“They don’t have a reservation!” The assistant manager was flapping his hands again. Bunter sighed–not too obviously–and glanced at Carson. Carson nodded and with suitable demeanor headed for the backup command center. “They are old and valued guests,” Bunter said in his inimitable voice, silky with steel underneath. Out of the assistant manager’s sight, his Read More…
Category: Vatta
Audio Book & Other Stuff
This week I learned that Brittany Pressley will be narrating the audiobook of COLD WELCOME. She emailed me about characters, pronunciation of names, etc. , and I may have drowned her with information (writer of long novels. Not really good at the elevator pitch.) I also heard from Audible’s Author Care, which has suggestions about Read More…
And a Reviewer said…
From Booklist‘s review: “Moon returns to hard sf after nearly eight years, visiting familiar characters from the Vatta’s War series. Though it is intended as an alternate entry in the series, readers need not have read the previous books to enjoy this one; Moon provides enough backstory to fill in any blanks. A gripping page-turner Read More…
When the Magic Works
Yes, I know, it’s a science fiction blog, not a fantasy blog, but sometimes when things finally go right after a struggle, it’s tempting to equate great skill with magic. Things were not working out for reasons that–it turned out–had nothing to do with my stuff, Ruta who built the sites and customized the blog Read More…
Cold Welcome: Signs of Spring
Spring flowers are coming out here (including the non-native little white daffodil-shaped things) and not having a cold welcome from the weather at all. Dandelions, a honeysuckle that flowers in winter and smells like lemon, swelling buds on all but the most wary trees and bushes. So…what about Cold Welcome? You’ve seen both the covers. Read More…
More Zeros, More Progress
There’ve been some hitches in the work on the book lately, but some reworking of sections this week seems to have unkinked things again. Tonight I hit 110,000 words, and today’s words feel like good words rather than just “I have to make the wordage if it means writing I can’t think, I don’t know, Read More…
An “Interquel” for Cold Welcome
What, you ask, is an interquel? I made it up, for a segment that isn’t exactly a story but fits between earlier and later books. I was trying to use this as the end of a short story, where it did not fit. The location in “Story-timeline” is right, but it’s not a good ending Read More…
“May I see some identification, sir/madam?”
Anyone who’s traveled from one country to another has been faced with a country’s filter department–Immigration & Customs. Where you can go, under what rules, varies with place and time and the country in question. People get refused entry for all sorts of reasons. They get deported for all sorts of reasons. They may need Read More…
Universes Interlude
“It doesn’t really look like you.” Teague, a tall, lanky fellow with yellowish brown-freckled skin and dubious colored eyes, is holding the cover art for the latest Vatta book. “Your official visa image doesn’t look much like you,” Ky says. She looks tired. “They got the bone structure right,” Rafe says. “It’s just the color–” Read More…
Copy Edit Time
So. Copy Edits for Cold Welcome arrived Friday afternoon, and this morning I cleared off half the kitchen table and laid out my work space. Stack of unread pages. Place to put pages read. Dictionary. My Sekrit Decoder ring to details in the book. Removed Ego and put it in the fridge freezer (oh, come Read More…