Wondering what I’m doing?

I think I listed everything on my current schedule. It should answer any questions.

Brion Humphrey – who some of you might know from the Round Table Podcast – has put out his first book. I read it in manuscript a few months ago and I loved it.

To really appreciate how much, this is a psychological thriller. That’s a long way from my genre-preference and yet it’s characters drew me into the action. What was going to happen next? How did this all work? Who *are* these people??

Yeah. It was fun. Very, very fun.

If you’re looking for something to fill in the empty hours before Double Share gets re-released try Sense Memory.

[Transparency disclaimer: I know Brion and worked with his students over last fall in his creative writing class. I've appeared on the Round Table twice. He's a good guy and one that I'd call a friend. He didn't ask me to promote this book and he's not giving me anything for doing it. I just wanted to share a good read with you.]

The updated covers — and corrected links — are now on the “Get the Books” page here. Full Share has only been live for about a day. It’s been caught in limbo for the last week and a half while Amazon went through the review process but it’s finally up and read.

Double Share’s re-issue is next. I know all you people are anxiously awaiting Captain’s Share but I have to do this one step at a time. My goal is to get the last two books in the series out and done by mid-summer 2013. I’ve got a schedule and the only question is how well I’ll be able to follow it.

Many of you have wondered what the delay has been. I’ve been a bit distracted by the passing of my younger sister. She lost a two-year struggle against cancer on the last day of January. It took a toll on my productivity, coming to a head just as the avalanche of re-work fell on me. It’s been difficult to focus on anything, let alone the fiddly detail work of re-editing and re-publishing books.

In spite of that, I’m very pleased with the re-work and look forward to getting the new stuff out ASAP. Fingers crossed that the worst is behind.

Yeah. It’s been that kind of year so far.

Status:

I have the edits back on Captain’s Share — Thank you to the Dislexic_Wombat for his unflagging devotion to this effort for the last eight months — but I’m bogged down working through Full Share and getting the copy edits incorporated into the text. That should be coming our Real Soon Now.

Double will be after that, Captain’s after that .. and Owner’s Share is needing an editor who’s not intimidated by 200,000 word manuscripts.

Some people have reported that the ebooks are not available in their regions. It seems that the Ridan editions are still linked into vary places and – since those editions are no long available anywhere – that’s causing the problem. Quarter Share and Half Share are out with full, world-wide distribution. I’m selling copies in most countries so I’m pretty sure they’re available through Amazon at least. If you’re getting the “Not available in your country” message — that’s not my book.

The fantasy books are moving well and you should be looking over at Lammas Wood for information about Tanyth Fairport. I’ll make any announcements about her stuff there first.

Healthwise, I’m getting better but it’s a slow process. I’m getting the medical care I need which is a big step out of the river in Egypt. I’ve lost weight and need to keep losing it. I’ve got more dental work in my future … and some eye surgery, too. Always something new and exciting.

The daily podcast has stumbled along and will continue as often as I can manage it. (I need to go out right now, in fact.)

This weekend (Jan 25-27) I’ll be in Colorado Springs at the COSine conference — and I’m taking my laptop and editing with me, just in case. If you’re in the area, it’s a fun little con and SM Stirling is this year’s GoH. I’m REALLY looking forward to this one.

That’s about all I can tell you right now. It’s been a tough year and I’m working to put that behind me. It’s taking me more time than I want to rebuild the infrastructure that I lost and to recover the momentum that I’d gained before Ridan. We’ll get there.

Thank you all for staying with me over the bumpy bits.

Safe voyage.

That’s been the lot here and it’s gotten in the way of my grand plans.

Ridan has taken their versions of the ebooks down so people around the world (Germany, Australia) are getting told “Not available.” It’s nothing personal, folks. It’s everybody because I still don’t have my versions ready to go. With any luck my medical problems will now be healing and I can proceed. There’s only one more medical problem for me that needs work but that’ll probably hold off until the new year.

Captain’s Share is still with the editor and as soon as I can, that’ll be coming out with Owner’s Share right behind it. I’m anxious to get these books done so I can start on something new. As it is, everything is backed up.

Sorry about that, but I haven’t forgotten about you.

Trader’s Tales:

Yes, there will be more books next year (2013). I’m planning at least another trilogy.

Yes, he’s likely to meet some of this old friends again.

Yes, he will–eventually–find peace. When he does, the series will be over. Be careful what you wish for. I’m not done telling stories with him yet, but I’ve got other characters and other stories set in the Golden Age universe.

I’ve got six matching covers and I’ll be issuing ebook first (it’s easiest), then paperbacks, then hardcover collectibles. I’m currently looking a actually creating a boxed set with this new artwork. With a real box. I know a couple people who do it and I’m thinking “Yeah. Cool.”

