile up while I was concentrating on the edits for Diviner's Bow.

Next week will be a bit pear-shaped due to the US Thanksgiving.  On Wednesday afternoon, I'll pick up a Feast For One from a local restaurant to reheat on the day, and expect that I'll be doing something low-key and enjoyable, like laying out a chapbook.  No, really; that's low-key and enjoyable.  Also, I need to get back to staring out the window and making notes.

As I've been walking up and down in the world, I've noticed the wreaths, and the greens, the trees, and the decorations, and -- I will be sitting the holidays out this year.  This includes the sending of the traditional Yule letter and cards.  P'rhaps next year.

And that?  Catches us up.

Everybody have a good weekend.

Sea Wrack and Changewind, by Sharon Lee, which collects all of the Archers Beach short works into one convenient volume, is now available for preorder as an ebook at all of the Usual Suspects. The book releases on December 17.

Here's a so-called Universal Link.

Stories included are! "Emancipated Child,", "How Nathan Archer Came to be a Prince of the Land of the Flowers," "The Gift of Music," "The night don't seem so lonely," "Will-o'-the-Wisp," "The Wolf 's Bride," "The Road to Pomona's," "The Vestals of Midnight," and "Wolf in the Wind." The author's foreword is original to this volume.

Additional things that you may want to know:

(1) Yes, Baen will be distributing the ebook.  Look for it on their site on December 17.
(2) A narrator has been assigned and Tantor ought to be offering an audiobook edition realsoonow.
(3) There will be a tradepaper edition.
(3a) There may be a hardcover edition (I have to Experiment)

You might also like a look at the cover:

For those who pay attention to such things, Diviner's Bow has been turned in to Baen, slightly ahead of the (renegotiated) deadline.

Diviner's Bow
A Novel of the Liaden Universe®
Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
October 27, 2024
Approximately 130,600 words/131,700 with glossary

Art by David Mattingly

Publication date, hardcover and ebook:  April 1, 2025

Baen neglected to publish the Author’s Afterword in the hardcover edition of Ribbon Dance.  The afterword does appear in the ebook edition and will also appear in the mass market reprint when it’s issued, next year.

The afterword has been posted, as a courtesy, here.

In the US, this is Memorial Day Weekend.  For those of us who are freelancers and still hold to the Old Ways of keeping track of days by mail delivery, this is the first Sunday (no mail day) of the week, the second being tomorrow, aka Memorial Day (celebrated).

It has been a week of Parts, some of which I am not yet at liberty to share.

I can, however, talk about yesterday, which was a perfect Maine edge-of-summer day, when I went to Snow Pond Arts Center in Sidney to the Art/Makers Fair.  By myself.  It was a nice show, with a good cross-section of Maine artists -- stained glass, handmade jewelry, pottery, photographs, art prints, designer clothes, cat toys (yes, I bought toys for the cats; that's in the contract), tie-dye, live music . . . spread across three or four lodges on really beautiful camp grounds.

As I was walking from one lodge to another, having recently departed a conversation with a silversmith, it came to me, as a bolt from the blue (or indeed, as something Steve might suggest), that the silversmith might be able to resize Steve's wedding ring, so that I could wear it.

Now, I have to pause here and explain that my relationship with Steve is rooted in magic; our first letters to each other talk about how Instant Recognition such as we experienced never happens; that as grown-ups we knew this, and so it was with eyes open that we were going forward -- trusting magic.

So, I turned around and went back to the silversmith and asked her if she could resize a ring for me.  She allowed as how she could, so I went home, got the ring and went back.  The silversmith thinks she'll have it ready for me next week.

I had a few errands to dispatch, afterward, in Augusta.  I thought I might actually eat out, but courage failed, so I came home and made myself a hot tuna and cheese sandwich in celebration (no really; hot tuna and cheese is a treat), noodled around the house some, putting things away and talking with the coon cats, and went to bed early, worn out by all the excitement.

Speaking of excitement -- see what I did there?

Yes, excitement.

On June 1 -- that's Saturday! -- Double Vision drops.  It is an ebook-only edition, for Reasons.  On June 1, it will be available from All of the Usual Suspects (including Baen). If you're so minded, you may right now preorder from Most of the Usual Suspects (not including Baen).

As if that wasn't enough excitement -- The Uncle is, even as I type, shipping signed copies of Ribbon Dance to those who ordered.  If you want a signed copy, there are still some left, and you can order from the Uncle here.

The Official Release Day for Ribbon Dance is Tuesday, June 4, when hardcover and ebook will be available from All of the Usual Suspects.  You may preorder now from Most of Them.

A word regarding the Ribbon Dance audiobook.  Audible has chosen not to acquire the audio rights (no, I don't know why; I expect because previous books haven't made them enough money; that's usually the reason for these things).  Baen is trying to place it with another audiobook publisher, but as of Right Now, there is NO Ribbon Dance audiobook on your horizon.  I know some people will be disappointed by this.  Trust me, I join you in your disappointment with a nice side helping of terror.

. . . and I think that catches us all up on the Important Things in Life.

Oh, no, I'm wrong.  Have a picture of Trooper, who has helping me write.

I want to thank everyone who sent condolences on Steve's passing, and also everyone who sent donations in lieu of flowers.  I can't possibly thank you all individually, but know that I'm grateful.

On the Theme of not being able to answer every question individually, I'm going to answer a bunch of them here, and then post links to this post everywhere.  I think this should catch most people.

