10 Nov 2008

Great Success!

posted in: personal news, science fiction, Sunborn, writing | 0

Both book signings were terrific successes, with lots of hardcovers leaving in people’s hands—in many cases, the hands of people I did not know before the signings. (Always a good indicator.) And the folks at Menotomy Beer & Wine were fantastic, made me feel welcome and even sent me home with a bottle of wine! This continues my experience that the best place to do book signings is not necessarily at bookstores (though I’m happy to sign at bookstores, too!), but at places where something else is going on. Indoor water park, church fair, wine tasting—what’ll be next?

6 Nov 2008

Two Signings This Week!

posted in: ebooks, personal news, science fiction, Sunborn, writing | 0

I’ve added a second book signing of Sunborn to the one previously announced:

  • On Friday evening, Nov. 7, from 6:30 to 8:30, I’ll be doing a benefit signing at Park Avenue Congregational Church in Arlington, Mass., at the annual fair.
  • On Saturday, Nov. 8, from 4:00 to 7:00, I’ll be signing as a guest at the regular wine tasting at Menotomy Beer and Wine, also in Arlington.

Click for a full rewrite, with details and locations. Stop by! Have some lasagna and pie (Friday) and some wine (Saturday).

5 Nov 2008

What a Day! What an Election! Yo, Barack!

posted in: public affairs | 0

Thank you, Barack Obama, for undertaking such a long and exhausting run for the presidency, and for your moving and inspiring acceptance speech. Congratulations, and best wishes and prayers.

Thank you, all the supporters who helped make this happen for all of us.

Thank you, John McCain, for your gracious and forward-looking concession speech.

Thank you, America.

Oh, and…thanks, Starbucks, for the free cup of coffee. 🙂

4 Nov 2008

The End of an Opus

posted in: personal news, quirky, writing | 0

As an old-time fan of the comic strip Bloom County, I have followed the later incarnations of the strip (Outland and Opus) with decidedly mixed feelings. I love the old characters, but they were mostly gone. And Opus wasn’t quite what he once was, though he certainly had his moments.

It’s been clear for a while that the strip was coming to an end, and creator Berkely Breathed was taking what seemed to me a depressing route toward the conclusion, with Opus locked away in a dog pound. (I imagine it is hard to bring something like that to a close.) Last Sunday, the final strip ran in the paper, and it…told us we had to go online to see the last panel! It also gave the wrong web address.

But here it is, the final shot of Opus (at least for now). It’s too big to show here: take a look for yourself. It’s really quite touching, and redeemed all of the darkness of the leadup. Bye for now, Opus. And sweet dreams!

4 Nov 2008

This Blog Endorses Barack Obama!

posted in: public affairs | 0

I didn’t want to influence you all too soon, but the suspense is over. Like Republicans Colin Powell and William Weld (except that I’m not Republican) I am standing forth and urging everyone to vote tomorrow for Barack Obama for president! I’m serious. It’s time to put an end to:

  • Attacks on the environment
  • Attacks on science
  • Attacks on nations that did not attack us first
  • Attacks on the Constitution
  • Attacks on the separation of church and state
  • Deceptions in the interests of money and power

And time to embrace:

  • Dialogue with other nations, including those we disagree with
  • Transparency and honesty in public policy
  • A leader who reads, thinks, and is willing to listen to opposing points of view
  • Concern for the environment, both global and local, and respect for real science
  • Concern for the disadvantaged and the middle class, and not just the wealthy
  • Sane fiscal policy, including an end to the massive drain caused by an ill-conceived war

I believe Barack Obama represents these values, and that a vote for Obama is a vote for steering America back toward the values that made this country great.

Okay, that sounded like a campaign slogan—but I actually believe it’s true. I probably didn’t change anyone’s mind with this, but I just wanted to go on the record one last time. I urge other Americans to support these Family Values. Amen.

3 Nov 2008

National Novel Writing Month…

posted in: personal news, public affairs, quirky, writing | 0

…is upon us again! (As reader Marco pointed out in a comment below.) This would be a hard one for me to miss, because my daughter is giving it a shot, along with several friends. Ticka-ticka-ticka-ticka… Different people have different feelings about this project, but my own feeling is, if it gets people writing and having fun writing, it’s a good thing! Check it out at NaNoWriMo.org.

“I admire anybody who has the guts to write anything at all.” —E.B. White

3 Nov 2008

Recount!

posted in: blogging, ebooks, science fiction, Sunborn | 0

Well, this is kind of depressing. And no, I’m not talking about the election; that’s still a few hours off. No, I’m talking about the stats for downloads of the ebooks—especially Sunborn. Turns out that my web logs analyzer, a program called Analog that I’ve used faithfully for years, has been lying to me about the number of downloads.

Well, not lying exactly, just being stupid.

