For the curious reader of science fiction (scifi) and fantasy
They’re calling it a big storm, but so far it’s been pretty mild where we are. (Not the temperature, though. Cold.) Still, it’s supposed to snow right through the night, and be done by noon tomorrow. We’ll see what we find then. In the meantime, here’s what our house looked like (sort of) a little while ago, when I took Captain Jack out. Hard to get a good picture at night, but I love the blue lights we have in the tree. And the flash does fun things with the flying snow.
By which I mean, of course, around the sun. We made it the whole way ’round again! Happy New Year, everyone!
I never did get around to posting Christmas greetings, but I hope the end of December was a good one for you. I was busy with family, including my brother and his wife visiting from Florida. A fine time had by all.
As I think back on 2013, I’m amazed we had time to experience everything that happened. We moved Allysen’s mom Fay to our area from Puerto Rico, which was the longest and hardest logistical (and emotional) undertaking I’ve ever been involved in. (Including the saga of the seven puppies, three of which came north with us and found great homes.) Fay ‘s pretty well settled in now at her new place. But not without her dog Diego getting heartworm, and she herself breaking an arm. Fortunately, as I’ve probably said before, we eat problems for breakfast here. Then, of course, there was Lexi getting hit by a car on her bike, which laid her up for months. But then she got a new job, and that’s been exciting. Allysen tried to outdo her by getting rear-ended in our Ford Fusion, because she emergency-stopped to keep an 18-wheeler from killing her. That led to the car being totaled, so we went car shopping last week. And, of course, I finished the first draft of The Reefs of Time, right before Christmas!
That’s the Reduced Shakespeare Company rendition of our 2013. How was yours?
Here is the car we’ve bought and hope to pick up, after the big winter Nor’easter that’s bearing down on us as we speak. It’s a 2014 Ford Fusion, in a beautiful ruby red finish. We’re thinking of calling it Katniss, after the girl of fire, from The Hunger Games.
Maybe later I’ll post my thoughts about books and movies from the last year.
My friends at Book View Café and I are having a big Boxing Day Week sale on a huge number of books. All of my books there are half-price for a limited time, and there are a ton of other great half-price books by my fellow BVC authors. The list includes many familiar names from the science fiction and fantasy world, including Ursula LeGuin, Vonda McIntyre, Pati Nagle, Linda Nagata, Judith Tarr, David Levine, Chris Dolley, and many others in a variety of genres. This is an excellent chance to stock up on some terrific books for half price, and maybe discover some new favorite authors along the way. Here’s where to look:
I hope you all had (or are still having) a wonderful Christmas, and for that matter Solstice and impending celebration of our circuit around the Sun! Here at the Starrigger Ranch, we had a terrific Christmas, including a turkey dinner, with my brother Chuck and his wife Youngmee visiting, and our friend Mary and Allysen’s mom here, as well. It was a fantastic celebration of family and friends.
My wife grew up largely in Latin America and has a strong sense of the full Christmas period, extending through New Year to Three Kings Day, on January 6. (This is also handy when gifts haven’t arrived in time for Christmas Day. They’re not really late; they’re just part of the whole extended experience.)
I hope all of you had family, or people you care about, near or in touch during these holidays. God bless you all, however you celebrate the season!
Great news! I’ve met my do-or-die goal of having the first draft of The Reefs of Time finished before Christmas Eve! Last night at around 3 a.m., I typed the fateful words:
and heaved an enormous sigh of relief. Because that, of course, is another way of saying, The End! What a feeling. I’ve been working on this thing for a little over five years, and it’s just about caused me to lose all my remaining hair. But I feel really good about what I’ve got now (as a first draft!), and eagerly look forward to starting the rewrite in the new year. It’s a sprawling, complicated story, and I know there are pieces missing, and a lot of other sections that will be mercilessly cut, and a lot to be completely reworked. But that’s all stuff I know how to do. It was getting the basic story down that threatened to send me around the bend. For those who are counting, it’s just over 900 pages in manuscript, or somewhere around 220,000 words. (I think my writing group had a poll going on the final length, but I don’t know if anyone remembers who bet what.)
I hope my agent and publisher will be glad to hear this, as well! They’ve been incredibly patient, and all I can say is, If I could have done it faster, I would have.
Even a crashed car isn’t going to take this good feeling away.
Thank you, God, and thank you, everyone who has been waiting and periodically nudging.I think I’m going to enjoy a really good beer tonight, and focus on getting ready for Christmas.
