Solar Clipper Diary

News from the Golden Age

Mid-July Update

Really? Mid-July already? Seems like just yesterday I was in Mid-June.

No news on new projects at the moment.

Hard covers for Half and Full Share are still on the table, but Robin hasn’t found a supplier that she likes yet. Between quality and price issues, it’s being a bit sticky.

The Odin’s Outpost story is still limping along. There are things I need to do here or I’d have written this off a while back, I think. Every time I try to walk away from it, it drags me back.

I have an outline for Cape Grace. Yes, I know, I don’t work from outlines, but this is a very loose one. Similar to the plot points I had in the back of my mind while I was writing the other books. If I can focus, this would come together pretty well.

Double Share is slated for an August release. I’ve tossed my first round edit over the fence to Ridan and expect those’ll come back to me with some work for me to do pretty shortly.

Sales for Full Share are sliding down slowly. Over all sales for the three volumes is still very good with all three books in the 1000-2000 range of sales rank. I’ve got a 2-star review sitting at the top of the “most recent” and a 3-star on top of “most helpful” … I think most of the criticism will be shifted once Double Share hits the screens and people get a look at Burnside.

Beyond that. Not a lot happening here at the moment. I’m trying to work up a bit of momentum for the projects I have going and I’m not sure how effective I’m being at it.

Why.

One of Robin Sullivan’s recent posts reminded me that I’ve not really done much here lately except stop by and tell you what’s happening. Some people are getting insights into the why of my brain with the Talking On My Morning Walk podcast but that’s pretty scattered. I’m about to dive into another month of frenetic activity – and while I should be writing – I also need to stop and take stock.

“Why” is an interesting word. Why do I write? Why do I tell stories? Why do I tell the stories I do?

I believe in the power of the everyday hero. I am tired of the “we have to blow up the world” stories. I remember the wonder and joy I found in Heinlein, Bradbury, and Asimov. I miss those stories and I want them to come back. I figure the only to get them to come back is to write them.

To be clear, I don’t really remember the stories that well. What I remember is how they made me feel. What I know is that, as a kid, I found them strangely empowering, wonderfully engrossing. They were stories about people I could grow up to be — people I might want to grow up to be. I want to tell stories that give those feelings to others. As Hugh McLeod says, “The market for something to believe in is infinite.” I like that idea–that people want something to believe in. If I can inspire them to find it through my story telling, that seems – for lack of a less corny phrase – a worthy goal.

Key to this effort is telling the stories I want to read. A few people are very upset by the ending of Owner’s Share. I understand. It’s an upsetting ending. It’s not a Hollywood ending. It’s not happily-ever-after. It is the story I needed to tell. It’s the story I wanted to read. While some are wondering how this “something to believe in” meshes with the ending of the series, I think it makes perfect sense.

Before I wrote Owner’s Share, listeners made me promise not to kill him. The last Harry Potter book had just come out and there was a great deal of angst over the ending of that book. My listeners didn’t want that to happen to Ishmael. The more I thought about it, the better I liked the idea of continuing on, of telling more stories – different stories – set in this universe with Ishmael doing the exploration. The idea of “something to believe in” kept ringing in my head. How does one pick up the scattered pieces of a shattered life and move on? How do you find something to believe in?

These aren’t trivial questions, but are they questions that we ‘common people’ have to deal with. Ishmael is an Everyman. For all that many find him to be a Mary Sue (or Gary Stu, as the case may be), he’s still a common guy. The ending of Owner’s Share leaves him with something to believe in — and a new course to follow. He has a new guide and a new outlook. He has to do what anybody would have to do. Carry on.

For me, that’s a much more interesting challenge than happily ever after and it’s why I think the next series will be better. I’ve got new stories, and a new outlook to tell those stories with. I’m really looking forward to telling them and I hope you’ll all be with me when I do.

Oh, why do I write?

Because I have to.

Mid June Update

The latest news is that I’ve finally gotten my Parsec Award submission off to the committee. We’ll know in a few weeks if I’ve made the cut again. With four novels hitting the finalist list in the last four years, I’ve got a good track record. Last year’s win felt great and I’d love to be the first author with repeat wins in the Long Form category. Here’s a link to the 48 minute mp3 file I’ve sent to the committee. I was allowed to have one 30-second intro and up to six clips not to exceed one hour. I picked five and kept it under fifty minutes. If these five don’t do it, I don’t think adding another few minutes of audio will help.

Double Share is on track for release in August. I need to get the edits over to Ridan by the end of this month so they have a chance to deal with them in July. I’m getting a lot of interest from readers who are looking for the next book and I’m sorry to have to say “August” but given how fast Ridan is rolling these out in comparison to a mainstream press, I have to say that I’m impressed. At least we’re not having to wait for me to write them first.

Speaking of Ridan, we’re still having transitional issues with Robin Sullivan going full time with Ridan Publishing. The transition from her old day job to the current situation along with significant back-to-back conventions on top of an exhausted body has some of the expected consequences – along with some unexpected ones. Please have some patience as they gear up with more staff, extra editors, and all the other things that need to happen but can’t happen quickly.

Hard covers are still in the mix. There will be 250 of each title. Ridan is still evaluating presses.

I’ve had a lot of questions about Nook and iBook versions of the books. The intention is to get them into those places. It hasn’t happened yet. In the meantime, there’s a manual process in place for you to order them on your format of choice through the Ridan site. A couple of people have been surprised at the amount of time taken to turn them around. Hang in there, folks. (See the paragraph above about growing pains.) It’ll get addressed.

That’s it for now.

Safe Voyage.

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