I’ll be getting in late on Thursday the 24th and flying out before dawn on Tuesday the 29th. I’m not sure how many panels I’m on. The PDF isn’t exactly friendly and it doesn’t list things like signings and readings, etc. I think the earliest panel is 5pm Friday and it takes off from there. Saturday afternoon I’ll be part of a Writing Jam using Real NASA Science to seed a science fiction story. Sunday I’ll be on a panel with Scott Sigler talking about the GFL expansion story (that I haven’t written yet).

And this year, for the first time, I’ve got panels in both New Media and Literary tracks.

Must mean somethin’

Hope to see at least a few of you in Hunt’s Valley next weekend.

We’ve gotten to the point where I’ll be examining this relationship very closely. It’s based on the idea that we can do better together than I can do by myself, and I’ve maintained the position that we can. I know a lot of you believe that I’m foolish to maintain in the face of what you see as disrespect. I don’t really care about that. What I care about is producing quality products at reasonable prices for a strongly dedicated audience.

I’m getting to the point where that is in doubt. While I hate to add to any bad situation that they are in right now, the lack of information makes it extremely difficult to make informed decisions.

For those of you wondering how long this will go on. I’ve got two more weeks in March where I can’t do anything because I’ve got other commitments that need to be addressed. April will see some action and you have my word that something will happen in the next 45 days.

Oh, and happy Ides of March.

UPDATE: As I was writing this, Ridan was in the process of getting in touch with me. I’ve had email and more information about the hold ups. Robin will be up on various forums to make some public announcements and I’m cautiously optimistic that we’ll have new content soon.

In a nutshell, nothing.

The edits for Double Share are still with the publisher. I haven’t heard from her for over two weeks so I’m operating in the dark. I know you want me to say, “That’s it, I’m going it alone.” I’m not going to. At least not yet.

Last year was a year of huge transitions — for me, for Ridan, for the industry. I’m still willing to give Ridan a chance to get their act together because, quite frankly, I like what they do. The results we’ve achieved so far would not have been possible without their help and it seems a bit short-sighted of me to yank the rug out at this point.

I am taking steps to get more of my work out on my own. I published Ravenwood last October and the sequel is almost done. I’ll publish it as soon as it’s ready. I’ve already got the cover art and only need to finish writing the story and get it through some editing before publishing it in print, ebook, and podcast. South Coast and its sequel, Cape Grace, will probably be self-pubs as well. I’m holding them for the moment – first because the sequel isn’t written yet, and second because I want to see if Ridan can get things together.

What will happen in the future? I don’t know. I do have remedies. My contract with Ridan allows me to send a letter and get all my rights back with 30 days’ notice. I’d have to re-do the covers and re-issue them in my own name, but it’s possible to do. I know how it’s done. It’s not a *long* process, but it’s time that takes away from this year’s goals. When will enough be enough? I don’t know. Sorry. I can’t predict that kind of stuff reliably.

I can’t remember if I wrote about this here or not and I’m too lazy to go look but the goals for 2012 are:

1. Six new novel length works – a new Ishmael Wang trilogy, two more books in the Tanyth Fairport universe, and Cape Grace.

2. Podcast all my work and do a couple extra books besides.

3. Get some writing classes behind me to know better which rules I’m breaking and to learn some new ones to flout.

4. BaltiCon, WorldCon, MileHiCon, and COSine.

5. A novella in Scott Sigler’s GFL universe. A novella in Tee and Pip’s Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences universe. At least one more novella from Odin’s Outpost.

It’ll be a full year … and that’s besides getting the last three share books out in print and ebook formats.

Wish me luck. I’m going in.

Looking backwards for a moment, a year ago today I was worried that I’d need to find a job to keep the bills paid. This year, I’ve got a job–thanks to the thousands of people like you who’ve found my work. I need to get better and I need to get faster. My production in 2011 was limited to one podcast, two short stories, and a novella. We got Full Share released in May. I’m planning on six novel length works in 2012 along with a few shorter pieces. My new desk set up, a project schedule, and some grit should help. I also need to get better and more aware of the craft of story-telling. I’ll be taking a course in March and I’ve looked into getting some more formal training. I think the ‘school’ part of that will fall away but I’m looking forward to spending a week in Oregon with Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith. That’s gonna be a blast.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the good news that you’re all waiting for. Double Share will not be out before Christmas as promised. Ridan has not yet returned the edits to me and I can’t imagine that–even if I got them back this morning–there’s time left for me to review almost 125k words, return them to Ridan, and leave time for them to review and publish. The only way we can make the deadline now is if Robin publishes the book without my seeing her edits. That’s something I suspect she will not do.

