Month: April 2014

books. writing.

we can’t stop here. this is deadline country.

I am busy at the moment writing the third novel in the FRONTLINES series, titled ANGLES OF ATTACK. I sorta-kinda committed to a super-close deadline, which is good for you because the novel will be out sooner rather than later, but it’s also not-so-good for me in some ways because I have to write roughly triple my regular daily word count every day if I down’t want to blow the deadline. That leaves very little time for leisurely pursuits and such. But hey–it’s a nice problem to have, and I know lots of people who would just love to have it, so I’ll not whine about it too terribly much.

Spring has arrived, and it is GLORIOUS. The kids actually want to spend their time outside instead of glued to a screen indoors, which is a trend that I am sure will fade as the spring and summer progress.

The next official item on my dance card will be Readercon in July, where I’ll do my usual socializing and annual getting-together with friends. I’m not on the program in any way, so I can just check out whatever panels and readings look interesting, and spend the rest of the time hanging out. It is said that the hotel may actually have a lobby again this year, which will be nice. Last year’s Readercon felt more like meeting in a roadside Motel 6 for lack of an adequate social hub space. But that will be later. Until then, I have to crank out many more words so you fine people can spend your hard-earned cash on them, WHICH I TOTALLY SUPPORT AND APPRECIATE.

I may have some more important writerly-type announcements in the very near future. For now it’s back to the word-loom for me.

books. capitalism. shameless self-promotion. writing.

achievement unlocked: foreign language rights sale.

foreignrights

That right there is the contract for the Czech language rights to TERMS OF ENLISTMENT, making this officially my first foreign rights sale.

This is one of the many reasons why having a good agent is a huge benefit. Foreign language rights are basically free money. The foreign publisher pays an advance–check in the mail, hooray!–and then the writer gets the contractually agreed-upon royalties per sold foreign language copy. It’s free money because the book is already written, and I don’t have to translate it or do any extra work beyond signing the contract and depositing the check. My agent Evan brokered the deal and negotiated contract terms for me because that’s the kind of stuff an agent does all day, and it’s also the stuff that authors in general (and this author in particular) aren’t very good at. I don’t have the time to approach foreign publishers, and even if I did, I have no experience dealing with them, negotiating terms, or figuring out the contracts. That’s why agents get their percentage, and that’s why I don’t mind that one bit. It frees me up for writing, and getting most of the money from a foreign deal beats getting all the money from no deal at all.

I can’t wait to see the first foreign edition of TERMS out in the wild in the Czech Republic. I hope they’ll give it a sweet cover, with laser-firing spaceships and stuff.

castle frostbite. new hampshah. weather.

rasputitsa.

Spring is great, because the snow melts and it stays above freezing at night again.

Spring is not so great because the snow melts and it stays above freezing at night again.

This right here is our road at the moment:

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New Hampshire’s four seasons are Winter, Mud, Blackflies, and Preparing for Winter.

cultural oddities. movies. this monkey house.

mul-ti-pass.

So I found myself at the K-Marts yesterday to procure some kid shoes and some mothereffin’ Cold Water Tide laundry detergent LIKE A BOSS, when I walked past a life-sized poster display of THIS:

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And I swear to you, my first thought was “It’s official. We’re living in the Fifth Element future.”

castle frostbite. new hampshah. weather.

well, hello there, spring, you saucy minx.

The snow is finally MELTING. I cannot overstate how great that is. I thought I was never going to be warm again.

I know it’s a little obnoxious when someone who voluntarily relocated to New England complains about New England winters, but this particular one was a cast-iron bitch. To illustrate: we usually buy six tons of pellets for heating fuel in the summer. The last few winters, we’ve burned four, maybe four and a half tons for the season, and we usually have a ton or more left over in the spring. This year, we burned through all six tons just past mid-March already (and used up half a 350-gallon propane tank besides), and I had to get another half ton last week to keep the stove running some more. From what the guys at the stove place told me, that’s by no means an uncommon occurrence this year.

These first fifty-degree sunny days have been pure magic. The chickens have been clamoring for outdoor recess, and the kids have wanted to play outside after getting off the school bus instead of racing each other to the Xbox. I have some hope that the ten-foot-tall snow pile next to the house may even melt before July.