Somebody reminded me in a comment that, while many of you know what’s happening because you follow me on twitter, there are lots of you who don’t so …
Half Share has gone to layout after an extensive editing process in which *I* have to take the blame for holding up progress. If the galley looks right, we’ll place the order and the book should be available relatively quickly. I’ll post it here when it happens.
Owner’s Share is coming along. I still need to carve out about 50k and there’s a developmental flaw in the early chapters that needs to be addressed. It’s taking too much time, I know, but it’s coming.
In other news, I’ve done some short pieces for Tony C. Smith over on the Hugo Award winning Star Ship Sofa and I’m hoping there will be some crossover traffic from that so more people will find the stories here. He did a short interview with me and that should appear in the next couple of weeks.
Finally, Avempartha – the sequel to The Crown Conspiracy – is still in the stack. I need about 50 hrs in a day to do everything I want to, and I need to get a lot more efficient if I’m going to crank out the kinds of output I’ve committed to.
Ack!!!
You’ll note that NaNoWriMo is not in the list because I’ve just got too much other stuff going on and too much of it is overdue to be able to take the month. In spite of that, Odin1Eye’s View From Valhalla is featuring reviews of my podcast novels this whole month in honor of NaNoWriMo and the works that have come from it. Some of you may remember that both South Coast and Ravenwood are NaNoWriMo winning projects.
Thanks for all your continuing support!
Thanks for the update!! Your work is well worth the wait ^_^
If you figure out how to get 50 hours out of a day, please share. That would be quite useful :P
Thanks for the update. If there’s one man who can handle all of this pressure, it’s you. One bite at a time. I fully realize what a committment NaNoWriMo is. I’m a little over 40K at this point and am looking forward to a smooth finish. Keep on doing the needful, the rest of the crew has you covered.
Arrrg pirates are weighing down his cans.
Half Share is sold as soon as it hits print. Just so as you know. ;)
Fantastic news Nate! And what a busy schedule! Great to hear that Half Share is in the final stretch (I already have funds earmarked for a couple copies of both hardcover and softcover)… and I’m very excited for Owner’s Share and the conclusion of the official Ishmael story arc… I’m sure it will blow us away! Keep plugging away boss… it’ll all fit into place and the efficiency will come in time. Until then, your crew awaits patiently…
Nate – will we be given the opportunity to buy a signed special edition hardcover, to match the Quarter Share copy we received?
Just wondering how much longer we’ll have to wait for the Kindle edition…
Not sure what it takes to do so but can you please just work with Amazon and get a pre-order page up for the Kindle edition of HalfShare? I really don’t mind waiting but I am getting tired of having to remember to come back and check (and I bet a bunch of folks don’t bother). I’d much rather pre-order it and just have it show up when it is finally done….
Dido for Watcher’s question.
Lemme talk to Ridan and see if they can do something there, Jon.
Yes.
Same formats. Same deals.
Kindle will come out when the others do. We publish them all at once.
It wouldn’t hurt to start a pre-order page for all versions of Half Share at Amazon, after all Quarter Share has remained on the top 20 best selling Amazon SciFi books list since it’s release. A pre-order page can give your publisher some idea of the expected demand. Of course a pre-order page does tie you down to a hard deadline.
I’m a new fan and have listened to all the currently released Share stories and just today had finished South Coast. I’m listening to Ravenwood at this very moment. Your writing style is fantastic and the productions for your audios are great, they’re timeless. Can’t wait for Owner’s Share and as the others wrote, take your time, your work is well worth the wait. I did have a question, how many episodes would 130k be? I’m just going on a guess that Owners Share may be that many words if you trim 50k.
I shoot for 5k per episode. That works out to about a half hour long episode.
If I get it down to 150k then we’ll have about 30 episodes.
Ack.
I wouldn’t mind 30 episodes. The longer the better! I know that’s a lot of work and I’m going to thank you in advance for what ever it ends up being. So THANKS!
Please don’t forget us NOOK format users.
looks like your over your mass allotment skipper, time to see if you can trust in the puka.
30 Episodes…Argh! Drool…
Ok stupid moment over.
Thank you very kindly for the update and the earlier advice.
All the ebook formats will also be available on SmashWords – including Nook and Sony readers.
A big THANKS Nate. Seems like a bunch of us fans are getting addicted to the solar clipper tales.
Best regards
any updates on Owner’s share? I’m running out of your fine narration and story telling to listen to. Not to mention that the Solar Clipper series is my favorite work of yours. Just finished listening to The Crown Conspiracy from Michael J. Sullivan, now working on Ravenwood and I would sure love to walk that into Owner’s Share when I’m finished.
It’ll definitely be worth the wait. I’d rather you take the time and get it right than rush putting it out. :D Keep up the good work.
Although I can hardly wait… having just ended the second listen through of all the Share series… I wish you the best at making each hour count! Waiting for Owners Share is not going to be nearly as difficult as the reality that when it is over, the series is over. But, still, I would like to hear it soon :)
For an ancient forerunner of this series, check out The Tattooed Man by Howard Pease. Old and hard to find but available to those that look hard enough. I have found it online in “Daisy” format. It may help to tide you over.
=
Can you give us a update Skipper? it is the end of November already.
Half Share is in layout and I’m waiting for the galley proof.
Owner’s Share has had 20,000 words carved out but I still need to pull at least another 50k out and I’m having trouble finding it. The issue for me is that I don’t wanna put out an audio version that’s substantively different from the text version and I can’t print a book that’s 200,000 words long without having structural issues with the books falling apart.