Yes, I know you’re disappointed. So am I. From a marketing perspective, all the momentum that the promotion of Quarter Share generated in November has almost disappeared. It’s not quite back to October levels, but it’s lost a lot of oomph. That means we’ll have to rebuild the franchise anew in 2012. At least there’s a solid base, even if a lot of people have given up on me. With any luck, the eventual release will spark enough interest to rebuild things.

Before you break out the torches and pitchforks–and to preempt the outcry–Ridan will finish out the Share books. As disappointing as this year has been in terms of their ability to meet production goals, I still like what they’ve managed to do with the books when we’ve gotten them released. In the short run, looking at things through the “I’m still waiting” lens, it’s hard to keep a big picture perspective. Looking at this strategically, the books will be in print for a long, long time. Getting them right is much more important than getting them now. The plan is to get the last three Share books released in the first quarter of 2012. Will we make it? I doubt it, but that’s the plan.

Also in my plans are another trilogy featuring Ishmael Wang, two more books in the Tanyth Fairport series, a Philip Carstairs novel, and at least two novella length works–one in Scott Sigler’s Galactic Football League universe and another story about Odin’s Outpost.

Speaking of Tanyth Fairport, I hired Kip Ayers to create a set of covers for the trilogy. I got the rough first draft of Zypheria’s Call–Tanyth’s book two–done in November and I’ve been pondering it ever since. I think I’ve found most of the flaws and I’ll be working to get those corrected and the book produced by the end of January. You can see the cover and keep track of other happenings in Tanyth’s world over on Lammas Wood.

Merry Christmas, joyous Yule, and a safe and prosperous New Year to one and all. Thank you, again, for adding so much to my life and I hope I can continue to add to yours in the months to come.

Ridan says I’ll have edits for Double Share soon and they’re going to work on getting the last two books out by April-ish. The backlog is working out. I know one of the books ahead of me in the queue has been released. (Congrats, Todd.)

I hired a cover artist for the first Tanyth Fairport trilogy and I’m hoping a fresh face on that book will help over the holiday buying season (which, for ebooks, starts after everybody gets their shiny new Kindle for Christmas, so there’s time).

A regular influence around here, Debora Geary, has released the last book in her first trilogy — A Reckless Witch. I was a beta reader on it. It’s good. If you’re a fan of her work, go grab it. If you’ve never heard me talk about her before, go grab a sample of her first book and see if she has something you’ll like.

NaNoWriMo has been good to me. It’s not over yet, but I’ve finished the rough first draft of Tanyth Fairport’s book two — Call of Zypheria. I’ve started on book three – The Hermit. I’m hoping to get a good chunk of it drafted out before December starts on Thursday. Word counts were not what I had hoped for, but the stories are better than I’d imagined so it was a good trade.

Last, I’ve been threatening to do this for weeks but I got a bug in my ear today and decided it was time to put a desk on my treadmill.

Here’s the before – Just the basic treadmill:

I went to Lowes and got a 36″ long 1 1/4″ stair tread. It’s rounded on one side and has a nice heft to it. I wanted something that would be solid.

Here’s the after – Treadmill with desk installed:

I had a few strips of 1×2 left over from other projects so I tacked a lip on the square edge to keep things from rolling off the table and onto the treadmill.

I used a modification of a design I saw on Instructables that used a pair of runners under the board to hold it steady laterally. These two arms underneath bracket the pedestal snugly.

For safety, I added a couple of screw eyes and a 48″ flat bungee cord to form a back end. It’s only intended to keep the unit from slipping forward off the handles, but the slight tension on the cord makes the runners grip just a bit more than they did with out. The friction fit is pretty good. Here’s how the bungee hooks underneath.

And – voila! Laptop on the desk.

Total cost: $17. That included the stair tread ($9), the bungee ($3), a dollar for a pair of screw eyes, and the rest was the box of finish nails. Took me about twenty minutes to assemble (not counting the time I spent tracking down hand tools).

That’s it for now. I’ll have another update by year end.

In case you missed it, my reading from BaltiCon 45 is up at the Balticon Podcast. In it, you’ll hear me read the story I did for JR Blackwell’s “Birthday Book” about Dr. Mercury.

If that’s not enough of my voice you can always catch my reading of “Blood Dauber” on StarShipSofa 206. There’s more in the wings there as soon as Tony gets it scheduled. Watch for my reading of Allen M. Steele’s “Observation Post.” It should show up fairly soon.

In other news …

The promised website overhaul hasn’t happened yet. It’s still rummaging around behind my eyes somewhere. It’ll get here.

