Where Personal and Professional Life Collide...

After a long pause, the snow returned overnight, and I was woken early this morning by O. the Super Super firing up the snowblower so people could get their cars out of the garage. It's coming down thick and heavy, and looks pretty windy, too. Not quite Snowpocalypse, but impressive. They're predicting up to 10" for the area. Here's hoping everyone who wanted a snow day gets one... Me? No snow day. Work goes on as scheduled. I know, you're all sooooo sorry for me. I do have to go out into the snow later. I'll report back on how deep it actually got.

EtA: when I went out to the post office just now (9:30) there was about 5" on the ground where it hadn't been shoveled or plowed, and it was coming down fast.

Meanwhile, some Fun & Good news!

I am informed that FREE FALL has been nominated for Best Novel in the Chronic Rift's 2008 Roundtable Awards. I'm delighted to be nominated, absolutely and have no expectation of winning, since I share the slate with a guy named Gaiman, and a guy named Doctorow, and a guy named Steele and a Kat named Richardson, all of whom can wipe the floor with me, fans-wise. But that's okay. I can haz nominayshun! Thanks to everyone who gave me the nod, and everyone should feel free to vote for FREE FALL as the underdog. ;-)

http://www.chronicrift.com/node/442


In other good news, I draw a deep breath and gird my introverted self up, and announce that yes, I will be at Dragon*Con. I'm actually looking forward to it -- my memory of the last time I went (back in the early 90's!) was that the costuming was breathtaking. I'm told it's even gotten more intense? I'll bring an extra memory card for my camera.

Got word this morning that Free Fall has gone into a second printing. Yay!

(A sad thing about Luna/Harlequin is that getting information out of them is like getting tax return statements from Mrs. McCain. I suspect less disinclination-to-share and more no-clue-what-third-hand-is-doing. But frustrating, nonetheless -- especially when it's good news!)


And now, back to the salty salt mines...

Or at least, FREE FALL has...

My essay about writing fantasy for Luna -- and the connection between my dark fantasy-writing self and the romance-publishing establishment, and my penchant for non-Happily-Ever-After endings -- is up at http://paranormalromanceblog.wordpress.com/

Go, give them many hits. Make me look popular. *grin*

Best part of last night's party: showing 0eris0 the dedication page.

*grins*

Five Books. Five Questions.

Answer all five correctly* and win a copy of the fifth book, FREE FALL, before it goes on-sale!

To even the odds a little, there will be three winners: one each from Eastern/Central, Western/Pacific, and Outside North America. Please identify your geographic area when you reply.

( The Questions: )

All answers must be posted here (in screened comments, natch) by 12 noon 5pm Monday April 21st (Eastern time, yes)


EtA: Members of my writers' group, editorial or agentoral staff, and family members are not eligible to participate. Sorry guys... (oh hell, most of you get 'em free anyway...)

Got a lovely e-mail yesterday from Mirna Denic at Rendezvous Bookstore in Australia, mentioning that they will be carrying FREE FALL (and have my entire backlist) in stock, for those of you Down Under who might be looking. http://www.rendezvousbooks.com is their main site, and this should take you directly to my page for ordering.

As many of you know, I adore indie bookstores, and love to give 'em plugs (especially Pandemonium in MA, and Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego!). In fact, if you buy FREE FALL at an independent bookstore, and send me a scan or copy of the proof of purchase*, I'll not only send you a signed bookplate for it, but a sneak peek at the first chapter of BLOOD FROM STONE, a year ahead of everyone else!. Yes, even all y'all outside of the United States. This offer good through July 1 2008


* PoP in this case being anything from your cash register receipt to a signed note from your bookseller.
------------------------------
as to the letters:

Dear Amex: Please stop offering me a platinum card. Yes, it's very pretty. No, I don't want it. No means no! It was very nice of you to offer me that Food & Wine cookbook, though. Do you moonlight as crack dealers, or what?

Dear State of Connecticut DMV: I have moved. I registered with the NYS DMV. I no longer own the car you are trying to bill me to register. Get a clue!

