Nathan, at Fantasy Review Barn, posts a detailed and positive review of my “scoundrel-lit” novel The Dread Hammer:

Smoke is the core of the story, a wonderful flawed character. His love for Ketty is pure but it may be the only thing about him that is. A perfect killer with atrocities tied to him, he is feared by all. Alone among the Bidden he is unloved by the people, and shows them no love in return. If not for Ketty he may not have any cares in the world, yet hears the prayers of many in trouble and often answers them. Intriguing and hard to pin down is our Smoke, but a whole lot of fun to read about.

Read the entire review here.

I have the great good fortune of guest-blogging this week over at Charlie’s Diary, the blog of top SF writer Charles Stross.

Not long ago, Charlie did a blog post on why he doesn’t self-publish. I asked if he’d be okay with me doing a counter post on why I do self-publish and he thought it was a good idea. Follow this link to view the post, and if you’re not already following Charlie’s blog, check out the fascinating array of topics he covers.

Keith Brook of Infinity Plus asks me some questions on the new novel, along with my take on this new world of publishing, and a few other things. Here’s a snippet. Visit Keith’s site to read the whole thing.

Snapshots: Linda Nagata interviewed

What’s recently or soon out?

In any other month, the big news would be the publication of my short story, “Through Your Eyes,” in the March/April double issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction. It’s a near-future story with a theme focused on technology and civil rights, and it’s the first story I’ve ever had in Asimov’s…

Every time I see an article on the invisibility of women writing SF, I get an image of me as the donkey in Shrek, jumping up and down behind the crowd, yelling “read me!”

Not very dignified, I know.

Did you know I have a new science fiction novel out?

😉

The June issue of Analog is now available. It includes my Nanotech Succession short story “Out In The Dark”–the second story featuring Zeke Choy.

The original story in this sequence was “Nahiku West,” first published in the October 2012 issue of Analog and now available in the ebook Two Stories. The sequence explores the early life of Zeke Choy, a minor character in my novel The Bohr Maker.

The ebook version of Analog is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Analog is also available in a print version.

My newest science fiction novel, The Red: First Light, is now available in a print edition. Find it at:

Amazon USA

Amazon UK

Barnes & Noble (USA)

Powell’s Books

The Red: First Light is a near-future thriller, with a boots-on-the-ground military theme. Click here to read a sample online.

Here’s the back cover copy:

“There Needs To Be A War Going On Somewhere”
Lieutenant James Shelley commands a high-tech squad of soldiers in a rural district within the African Sahel. They hunt insurgents each night on a harrowing patrol, guided by three simple goals: protect civilians, kill the enemy, and stay alive—because in a for-profit war manufactured by the defense industry there can be no cause worth dying for. To keep his soldiers safe, Shelley uses every high-tech asset available to him—but his best weapon is a flawless sense of imminent danger…as if God is with him, whispering warnings in his ear. (Hazard Notice: contains military grade profanity.)

If you read the book, if you like the book, please consider spreading the word. Recommend it on your favorite social media, consider writing a blog post, or review it at Amazon. Most books are sold through personal recommendations — word of mouth. So if you like The Red: First Light I’d really appreciate it if you could help get the word out. Thank you!

Here are links to ebook vendors — and thanks again!

Amazon USA

Amazon UK

Mythic Island Press LLC (worldwide)

Book View Café (worldwide)

Kobo Books (International)

Barnes & Noble (USA)

About a month ago, artist Emily Irwin finished work on a new cover for my novel Memory. I replaced the cover on the ebook immediately, and then set about finalizing the print book. I already had the interior layout done, and Emily had already assembled the final cover art on a template provided by Lightning Source, my print-on-demand company. So it should have been easy. Right?

After carefully re-checking everything, I uploaded the files late on February 20th, and waited for my proof to arrive. There was a weekend in the way, and overnight to Maui is never overnight, so it wasn’t until the 26th that I had my proof, and it wasn’t good. The colors on the cover were much darker than they appeared onscreen and away from bright sunlight it was hard to make out what was going on, a situation that wasn’t helped by the matte finish I had ordered instead of the usual glossy finish. The light-colored text was actually hard to read. So after thinking it over for a couple of days, I contacted Emily and asked if she’d be willing to use a brighter color for the text, to lighten the image overall, and to place it on a glossy template.