Double Share has been pushed back again. Ridan will be trying to get it out before Christmas but those of you who are looking for it any day now, um, not so much. For what it’s worth, the three (yes, three) books ahead of it in line have been waiting for a year – longer in one case – for their turn in the chute and I fully support the decision that Ridan has made on this. It is disappointing, I know, and it has a significant financial effect on me as well, but that’s the price I pay for working with a publisher.

That’s one reason that I’ll be publishing Ravenwood myself. My goal is to have it out in time for Samhain, the pagan new year. You might know it as All Hallow’s Eve, or Halloween. The cover may not be as spiffy, and the layout will be my own, but I’ll be getting work out for you to read.

More to the point, Cape Grace is about to go into binge mode. I took a trip back to Maine last week to visit my sister and to smell Atlantic salt again. I’m rather excited to get this underway and to get it podcast for your enjoyment while we wait for Double Share to make its text debut.

Honestly, this has been a difficult year for me, and not for the reasons that so many of you have speculated about in the comments. Some stories are not mine to tell, so you’ll have to forgive me for not putting out spoilers on works that aren’t my own. I still have almost three months left to 2011, and that’s enough time to get my own little ship pointed in the correct direction and start building some momentum.

Let’s see if I can actually do it.

That is all. For now.

One thing that’s changed is the title. Trader’s Diary made a certain sense when I was only doing the Trader’s Tales but now that those books are finished, I thought it was time to go a bit more meta and capture the feel of the larger body. Since this is my diary of the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper, it made sense to bring the title more in line with the URL. This should serve whether I’m working on Shaman’s Tales, or Explorer’s Tales, or the Life and Times of Captain Ishmael Wang.

I’m working on a theme for this new look and I’ll have some samples for you to look at and talk about in a few days. In the meantime, check out today’s new guest at Nathan Lowell Presents. I love the ears!

That’s how many times the 161 episodes of my novels have been downloaded since March 2008.

That’s about two per minute for just over three years.

Yeah.

Big number.

Thanks to all of you who’ve done the heavy lifting.

New book news: Double Share is in Ridan’s hands. Whether it comes out this month or next, I don’t know. It’s being edited and I’m waiting for the edits to come back to me for approval.

Old book news: Hard covers. The signed limited editions for Half and Full Share are still in process. I have no information from Ridan about when that process might end other than what I heard before — We’re looking for a new source. Might be an actual offset printer this time if we can find one that can do a short run. I’ll keep you posted, but all I can tell you is what I know.

New podcast news: I’m working on Cape Grace — writing it, not podcasting yet. I think it’s close to where I need to be in order to binge thru to the end. These things vex me and I never know when it’s going to click. I have to say, I’m hooked and I really need to find out what’s going to happen next…which sorta means I need to write it, and soon.

Old podcast news: Talking On My Morning Walk is still going on. I still find stuff to natter about every morning out there in the darkness. Go figure. If you want to listen to me ramble you’ll find the link in the sidebar.

New project news: I’ve started another blog — like I need more, right? It occurred to me that I’m getting a lot of requests for guest posts .. both for giving them and getting them — but that neither this blog, nor Lammas Wood are really appropriate venues for showcasing works that aren’t at least tangentially related. I’m meeting more and more interesting writers and I think some of you might find them interesting, too. Rather than have them all come here, I’ve created a new space and opened it up to creatives of all types. Expect mostly writers but I’ve already had an inquiry from a voice artist — who knows what’ll show up.

I call it “Nathan Lowell Presents” and we’ve already had a couple of posts there. I’ve got more in the wings and at least a half dozen people who’ve asked if they can play along. What I’m shooting for is part variety show, part circus act, and all entertainment. Some will take the stage with a flare, some with a bang — and some, undoubtedly, with a whimper and a splat, but keeping in the best of show business traditions — the show must go on. If you’re interested in seeing who else is playing in the indie-sphere, take a look.

And while you’re looking for new indies, take a look at what Allison has started over at Author Outbreak! Every day she features an indie author in a different genre. There’s a community that you can sign up for to participate in the forums, and a steady parade of new works coming through the doors. Take a peak and see what you link.

Finally, a word from our sponsors: Don’t forget that A Light In The Dark is available in ebook form. I’ve even set up a new store here on the Trader’s Diary where you SHOULD be able to order it direct from me and get an automatic link for downloading your choice of format. Please let me know if that widget gives you any problems.

Thanks to everyone. While I often joke around a lot here, I do appreciate all the support and encouragement you’ve offered over the years.

Ok, now I need to get back to … sigh … not writing.

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My apologies for the buffer speed. This file is HUGE but as an AVI, I figure most of you can see it, even if it needs a while to download.