I was a little curious about the remark about ‘structural issues’ until I ran a quick search on the web and see that Tolkin’s “The Fellowship of the Ring” (already a hefty tomb) came in at something around 177,000 words which suggests that you really do have something of a long one going here with “Owner’s Share”, Mr. Lowell. The question in my mind (doubtless in yours as well) is whether what is being carved away is wheat or chaff. Might you actually have enough good material to make (gasp!) a two-volume novel?
Could owners share not be broken into two volumes? I have always thought publishers do this to make more money, but I’d understand if it was you
re: two volumes – If I could find two stories in there so that each book could stand on its own, yes. It’s one of the things I’m looking for, but the problem I’m having is that I can’t find them. The linear nature of the book is that the break would need to fall in a particular place.
so far, I’m pretty sure what I’ve pulled out is chaff. I spent a few thousand words in the beginning of the book wandering about looking for the plot. I finally found it and now need to follow that along.
Thanks for the update, Nate. Personally, I’m always happy to wait for your audio releases. With the way that you do it, I know that once the first instalment ‘s up, the wait is over, and I can “read” the whole story without having to wait a month for each chapter.
Does the book really need to stand on it’s own? ie, there should be at least a good punctuation mark in between the two, but there’s plenty of precedent for books that are firmly part of a series and can’t really be read on their own. I can’t imagine anybody picking up Two Towers, or Half Blood Prince, or anything from Wheel of Time series and expect to understand what’s going on without having read what came before, and expecting to read what’s coming after.
I can tell you, I would gladly purchase 2 books for Owners Share if it meant not compromising the story. That said, I am buying the kindle versions, so binding isn’t an issue.
Please don’t forget the Apple bookstore in your releases! Just finished Quarter Share and was enchanted. Cannot wait for the rest! Thanks – from a fellow former Coastie.
Just found an Amazon discussion thread where Quarter Share was recommended, the Kindle price was right, and boy did I enjoy it. Searching for more, I found http://www.podiobooks.com and then your private blog site. I love how interactive you are with your readers.
I think the only thing missing is a bit more acknowledgment that a healthy 18 year old male in close quarters with a small crew of women would bit more tormented by said women than is described in the book!
Otherwise, quite a bit of fun and good character development. I will be listening to the podcasts for the next few books until they come out in “print’ on Kindle.
Cheers,
Nathan W.
That part (the torment) is in Half Share… :)
And I realize that worrying about print size/cost/construction is kinda odd in this ebook day and age — most people are reading my work in electronic forms, but I want to make sure those who still cling to the paper aren’t short changed. That’s particularly true for those who buy the limited edition, signed and numbered hardcovers.
150k is quite a tome. I can do it. I’ve carved out 5k of dross just today… :)
Is there any chance that Half Share will be available for purchase in time for Christmas?
My wife would be ticked pink if I could surprise her with it. Granted the ensuing fight over who would get ot read it first, may counteract the pink tickling.
Yeah. It’s gone to layout now. That’s the last step before publication. If it’s clean, we push the button and the book is released.
Richard Bach claims his “Illusions” is the only book ever printed to end with a comma. Here’s your chance to change that.
This is slightly off subject, Mr. Lowell, but I just now finished listening to Tad William’s story, “The Tenth Muse” on StarShipSofa. Nate. You did a fine, fine job with the narration and I felt it only proper to say so. That little interview between you and Tony C. Smith which followed the reading was just extra frosting on the cake. Thank you, Sar!
Thanks! I’m glad somebody listened! :D
Found the Quarter Share through a Kindle recommendation. Loved it, especially for being such a different take on space sci-fi. Nice character development. Like another poster, I find myself checking every few days for Half Share. Keep up the good work!
Received signed and dedicated Quarter Share through post this week for my other half. Got her addicted to the Golden Age. Thanks Nate, and waiting with baited breath for Owner Share. No doubt it will be as fantastic as the other in the series…. Really hope this isn’t the last we’ll hear of Ish.
To Nathan W.:
I think the crew is a lot bigger than you think. There are a lot of women, but there are about 30 crew in the crew alone. most of them sleep in one of the berthing areas. In Quarter Share he has a quad with Beverly and Pip with the fourth bed empty. I think Ish is OVER Bev, so he’d have to be hanging off the bed to see her if they are laying down. Also, You have to take into concideration that Ish is on day-duty and Beverly has watch elsewhere on the ship. Her schedule doesn’t conform to the 0800-1800 shift to which most of us on Earth are used. He doesn’t see her or many of the other crew during off hours, with the main exception of the gym. On top of ALL that, it’s a new job, and a new place and by the end of Quarter Share he has only lived there for maybe a year. TOPS. He’s got a lot of stress and a lot to think about other than girls. Don’t worry. It all gets more complicated in Half Share and Full Share. :D
I can hardly wait for OWNER’S SHARE, but am doing so because I want it done well. There are so many threads to pull together that I can see what some of your problems are, Nate. Just figuring out the crew for a ship Ishmael would own, big or little, is a thought. Does he pull in some we know? His relationships, esp. with Greta, and how he handles “fraternization” and keeping track of that with minimal damage is a problem. The Agamemnon has Ms Thomas and Mr Wyatt as a twosome and it works because the crew are all male in berthing. The addition of Ms Arioni (sp.) puts that at risk although he handled that well with the knives. It would take a brave crewman to take her on knowing her skill with knives. This stuff is just speculation, but is fun while waiting to see how our author handles things. Yours truly in fun, Memline
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-12/eu-backed-electric-sail-could-be-fastest-man-made-device-ever-built. Getting closer to a solar clipper. We just need to figure out how to build a Burleson drive.