Yes, I’m looking at omnibus editions for ebooks. If I do it, it’ll probably be three books in each volume — before and after the Academy.

No, I’m not planning on writing “Ishmael Goes To College” any time soon. Sorry, but after “Back to School” and “Bedtime for Bonzo” I can’t think of anything new or interesting to day. Perhaps when I get around to skewering Education, I’ll take a shot at it. Don’t hold your breath.

Yes, I’m planning on more Odin’s Outpost stories in the Tales From the Deep Dark. They’ll probably be novellas–which reminds me I still need to record “Light in the Dark” for StarShipSofa.

Shaman’s Tales:

I was editing South Coast for print/ebook publication when everything broke loose on the Share books. I was hoping to release that this weekend, but that’s not happening. This will follow the same pattern — ebook then print/hardcover. But I need to get these Share books out ASAP so most things are taking a back seat.

Cape Grace is still on the docket. It’ll come after The Hermit of Lammas Wood–that’s the last book in the first Tanyth Fairport trilogy. I need to get that wrapped up so all those people who won’t start a fantasy series before it’s completed can begin. I’m thinking that this will come between Lammas Wood and the next Ishmael Wang books. I’ve been promising it a long time and I need to wrap it up before I forget

Tanyth Fairport Adventures:

Yes, Zypheria’s Call is out. Go look at her site for information about that. I’ll be getting that podcast out, too, as soon as I dig out from under the avalanche of Shares. At the moment it’s only available on Kindle, but it’ll show up in my own storefront Any Day Now. I need to get clean epub and mobi, etc. Paper and hardcovers .. see above.

Hermit of Lammas Wood is next. Probably first book of the new year. That’ll give me two months to get this pile carved into shape.

Miscelleneous:

I will be self-publishing all my books from now on. It’s not that I wouldn’t entertain a publisher, but they have to convince me that we’ll do better together than I can do on my own. So far neither of the Bigs who’ve approached me have even come close. Small presses with mainstream contracts shouldn’t waste time with me.

Email list. I only send out an email about three times a year. Some of you have that “Oh, I got this email from you but I’m protected from spam by a firewall that requires you to reply to this message in order to confirm you’re a real person. You only need to do this once…etc.” You folks are not getting the emails. Others of you may be having that email disappear into your spam catchers. I sent out an email to the entire list when Zypheria’s Call released for Kindle in early October. If you’re subscribed to the list and didn’t get that email, let me know.

Time lines. I’m juggling so many balls right now that I expect several of them will fall before I get this all ironed out. I need to work my lawyer to get the business on an even footing. I need to get the old books out so they’ll be available when the new books make it. They all need to be re-edited to take out the stuff that Ridan made me put in and to fix the errors that readers have caught over the years. That all means that I’m not going to be any more specific that I’ve spelled out here — and even those may not make it. The truth is I’m trying to do it all–but I’m also trying to do it right. That takes more time than anybody wants it to–including me.

I’ve also got some personal issues that will likely get in the way. When they do, I’ll share. Until they do, consider this my fair warning. I’ll be struggling with more than just the business.

And I think that’s about all.

Thanks for you support and interest. It really means a lot to me that you all are so engaged in this universe that started out as a lark.

Safe Voyage.

That means Captain’s Share and Owner’s Share are going to be delayed again. I need to re-publish the first four before I can publish the next two. I’m already working with cover artists to streamline that process and I’ll be giving each book a bit of a scrub up before releasing. I already have an editor working on them to try to keep the delays to a minimum.

I wish I could say “They’ll be out by Christmas” but right now, without covers and without a clean edit on what amounts to about a million words? Yeah. Not something I’ll commit to.

Have patience. I’ll get these out as soon as possible. I just don’t know what’s possible yet.

He’s created a fascinating universe for this and I was invited to contribute to it. It was a lot of fun. I hope you enjoy it.

I sent the draft to Ridan in June. They haven’t gotten it back to me yet. There’s a stub in Amazon for pre-orders, but that’s only for paper. So far we still cannot set up a preorder for ebooks. I’m guessing that — unless they accept the manuscript I sent without any edits — we’re not going to make the Sept 1 date.

What I’m doing is getting Zypheria’s Call ready to go. It’s taking forever because I’m being slow and stupid but it is coming.

Sorry there’s not more — or better — news.

She’s just released her latest work – A Nomadic Witch – and it’s skyrocketing through the charts. She’s already broken above #100 once. I suspect she’ll head back there soon.

With good reason. This ia a terrific book. I read it as a beta reader and this woman just keeps impressing me with the way her skill as a story teller grows.

And I’d like to think she’s modeled Marcus after me, but … probably not.

So, if you’re looking for a nice summer read, grab a sample and see what you think.