Dear Dell: You make great computers. They're like the Timex of laptops. Your battery chargers, however? Notsomuch. The replacement you sent is dead. Send me a new one, plz.

nolove,
suri

*comes in, collapses* Long, very good day, including lunch with Madame Editrix and Madamoiselle Assistant Editrix, in which we regaled Mam'selle with stories of The Old Days, griped about Borders' new "face some books, get rid of the backlist" philosophy, and argued over the title for Bonnie #1 and how close together they can be scheduled (Me: "less than 9 months apart and I will kill you. I will." Madame: "I know, I promise, we won't")

While in the office I saw the four-star review in ROMANTIC TIMES, but forgot to get a x'ox of it, so I don't have the exact text to share. They liked it quite a lot, though. fashionista_35 comes through with the text:

The latest Retrievers novel is compulsively readable, fast paced and deadly serious. The lighthearted tone of prior volumes is almost totally gone, and it's a fitting change, as the stakes are so much higher. Wren continues to be an engaging and likable protagonist, one the reader can root for with all her heart.

Also, Darque Reviews has a review of FREE FALL (warning, the first few paras are slightly spoilery) and a related interview with moi. Checkitout.

And home to a copy of APEX 12, which has a completely different interview with me. Man, I get around, don't I?

Tomorrow, writing. Yes.

From Publishers Weekly:

[starred review]FREE FALL
Laura Anne Gilman. Luna, $14.95 paper (352p) ISBN 978-0-373-80267-8

Picking up shortly after the devastating battle between humans and fey atop the Brooklyn Bridge in 2007’s Burning Bridges, Gilman’s compelling fifth foray into the fantastic netherworld of modern-day Manhattan takes an even darker turn. ( spoilery and slightly inaccurate plot details ) With streamlined prose, Gilman deftly weaves intricate plot threads and complex relationships into an almost painful buildup of violent suspense. The result is an intelligent and utterly gripping fantasy thriller, by far the best of the Retrievers series to date. (May)


*isn't sure if she should be doing a jaunty two-step or just passing out in delighted shock*

EtA: I knew, in my humble and biased opinion, that this was a very good book. My editor concurred. But you never know how that first review is going to come down...

EtA2: some of you may remember that the original title of this book was DOWN INTO DARKNESS. There was a reason for that....

Elsewhere, various people are posting their daily schedule. Me? I don't have one. I get up at 6ish, unless I'm up earlier, and feed the felines. Everything else follows from there. I work at what needs to be done in order of importance, interest, and deadlines [including freelance and Occasional Employment], I exercise when my body tells me to (and it tells me so on a regular basis, being hyperactive from Day One), I socialize when I feel the need for interaction, and I sleep when I am exhausted.

I don't recommend this for everyone. I spent two decades living according to a specific pattern, and I like not having one, for now. I dislike doing the same thing over and over and over again. It bores me, and a bored meerkat is not a healthy meerkat.

That said? I have spent the last umpteenish hours working on a short story that is kicking. My. Ass.

I started it several months ago, just a random character sitting in a random setting, thinking some random thoughts. Generally, I write short fiction to work out an Issue I'm having trouble with, digging into causes and probable outcomes in a very organic fashion. It's a very different mental place from novel-writing, which combines story-telling with structural engineering.

This story, tho... I knew the issue, because I wasn't working it out so much as the realization that I had already worked it out, if that makes any sense. But the story itself wasn't building properly in my head.

And so it sat.

And then an image came to me, and I understood what the story was about, which meant I knew who it was. And the beginning made sense, and I was able to fill in the basic details of what happened, and then... brick wall. For whatever reason, I wasn't ready to write the story just yet.

Last night, after fiddling with another story, I opened up the file and wrote a large chunk of the opening, looked at the middle bits, and skipped ahead to write the ending. I do that so rarely I can count it on one hand, but I knew exactly what happened, and where everyone ends up, and why...

But the center is still sitting there like unrisen dough, just all...lumpy and floury.

Which means it needs more kneading. Bother.

Back to't.

( a sample, for them as are interested... )

And proof that my schedule is mutable: before I could even hit 'send' on this, the doorbell rang. My UPS guy, handing over the author alterations (not quite proofs but close) for FREE FALL. Two weeks earlier than expected, and due back 1/7.

Never a dull moment.

Excuse me while I make another pot of caffeine.