Trader’s Diary

Today’s the day another of the Podiobook authors hits the shelves. Seth Harwood’s crime noir saga is out today and in honor of that, he’s giving away these chapters of Jack Wakes Up in PDF format.

I know it’s not sci-fi but for those who like crime stories — and there must be at least a few of you — here’s a chance to try out the newest voice in the genre.

Good luck, Seth!

I’ve been meaning to put up a new post for weeks. A fan’s email this morning pushed me into the “omg, this is embarassing” mode so here’s a status report.

Cape Grace is still the next work in progress. I really want to fill that slot in before I go to Captain’s Share. My ideas on Cape Grace are working in my mind, and I really hope I can pry myself out of “Day Job” for a few weeks here sometime soon.

The “Day Job” — as some of you may know from reading the comments on the last thread — is in survival mode. It depends on earmark money and grants for continued support. If you’ve seen any of the financial news lately, you’ll understand why things are so desperate. The Feds are pulling the plug on all earmarks, grant agencies are only writing grants to the largest and most prestigious institutions, and foundations are suffering from the economic meltdown. That doesn’t leave a lot of room for a small, specialized organization that’s working to help teachers for kids who are blind, deaf, or have significant support needs. It’s not all bad news. We have several initiatives underway that are potentially game changing, but they’re requiring a lot of work on my part to make sure that — if the “Day Job” folds, it won’t be because we didn’t do everything humanly possible to try to make a difference. I won’t bore you with the details, but we’ve developed new tools to teach science which are on the cutting edge at the intersection of instructional design and technology. You can probably imagine how much effort is going into these. On the upside, if I lose my job, I’ll have more time to write. On the downside, I’ll lose my job.

My teaching load has been doubled since last fall. I used to teach only one course a semester, and now I’m doing two. This semester is a “new teach” – which means I need to do a lot of work to get the course established and I made the mistake of not doing enough ahead of time. It’s sucking up a lot of the time that would normally go to writing.

So, the bottom line is that I’m still here. I’m still planning to write more. I miss the production process, the writing and reading maybe even more than you all miss getting new content.

Thanks for being out there, and thanks for all the support you’ve shown me.

Yes, it’s coming! November means NaNoWriMo and you’ll be able to follow along with my progress by clicking the icon on the left. I’ll post occasionally here on the Trader’s Diary, and you’ll be able to see my word counts on Twitter as well.

I’m so looking forward to this!

It was my distinct honor to spend an hour or so on Tea and Chat talking about a variety of topics including the cuppa tea I’d just finished while waiting for some hardware problems to get resolved.

You’ll find the interview on Tea and Chat Epistode 23. If you’re not subscribed to this, go back through and listen to the interviews with other podcast authors.

Thanks, Stephen!

In about half an hour I’m heading for Kansas City, MO. I’ve already heard from a couple of fans who’d like to get together. Use the contact me link on the sidebar if you’d like to get together for dinner on Friday or Saturday.

If you’re in the neighborhood, I hear there’s good ‘que in KC … any truth?

In case you missed this comment from the Fan Forum page:

Comment from lois mckendrick
Time: September 25, 2008, 1:51 pm

I would appreciate it if you would in future desist from using my name in your stories- I’m getting fed up of my name now being an item on peoples tee shirts!!! Or perhaps I could get royalties for your use of my name??

With people entering contests to name the ships and celebrating their appearances in my stories, apparently I picked the name of somebody who doesn’t appreciate being made a heroine.

Go figger.

I haven’t heard this yet but I was honored by a chat with the Council of Great Relevance last week. The audio is now available.

Seth Harwood’s new book, Young Junius is another Seth Harwood crime noir set in the mean streets of Boston. Now I know most people don’t think of Boston when they think mean, but trust me. I grew up in New England. Boston was the place your momma warned you against.

Here’s a promo for Young Junius. If you’re looking for something to listen to while you’re waiting for me to get the next book up …

 Young Junius Promo [1:04m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Update: Before Jack busts me for no link here, Young Junius is on Podiobooks.

Occasionally, other Podiobook authors ask for help in promoting their titles. Since I don’t do a regular podcast, the best I can do is give them a plug here and put their promo up for you to listen to.

The Prophet of Panamindorah is from one of the “new kids” coming along in the Podiobooks block and I think she’s produced a really nice fantasy novel here. If you like fantasy, give her a try. Her reading is pretty darn good and the audio quality is certainly a step up from the average first time PodioAuthor.

 Prophet of Panamindorah [1:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Updated: Oops! Jack called me on the lack of link love for the title. I figured everybody must have Podiobooks on a bookmark at this point but for those who don’t, you can find the book at Podiobooks.

Well, it didn’t happen this year, but we got closer.

Last year, Quarter Share was eligible, and nominated, but didn’t make it to the finals.

This year, the other three novels were eligible and nominated. Full Share and South Coast made it into the finals, but Mur Lafferty’s Playing for Keeps won. I can’t find any fault with that decision. Losing to Mur no shame. She’s awesome and Playing for Keeps is an excellent novel. So, we got a little closer.

Next year? Double Share will be eligible. And we’ll see what else may come between now and the end of April.

Thanks to all of you for your warm wishes and words of support and encouragement. I’m humbled and grateful.

[UPDATE: Farpoint Media has a good rundown of the categories, nominees, and winners.]