A Meerkat's Bolthole

for those wondering at the silence...

Mon, 05 Aug 2013 11:52:49 GMT

In early July, we lost the household's ElderCat, my beloved Pandora, as seen in the icon

(Dw is still refusing to let me load photos, sorry).

In late July, we added a new member to the household: Castiel, Kitten of Thursday.

It's been... an emotional and sleep-deprived few weeks. But all are well, and CatofSize and Lil' Idjit are bonding beautifully...

for photos of Pandora

for photos of Cas (and Boomer) and another

comments

Heart of Briar is out!

Mon, 05 Aug 2013 11:42:10 GMT

The truth is that in recent years the idea of a single launch day has pretty much fallen into disuse, if only because the physical books are on the shelf before the digital books are officially released. But still, it's nice to have a single point in time when you say, "It's here! It's a Real Book You Can Read!"

HEART OF BRIAR is (officially) out in the wild!

“You can always count on (the) gifted Gilman to deliver richly layered fantasy filled with winning characters and well-defined worlds, and she doesn’t disappoint with HEART OF BRIAR. (A) terrific series starter.” ♦♦♦♦ (4 stars) – RT Reviews

"Calling this story a retelling of Tam Lin doesn’t do it justice. Gilman has taken the bones of that fairy tale and reassembled it entirely, restrung with strength and ferocity and drive.... Jan’s journey starts to find Tyler, but ultimately she finds so much more..... I finished this book revved up and ready for more." - All Things Urban Fantasy

but don't take it on faith - Read an excerpt!

Available via...

Amazon

Your Local Independent Bookstore

Barnes & Noble

and I will be out and about in the next 4 weeks, doing signings and readings and whatnot...

Powell’s Cedar Hills Crossing (Portland, OR)
Monday August 12th, 7pm

Pacific Northwest Reading Series (Seattle, WA)
Tuesday August 13th, 2013

Pacific Northwest Reading Series (Portland, OR)
Wednesday August 14th, 2013

SF in SF (San Francisco, CA)
Saturday August 17th, 2013

Barnes & Noble (San Jose, CA)
Almaden Plaza, 5353 Almaden Expressway
Sunday August 18th, 2013 4PM

DragonCon (Atlanta, GA)
August 30th-September 2nd, 2013

And I just got the wonderful-and-yet-feared "read it in one sitting!" reaction from a reader.... Feared because oh shit that thing took me nearly a year to write, slow down! but also YAY! because the next book is scheduled for October. Yes, October 2013....

comments

The first word on HEART OF BRIAR!

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 10:43:17 GMT

And that word is pretty positive…

“You can always count on gifted Gilman to deliver richly layered fantasy filled with winning characters and well-defined worlds, and she doesn’t disappoint with HEART OF BRIAR. (A) terrific series starter.” ♦♦♦♦ (4 stars) – RT Reviews

in stores 1 August 2013

Available for pre-order via...

Amazon

Your Local Independent Bookstore

Barnes & Noble

originally published at writer. editor. tired person

comments

Sat, 25 May 2013 11:55:43 GMT

Originally published at Writer. Editor. Tired Person.

It rains. And is chilly. I am not feeling the urge to haul down to the farmer's market this morning. In fact, my only urge is to sit on the sofa, nom toast-and-coffee, and work on the Hard-Deadline Client Project. I suppose that's not a bad goal, actually.

Meanwhile, I have this odd feeling that I'm actually ready for BEA next week. This is, of course, utter self-delusion. And yet... we have the signing schedule worked out. We have the booth coverage schedule worked out (more or less) to avoid the unfortunate Incident last year when two of us basically rode herd on it the entire time, and wasn't THAT fun (no, not really). All of my meetings are set (sort of) and there's a growing pile of Stuff in the BEA-prep area of my apartment. I've even gotten the water and extra power cords wrassled already.

Which means of course that whatever nails us will come out of the blue, and if you can't predict it, why worry about it, right? We Have a Corporate Card, We Can Fix It.

(some of you may remember the Great Load-In Disaster of last year. Throwing money at a problem sometimes really is the only solution, especially when dealing with the electricians' union.)

I am tempted oh so tempted to set up a video camera and record each day at the booth, the good the bad and the ridiculous. If only because by the time BEA winds down, Jaym and I usually can't remember what the fuck just happened, much less what happened three days before....

If you're going to be there, stop by! The SFWA table will have various authors signing books and giving away Stuff! (the actual schedule will go live on the SFWA website on Monday, I'm told). And if you're around Thursday at 4pm, and happen to be wearing a blogger or librarian badge, I might have Stuff especially for you...

comments

The State of the Meerkat, Saturday Edition

Sat, 18 May 2013 12:02:43 GMT

The contract for Gin & Tonic #3-#4 arrived in my inbox, and has been gone over. I will say that reading the marked-up pdf on my iPad mini was more enjoyable than trying to wrangle the legal-size paper Simon & Schuster still uses. Anyway, it reminded me that #3 is due in SEPTEMBER, not October as I had in my mind, so the pace on that's been picked up a bit.

