News on This First Week of May

Today's news is that the big May snowstorm veered off at the last minute and just missed us -- towns just south of us got 8+ inches, but our lawn stayed green. Also that I was invited to write a guest post for the Kindle Daily Post. The topic suggested was What are your five favorite time travel novels? Had I thought about it really deeply, it would have been hard to choose from all the great time travel novels out there, so instead I went with the more straightforward method of listing the first five books that popped into my head (figuring that was a sure-fire way of guaranteeing they were my favorites). Read my guest post here and let me know what your favorite time travel novels are!

In other news, I'm doing a giveaway on Goodreads for both the new book and my first one. If you're a Goodreads member, you can enter to win a signed copy of The Far Time Incident or Regarding Ducks and Universes (or both!). The giveaway runs until May 13.

Finally, The Far Time Incident has been picked by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Kindle editors for their list of books "no self-respecting geek should go without," which is, of course, unbelievably cool. I don't know how often they change or update these lists, but for now you can spot the book there, nestled between Flatland and Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle. Like I said, very cool stuff.

Launch Day - The Far Time Incident

It's here! The Far Time Incident releases today in trade paperback, Kindle, and audiobook formats. Am I excited? Yes. Am I nervous? Yes. I feel I should say something deep and profound to mark the occasion, like that writing a book is like building a boat and that I've done the best job I could with hammer and nail, hoisted the mast and sail, carefully painted the name on the prow, and all I can hope for at this point are a calm sea and a good tailwind. 

Not for nothing is it called a book launch. 

The point, I think, is this -- that publishing means letting the book sail where it will, releasing it into the sometimes murky, sometimes stagnant, and sometimes wonderfully blue publishing waters. Yes, the publisher and you do what you can to help it along by sending out copies to reviewers and spreading the word via social media and other means, and hope that book finds a home in readers' hearts. But ultimately it means that the time has come to focus your efforts on building that next boat, and I have -- the sequel to the Far Time Incident is well in the works, with a nice solid draft sitting in my computer.

But today I'm here to watch a boat sail away. Here's to a great launch!

Audio Book News - Mary Robinette Kowal

The Far Time Incident has found an awesome narrator in Mary Robinette Kowal. I cannot wait to hear the audio book -- it comes out the same day as the print and Kindle editions, April 9. Here is Mary's bio from her website:  

Mary Robinette Kowal is the author of Shades of Milk and Honey (Tor, 2010) and Glamour in Glass (Tor, 2012). In 2008 she received the Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and in 2011, her short story “For Want of a Nail” won the Hugo Award for Short Story. Her work has been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards. Her stories appear in Asimov’s, Clarkesworld, and several Year’s Best anthologies. Mary, a professional puppeteer, also performs as a voice actor, recording fiction for authors such as Elizabeth Bear, Cory Doctorow and John Scalzi. She lives in Chicago with her husband Rob and over a dozen manual typewriters. Visit www.maryrobinettekowal.com

I am so glad that the book is in such experienced hands (note that Mary is not only a Hugo Award winner but also a puppeteer -- how cool is that?). Early last week we fine-tuned the pronunciation of the Latin names and words in the Pompeii section of the book, something I didn't pay a lot of attention to in the writing stage. Mary needed to know whether to use Classical Latin or the more modern (Ecclesiastical) Latin. (As an example, Veni, vidi, vici would have been way-nee, wee-dee, wee-kee originally.) We settled on having her use Classical in the short bits of dialogue with Pompeian locals Sabina, Secundus, and others, and the more familiar modern Latin for place names and such. And yes, I'm going to be more aware of this side of things from now on, and maybe think twice before incorporating tongue-twisters like Gnaeus Alleius Nigidius Maius (who was a real person, by the way) into the manuscript. Mary seemed to take it all in stride, though.

As an added bonus, Mary's own books sound right up my alley and will make for great reading on our upcoming winter break. Other things to look forward to are seeing family and feeling that warm Florida sunshine... Bone-chilling subzero temperatures here this week.