We got word from the insurance company over the weekend that our beloved Ford Fusion is being declared a total loss, following the accident in which Allysen got rear-ended. This breaks our hearts. It also means that our last week of the year has now been repurposed: After Christmas, we have to start looking for a new, or new-to-us, car. (Sigh.)
On the other hand, the car died heroically. It stopped fast when it had to, and saved Allysen from being squashed by the 18-wheeler that idiotically turned right in front of her. Then it saved her from injury when the SUV behind plowed into her because that driver couldn’t stop fast enough. It did exactly what it was supposed to do.
It was a good car, and we’ll miss it. Its name was Centauri.
Stay tuned for my next entry, though, because that news will be better.
That’s The Reefs of Time, all right! Thrilling action, endearing characters, lively wit, and heart-rending trials. Plus, the whole galaxy at stake.
Okay, I lied a little. The book will have all those things, but it bears no resemblance whatever to either The Avengers or The Hunger Games. (Both of which I liked, by the way.)
I am so close to finishing the first draft of this sprawling adventure that it is my hope and prayer that I will finish the first draft before Christmas. Actually, before Christmas Eve. The first draft. I have another chapter, maybe two, to write. Pray for me!
Why am I telling you about it now, instead of just doing it? Partly as a warmup. And because I want to put it out there that this is what I’m aiming for—like President Kennedy, calling for a moon landing before the decade (1960s) was out. And because so many of you, from time to time, gently ask me how the book is going, and will you have a chance to read it while you’re still alive. Here’s my answer: Yes!
Also, I just like to say, “The Avengers meets The Hunger Games.”
Stay tuned.
The very good news is, no one was hurt. The bad news is, Allysen got rear-ended last Friday evening, while driving home from her mother’s place. She was forced to slam on her brakes when an 18-wheeler made a sudden turn, cutting right in front of her. She stopped in time, but the SUV behind her didn’t. The rear of our Ford Fusion is mashed in, and we are very grateful for the aggressively forward-jutting headrests which seem to have prevented any whiplash injury. (No sign of it so far, anyway.) The young adult driving the SUV, and his passengers, were also uninjured. The truck driver? He continued his turn into the parking lot and went on his way without any visible awareness that he had caused an accident.
Here’s our beloved 2010 Fusion. It’s four years old, but still feels like our new car. Too soon to know whether the insurance company will consider it repairable. I hope so. We love the car, and also we just gave it new tires and battery.
It took a loyal reader to point it out to me: The coming close encounter of Comet ISON with the sun is kind of reminiscent of a fateful ride taken by John Bandicut in my novel Neptune Crossing. (Tip of the space helmet to Kyle Michael Jeynes for noting it on my Facebook page.) Of course, in Bandicut’s case, he and the quarx Charlie were chasing the comet.
If you haven’t read Neptune Crossing, you should. I need the sales! No, actually it’s free, pretty much everywhere fine ebooks are to be found. Or, you could take the plunge and buy it in a high quality omnibus with the next two books in the series. Only $6.99 for three complete novels! A steal, even if you can get the first one by itself for free!
Seriously, though, ebook sales have been down something fierce the last few months. It’s been true for me, and I’m hearing it from a lot of other writers, too. Maybe it’s the economy, combined with organized governmental dysfunction. Even our local beer and wine store reports a recent sales slump. If people aren’t buying likker, you know there’s a problem!
So, support your favorite author and buy a book today. Or, maybe even better, recommend your favorite author to someone who hasn’t had the pleasure yet. Your favorite author will thank you.
My wife Allysen texted me this afternoon to alert me to the arrival of:
Did I marry the right woman, or what?
Okay, it only works in parts of the world where dates are expressed as Mo/Da/Yr, but still.
It was kind of a strange day, meteorologically. We had snow flurries in the morning, or so I hear (I was asleep). What’s strange about that is, just a few days ago I was walking around in a short-sleeve shirt. Then, this afternoon, I noticed that the sky was mostly a thick overcast, with a band of clear sky just above the northwest horizon. The demarcation between the overcast and the blue was a ruler-straight line, with no visible movement. I had a great, big-sky view of it as I drove north out of Boston on the elevated freeway.
Several hours later, it looked exactly the same. I took this picture, using the Panorama app on my phone.
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The line looks curved from the fisheye effect, but in reality it was straight as an arrow shot by the Arrow. Here’s a regular shot.
It was still that way at sunset, when the edge of the overcast was lit with a beautiful pink glow. Wish I’d caught that.
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