Month: July 2010

Another close call

Another close call

So the hills across the street from our apartment complex — somewhere between 1/2 and 1/4 of a mile away — were once again covered in flames. The LAFD and all did a great job putting it out.

I can’t remember if this is three times in three years or three times in four years. Not really all that entertaining, either way.

Dragongirl, Dragon’s Time, and Dragonrider

Dragongirl, Dragon’s Time, and Dragonrider

Wow! Being an author has its perks!

Yesterday, I got a package from Del Rey — two new, beautiful hot off the press editions of Dragongirl. Looking purty! And the two most egregrious typos found in the ARC are (yay!) gone.

What was even cooler was at the back of the book where they’ve got an announcement for the forthcoming next book which they say will be titled “Dragonrider” and will be out in May 2011.

Sadly, they’re wrong on both counts. Dragonrider was the name of the book when it was submitted, about two hours before I realized that it would be better called Dragon’s Time (which was then the name of the sequel). But our brilliant editor at Del Rey, after having read the book, came to the same conclusion and so, cheerfully, Mum and I agreed to its being (properly) renamed Dragon’s Time, with the sequel being (properly) renamed Dragonrider.

That news apparently didn’t get to the marketing department quickly enough (or at all but that’s also not quickly enough, isn’t it?).

And, having mentioned it to our editor, I was also informed that the publication date has had to move, currently the date is June 28th 2011 (not such a bad move and still only 11 months and 1 day after Dragongirl).

On the good news front, Mum and I are working diligently to ensure that the gap between Dragon’s Time and Dragonrider is just about the same as the gap between Dragongirl and Dragon’s Time, so you won’t have to wait too long to get your Pern fix!

Other news

Other news

While at Westercon63, I boldly cornered the famous James Hay (if you don’t know him, you should go to ConDor or Gaslight Gathering his new SteamPunk convention) to ask, humbly on bended knee (really!) if he would permit me to abscond with his “Tall Tales” idea for use as a panel at other conventions.

He allowed as how the idea wasn’t original to him and that he had no objection to my doing so.

I like the “Tall Tales” panel as a sort of counterpoint to The Delphic Oracle. In “Tall Tales”, each participant bails themselves out of the last cliffhanger their predecessor put them in then builds a deeper hole for the next participant — all in good fun and always with hilarious results.

There was a catch, however. The catch was that I agree to return to Conjecture (1-3 October 2010) this year. The latter was pretty easy as I’d had such a good time with Bob Sawyer while at Ad Astra earlier this year, that I do not at all mind repeating the experience!

Westercon63 Roundup

Westercon63 Roundup

I had a lot of fun at Westercon63.

My highlights were “The Delphic Oracle” which was, once again, a rousing success. Saturday night saw “Are You a Werewolf” competing against the Masquerade which isn’t ideal. All the same we managed a good 3-4 rounds before we broke.

My biggest thrill was in meeting Seanan McGuire who is not only a famous filker (she was filk GOH) but also an author of no little renown (she’s up for the Campbell Award as best new author). She’s quite an intriguing person and, after Werewolf, we spent several hours talking. If you get a chance, you might want to check out her website. I look forward to meeting her again soon and gabbing away.