So!  The first question --  Will I be continuing the Liaden series?
Yes, it is my intention to continue writing in the Liaden Universe®, at least to the point of finishing out the remaining three books contracted with Baen.  There will be some changes in how things go forward, which are inevitable, given Circumstances.  Trade Lanes is off the table, at least for now.  It is possible that it will never be written, but -- I'm new at this, so let's just not say "never" and instead say "we'll see."

I'm about 1/3 of the way through the book following Ribbon Dance, and have Extensive Notes for the book after that.  The sequel is due at Baen in September.  The deadline may have to be renegotiated; I don't know that yet -- see "new at this," above -- and I'll have to talk with Madames the Agent and the Publisher.

Question the Second:  How am I doing?
I have no idea.  I have moments of relative peace -- work is going to be a refuge, I can already see that -- moments of immobilizing terror, and breathtaking pain.  I'm assuming these things are standard, but I've never lost my best friend, spouse, and creative partner before.

The cats have been a comfort, piling on whenever I land in a place and stay still long enough.

Local friends have also been keeping an eye on me, to the extent that I allow it; it's hard to ask for help, and I'm not Steve, who loved people and made connections the way the rest of us breathe.  I'm a more ... private person, a fact that it will do us all good to remember, going forward.  If I'm testy, sarcastic, or clueless -- recall that I've always been that way, and that Steve always did the heavy interpersonal lifting.

Question the Third:  What am I doing?
Cleaning off Steve's desk -- he was a pile maker -- in the hope that I'll find all the account numbers and passwords and whatnot that I'll need in order to do all the Stuff that attends a death, starting -- well.  Tomorrow.  I did do this once, a couple years ago, long distance, when my father died.  At least this time, I know the broad outline of the Things To Be dealt with.

Referencing work as a refuge, I'll be -- today or tomorrow -- converting my reading nook to a dedicated writing space, since my desktop is bearing the weight of the Stuff-coping.  A quiet space and a quiet computer will help me thing.

Other than that, I'm trying to breathe, and not succumb to the Black Dog.  As a friend who knows me well wrote in her condolence card, "Be Strong.  The cats need you."

Question the Fourth:  How can I help?
By being patient, of course, and realizing that this is a House in mourning, therefore instant answers will not be available.

Kind people have been sending gift cards, which I greatly appreciate, and which, I suspect, will come in extremely handy while the Accountant's Guild clarifies my financial situation, going forward.

If would like to donate a gift card  "in lieu of flowers" as many people have said, an Amazon gift card to rolanniATgmailDOTcom will greatly appreciated, as will Hannaford gift cards, or Petco gift cards.

If you prefer to donate cash online, there's the Patreon page, PayPalME, or you may buy me a Ko-Fi (which is PayPal by another process).

If you want to send a card, the best address is:
Sharon Lee
PO Box 1586
Waterville ME 04903

. . . I think that's the full list of repeating queries.  Again, thank you all for your support and your love, down so very many years.  Group hug.

Here's a picture of the reading-soon-to-be writing nook.  Coon cat provided for scale:

So, I've had some Questions about the Carousel books (by Sharon Lee) and, more particularly, about the Archers Beach chapbooks.  Follows an attempt to bring everybody up to speed.

NOTE:  There are links embedded for the titles discussed.

In 2010, Baen Books published Carousel Tides, a small-town contemporary fantasy set in the fictional town of Archers Beach, Maine.  Tides was supposed to have been a one-off, but -- I blame my brain, which eventually produced two more books in the series, Carousel Sun, and Carousel Seas, published by Baen in 2014 and 2015.

My brain also obligingly produced some short stories in the Archers Beach universe, which I eventually collected into three chapbooks.

Surfside, published in 2013, contained short story "Emancipated Child," dealing with the town of Surfside, just next door to Archers Beach, which had long been without a Guardian; and very short story "How Nathan Archer Came to be a Prince in the Land of the Flowers (by Kate Archer as told to Sharon Lee)" dealing with -- well.  What it says.

The Gift of Magic was published in 2015, collecting two stories that had originally been published on Baen.com, "The Gift of Music," and "The night don't seem so lonely."  The first story talks about the healing power of music, in 1920s Archers Beach.  The second story is set in 1969, and deals with finding your home and your heart-family.  It offended some delicate sensibilities when it was published, so, yanno:  Good on you, Past Me.

Spell Bound was published in 2016.  It collected two longish stories first published on Splinter Universe:  "Will-o'-the-Wisp," and "The Wolf's Bride."  The first story again has to do with families of the heart, as well as the nature of truth.  "Bride" is set in Sempeki, the Land of the Flowers, and it's the origin story of Cael the Wolf, who appears in the novels.

Coming up, on February 20 (no link yet, because it's still a-building) is Doors Into Change, which includes three short stories:  "The Road to Pomona's," "The Vestals of Midnight," and "Wolf in the Wind."  "Pomona" was first published on Splinter Universe, and then collected in Horror for the Throne.  It's a precursor to Archers Beach, dealing with the danger of being able to see into the wyrd.  "Midnight," first appeared in Release the Virgins, and pits Kate Archer (the lead of the novels, and Guardian of Archers Beach) against the power that inhabits what is possibly the strangest corner of her land.  "Wolf" is a slice of life from Archers Beach, where we find that some folks just aren't meant to settle down.  The introductory chapters were posted on Splinter Universe; the chapbook includes the complete novelette.

Now, the Carousel books did not sell all that well, but they don't seem to be as much of a surprise to people as the chapbooks, which sold even less well.  I hope that the above clarifies matters for everyone.