Emily did all of this, sending me three new versions with different levels of brightness. I decided to use the brightest of all, resubmitted the file, and waited for my new proof. It arrived, and it was good! Quite lovely. But it still had a matte finish, instead of the glossy finish I thought I’d requested. I queried Lightning Source, and it turns out I’d misunderstood the process. The template does not determine the finish. That’s decided by the metadata.

By this point I was not feeling remotely competent. So instead of deciding for myself, I solicited opinions, and the unanimous decision was to keep the matte finish. So a couple days ago I approved the proof “as is”–and already Amazon has listed the print book as available to purchase. This surprised me, because the last time I did a print book through Lightning Source, Barnes & Noble had it up almost overnight while Amazon took two or three weeks–proving once again that in this business things change all the time.

Click here to see the print edition on Amazon.

Right now, if you click “See Inside the Book” you will not see the new edition. I still have to submit the file for that–one of the tasks on my list for today.

Occasionally I hear women complaining about being called “Ma’am.” It makes them feel old. Or something. Personally, I like it. If you don’t know who I am, if you don’t know my name, “ma’am” is a perfectly respectful way of addressing me. There are far worse alternatives.

This afternoon I was flying from Honolulu back to Maui. I had an aisle seat and got up to allow the window-seat passenger to sit down. He changed his mind at the last second, and went forward to trade seats with someone else. I was left standing in the aisle. Hawaiian Airlines takes their “on time” reputation very seriously and a flight attendant immediately appeared behind me, asking if something was wrong.

“I don’t know,” I said, waving my hand to indicate the young man. “He was going to sit here.”

“If you’re going to switch seats,” the flight attendant called to him, “you need to do so right now.”

The group sent someone back to take the window seat, and the flight attendant told me, “There you go, sweetie.”

There you go, sweetie? Seriously?

The term is “Ma’am.”

“Sweetie” is an infantilizing term. You can probably safely use it with young children, or with your sweetheart (if this isn’t safe, you’ll hear about it), but do not use this form of address with strangers. I don’t mind “sweetie” quite so much if an older woman uses the term in a very general way, but when a younger person uses it, the implication is they are addressing someone in their “dotage”–childlike and infantilized. Sorry, sweetie, I’m not quite there yet, and even if I was, you should still address me respectfully, and save the intimacies for intimate relationships.

The term is “Ma’am.”

On March 15 I gave a presentation at Kawaii-Kon 2013, Honolulu’s annual anime and cosplay convention. My topic: From Initial Idea to Printed Book: One Path to Writing and Publishing a Sci-Fi Novel.

Rather wide-ranging, wasn’t it?

As a follow up, I’m publishing a list of links that might be helpful to someone getting started in writing and publishing. As with everything, use your own judgment and your mileage may vary. Your career is in your own hands. Take care of it.

Advice for writers & indie publishers:
Dean Wesley Smith
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
John Scalzi’s “Whatever”
Writer Beware (general info)
Writer Beware Blog
The Passive Voice
David Gaughran

Short story market listings
Duotrope — nominal fee
Ralan.com

Professional Freelance Editors I’ve used
Judith Tarr
Laura Anne Gilman

Example of a flat-rate book prep company
Lucky Bat Books (I have not done business with them, but have seen them recommended.)

Because you need to know
Striking a Pose: Women & Fantasy Covers
Pose-off, round 1
Pose-off with John Scalzi

Ebook prep
Sigil — code/edit your ebook
Calibre — convert your epub file to mobi

Where to get ISBNs (USA only)
Bowker

Where to sell your ebooks
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Kobo Books
Smashwords (I don’t sell here, but a lot of writers do.)

Print-on-demand companies
Lightning Source (an Ingram company)
Createspace (an Amazon company)

Last summer I was lucky enough to attend Launch Pad 2012, a week-long, wide-ranging crash course on current astronomy put on by Mike Brotherton, Professor of Astronomy at the University of Wyoming. Launch Pad was created for writers, editors, and people in film and other media, with the goal of improving the scientific accuracy of our stories, and promoting a culture of science.

The sessions are a whole lot of fun!

Along with Mike, Christian Ready will be there this summer as guest lecturer. Christian was part of the 2012 staff, and he’s terrific.

The bad news is that funding was unobtainable this year, so tuition will be charged for the first time, at a cost of $500 which includes lodging and meals except for dinner. Still not a bad deal for a week in beautiful Laramie! (And Laramie really is a very nice town.)

More on Launch Pad can be found here. The application period begins March 15 and ends April 15, so the time is now.