Technical Difficulties

"The Wreck of the Charles Dexter Ward" by matociquala and me, which is set in the same universe as "Boojum" and "Mongoose," is a free podcast up at The Drabblecast (2 parts, here and here).

First! Publishers Weekly gives Somewhere Beneath Those Waves a starred review. (OMG ELEVENTY-ONE!!!1!1!)

ETA: since a couple people asked, and since apparently I am drifting along, lonely as a cloud, without a clue as to the correct answer: YES, this book will have both paper and electronic versions, and the e-book should be available near to the release date for the paper book (which is November 22).

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!UBC:
Lukacs, John. The Hitler of History. New York: Vintage Books, 1998.

( There's a bit of a rant behind the cut-tag. )

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Fountain pen geeks, what do you think about Pelikan inks, particularly the ones available in cartridges? I have been very disappointed in the royal blue, which is a nice enough color but fades horribly--and since I want my inks dark and vivid, this drives me nuts. Should I try any of the others, or should I just give in to my own geekiness and take a bottle of Noodler's Squeteague to live in my desk at work?

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A reminder: matociquala and I will be reading at Pandemonium Books in Cambridge MA at 6 p.m. on Saturday, November 19. Free and open to the public, so please come out!

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And, for a fifth thing and happy Friday, have some lovely pictures of wet fishing cat kittens

::emerges, blinking, from hole::

So things have been pretty hectic for me in the past couple of months. I've started a new job as a database thrall, and The Goblin Emperor should have been turned in September 1st but persists, hydra-like, in producing two new heads for every one I chop off.

There are all kinds of things that aren't getting the attention they deserve because of this (just ask Catzilla and the Plushie Ninja if you doubt me), but one thing I've failed ignominiously to do is to provide pointers to some things people who like my writing may be interested in.

(Marketing genius, ladies and gentlemen! as Peter Mulvey says.)

1. The compiled list of recommendations from #buyabiggaynovelforscottcardday is here.

2. Whedonistas, in which I along with a fuckton of awesome women have an essay, is available for the Kindle.

3. Back in the pre-The Tempering of Men-launch week, matociquala posted the first chapter. So, you know, if you haven't bought it yet or haven't heard that there's a sequel to A Companion to Wolves or something . . . it's still there.

(I am so bad at self-promotion, it is embarrassing.)

4. The ebooks of Shadow Unit Seasons 1-3 are available at Barnes & Noble (for the Nook) and Amazon (for the Kindle).

5. Just a note, because I should have said it here: "Absent from Felicity" will be included in Somewhere Beneath Those Waves, which I should also mention is, if you follow the link, available for pre-order.

Also, bonus item: the fabulous cover design for the new edition of The Bone Key. (Seriously. This is the best cover I have ever had. I am in love with it and want to give it chocolate.)

There. I think that does it.

::retreats back into hole::

I have an acupuncture appointment today (finally! an acupuncturist in the Madison area who returns phone calls!). So while I'm off voluntarily having needles stuck into my flesh,* here's the second half of "Boojum" (by matociquala and me) at Drabblecast: Drabblecast 203: Boojum, Part II.

And if you need it, the link to Part I: Drabblecast 202.

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*Man, I need to earn enough money to get that dragon tattoo.

Portrait of the Lavinia Whateley by Caroline Parkinson (for Drabblecast's upcoming release of "Boojum"). I love the idea that she's part angler fish.

Part 2 of "Mongoose" is up at Drabblecast.

1. I still have this cold.

2. However, yesterday I was feeling grungy but not unbearably subhuman, so all the books from the auction are in the mail. (Megan, the manuscript stories are going to have to wait until I get a new toner cartridge, because I owe you better print-quality than I can currently provide.)

3. I have plane tickets for CupcakeCon.

4. I am told that the Publishers Weekly review of Jonathan Strahan's Best SF/Fantasy of 2009 praises "Mongoose" for its "humor amid life-and-death peril."

5. And last night on Twitter, cristalia and I started hashing out a manifesto for Gromitpunk:

@leahbobet (a.k.a. cristalia): Oh hello there, THE WRONG BOOK.
@pennyvixen (a.k.a. truepenny): It's very like the Wrong Trousers, only generally with less penguin.
@leahbobet: And less Wensleydale. :(
@pennyvixen: And no Gromit. ... although, come to think of it, ALL my books have that problem.
@leahbobet: Time to write the Gromitpunk manifesto.
@pennyvixen: oh GOD yes.
@leahbobet: OTOH, a year and four months later, I just found why that first sentence is wrong... *g*
@pennyvixen: Gromitpunk is all about embracing the Zen of one's writing process, goddammit.
@leahbobet: Y'know, it kind of is. Wallace and Gromit ARE the writing process: make up crazy outsized shit, and then Gromit makes it work.
@pennyvixen: Yeah. Wallace takes all the credit and Gromit just sighs and makes another pot of tea.
@leahbobet: 'Zactly!
@pennyvixen: Gromitpunk is also all about tea.
@leahbobet: And dairyfat, and pies.

(If you're curious about The Wrong Book and its new first sentence, look over here.)

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Survey says, not too shabby.

Today, the mail brought me my contributor's copies of Lovecraft Unbound, in which matociquala and I appear in the excellent company of Caitlín R. Kiernan, Michael Chabon, Joyce Carol Oates, Laird Barron, Amanda Downum, and many other excellent persons, all under the aegis of Ellen Datlow. Our story, "Mongoose," is set in the same universe as "Boojum" (because that universe is seriously the Best Toy Ever) although it is not a sequel or otherwise related.

Also, I love the book design and its cunning use of fonts.

truepenny: I covet your cover artist.
matociquala: *shares*
truepenny: You are the best Bear.
matociquala: Well, I don't mangle bird feeders. Which makes me better than many bears.
truepenny: And your liver isn't toxic!
truepenny: ... that came out all wrong.