I think this applies mainly just to the PDF downloads rather than the others, because people can actually open the PDF file right in their browser without downloading the file to their hard drive. And when they do, the file is sent to them in little packets, which you would only notice by the repeated little message at the bottom of the browser indicating activity. As I discovered to my dismay last night, each of those little packets gets its own line in the logs. And Analog has been counting each of those packets as a separate download request! And fooling me like a politician greasing a gullible audience.

To paraphrase one such politician of the past*, let me make one thing perfectly clear. I am not a crook. However, previous reports of the downloads of Sunborn and the other PDF files are exaggerated. A lot. A real lot. As nearly as I can tell, actual complete downloads of Sunborn are in the low-mid hundreds at this point, and the highest, Neptune Crossing, is at maybe a thousand. All told, the cumulative ebook downloads are in the thousands, but I’m not even going to try to guess a more exact number. That’s not cottage cheese, but it’s nowhere near the 20K plus that Analog was selling me.

To say that this discovery was a downer would be no exaggeration.

Anyone know a better free (or cheap) web-logs analyzer? (I’ve tried a few, but none quite fit the bill yet.)

*For the young’ns among you, or those outside the U.S.: Richard M. Nixon, the worst president in U.S. history prior to the current one.

“From my close observation of writers … they fall into two groups: 1) those who bleed copiously and visibly at any bad review, and 2) those who bleed copiously and secretly at any bad review.” —Isaac Asimov

31 Oct 2008

Concord (er, Lowell) SF Panel

posted in: blogging, personal news, science fiction, Sunborn | 0

Our panel at Umass Lowell, as part of the Concord Festival of Authors, went very well. Panelist and new writer Chris Howard blogged about it, and said everything I would say, except that he gave a nice big plug to Sunborn while he was at it. Thanks, Chris!

Funny thing: I clicked on Chris’s Amazon link to Sunborn, and noted with my usual scowl that Amazon already listed used copies for sale, three days after the book’s release. Then, out of curiosity, I clicked to look at the actual listing—and saw, first of all, that most were actually new, not used, copies from Amazon Marketplace sellers. But here’s the funny part—some sellers listed used copies for over $40, or more than twice Amazon’s price for new books! Do you suppose anybody would actually buy one of those? It’s good work if you can get it.

Nobody’s emailed me yet to request a free ebook, but there have been over 4000 hits on the Sunborn PDF in just three days!

29 Oct 2008

Sunborn Is Born!

posted in: ebooks, personal news, science fiction, Sunborn | 0

Sunborn is a book, available in fine stores everywhere! Yay! I even have copies myself! By a wonderful fluke, the case I ordered for the upcoming book signing at the Menotomy Beer and Wine store (see earlier post) arrived on my doorstep today. So I get to see it, too! (This may sound odd, but usually the writer is the last to get copies. Well, sometimes the editor is last, and the writer is second to last. Indeed, there’s no telling when my regular “author’s comp copies” will arrive.)

Order now from:

If you’d like to read before you buy, here’s the deal on downloads. I’ve put up a regular PDF version for free download. This will look nice on your computer (but probably not so great on your small device). In addition, I’m offering anyone who buys the hardcover a free ebook in other ebook formats, straight from me! Buy the book from me or from any store—and just send me proof of purchase of any kind. Details are on my downloads page.

I don’t quite have the ebook ready at this moment. I’ve been untangling the formatting on Tor’s typesetting file, which required a somewhat messy Quark to Word conversion. That’s just about done, and very soon I’ll be able to start converting it into the formats that ebook readers prefer.

The long wait is over!

23 Oct 2008

Coming Personal Appearances

posted in: ebooks, personal news, science fiction, Sunborn | 0

For those of you in eastern Massachusetts or southern New Hampshire, or…okay, for those of you in the continental U.S., or neighboring countries…

The evening of October 30 will find me moderating a panel at the University of Massachusetts Lowell campus, called “We May Be On to Something Here (Science Fiction in the 21st Century).” Part of the Concord Festival of Authors, the panel will also include Craig Shaw Gardner, new writer Chris Howard, Alexander Jablokov, and Matt Jarpe. We’ll kick off at 7:30 p.m., jawbone interestingly with each other and the audience for a while, then segue into a book signing hosted by the university bookstore. This will be my first opportunity to sign Sunborn—and in all likelihood the first time I will have set eyes on the actual book myself.

If you can’t make that—or even if you can—you’ll have another chance to say hello and pick up a signature on a shiny new hardcover (if that appeals to you, and why wouldn’t it?) on Saturday, November 8, from 4-7 p.m. The venue will be a little different this time; I’ll be signing at Arlington’s Menotomy Beer and Wine store, while a free wine-tasting swirls around me. The wine tastings are a popular event at the store, and it’s a great bunch of people, with some interesting wines. Stop by and say hi!

Another signing is tentatively planned for later in November, but more about that when details firm up.

And don’t forget: you can download the first three novels of the Chaos Chronicles for free in ebook form, so even if you haven’t read them yet, you can grab them now and be all up to speed for Sunborn. Go for it!

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