I'm still knee-deep in reading submissions for Entangled, trying to get back into the editorial mindset of "scan-for-brilliance." I know the skill set's intact, it's just taking a while to reclaim. Two projects that were almost-but-not-quite, and one that's probably-not-sorry. This is the brutal part of the editorial job, and the one that many people sneer at, but my job here is to find the best stories I think will sell the best, not to make allowances or be gentle. :-(

Meanwhile, I'm working on the on-spec manuscript, and juggling my two long-term freelance clients, and going through the final stages of production for PROMISES TO KEEP for the kickstarter release.

So yeah... if I've been quiet lately, all that would be why.

I still haven't seen either Iron Man #3 or the new Trek, mainly because I'm a social movie-going creature and nobody's schedule seems to be syncing up with mine. *sighs* But soon.

Coming up: BEA and the related chaos thereof, and then a brief pause before I'm into the whirlwind of HEART OF BRIAR's release, and the related book-pimping. The sightings-and-signings page has been updated, and will continue to be updated on a probably-weekly basis... (so if you have a bookstore or book festival you think I should swing by, let me know!)

comments

On “casting” while you write. Or not.

Mon, 13 May 2013 12:34:19 GMT

At Writer. Editor. Tired Person.

When I first started out in this biz, I heard a lot of writers talking about “casting” their books, and researching for visuals (typically actors, but not always) as part of their research prep.

And this struck me as strange (then again, I don’t create playlists for projects, either. So I may be an outlier.)

Y’see, I don’t ‘cast’ my books before/while I’m writing them – or even after, honestly*. It’s not because it wouldn’t be fun, or because I don’t think about what my characters look like… it’s just that I have to wait until they tell me what they look like.

Crossposted to BookView Cafe, if you prefer to comment there.

comments

my brain is filled with book/otherwise blank

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 23:00:12 GMT

Tell me what I should be ~~blithering~~ blogging about.

C'mon, don't be shy....

comments

Friday

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 13:52:00 GMT

I have nothing to say about the events going down on Boston, mainly because there's nothing to say except hope that this is finished with no further loss of life (including the suspect's - a corpse can't give answers).

My family is caught in the lockdown. Having gone through that once before in my life, I can only sympathize from a distance. Reportedly, scotch and knitting have been broken out.

So I am opening a file, and getting to work. Because staring at rumors and hours-old "breaking news" helps absofuckinglutey nobody.

in slightly lighter news:

DogDamnit, msdori..... *scribbles notes so I can amuse you later, anyway*

(take note: if you want me to be violently productive with the story-making, put me in the same (virtual) room with Dori. I had somehow forgotten that this is her evil power....)

comments

Team Kornetsky Update: the cover for FIXED is here!

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 20:51:12 GMT

Since Amazon got the jump on me, without too much further ado, the cover for FIXED, the second Gin & Tonic mystery....

When someone from the local animal shelter approaches her about finding grant funds that have gone missing, Ginny Mallard convinces her bartender friend Teddy Tonica to help her investigate once again.

They soon discover that something is disturbing the animals at the shelter at night...and then a dead body shows up.

With the help of Ginny’s Shar-Pei puppy and Tonica’s tabby cat, this unconventional crime-solving team has to figure out what’s going on before the shelter - and more people - lose everything....

on-sale October 2013.

Available for pre-order NOW

Amazon

B&N

Find FIXED At Your Local Independent BookStore

Some of you may have noticed a change from the first cover:

Basically, editorial and sales listened to the feedback they were getting (yeah, I know, crazy but it DOES happen) and said "yeah, you're right, these books aren't cute, they've got more of an edge, and we're sorry about that Portland/Seattle screw-up in the copy of the first book, so.... we think this fits the series better." And I quite agree. :-)

(I still have my gripes, of course, because we mystery folk are perfectionist on the details. Who can identify what's itching me about this otherwise lovely cover?)

comments

BOOM

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:47:51 GMT

Sometimes, you sort of muddle along and figure out a character as you go. And sometimes, it hits you like a clue-by-four, right between the eyes.

Working on [project name redacted] yesterday, and I took a Tumblr break to rest my brain, and was handed the visual* that will be [character name redacted] for my entire damned life. BOOM. In that instant - seeing what the character was going through, and how it refracted through what I'd been working on - -I understood things about the character I hadn't realized I knew until then.

(via http://ki11-the-n0ise.tumblr.com/)

So, y'see, it's all work-related. Eventually. Everything goes into the brain and gets crunched and comes out as Story. We can't help it.

*an unusual moment for that character on that show. So it was in the back of my head but more dormant than not.

comments

A story sale, and the story behind it....

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 17:34:48 GMT

So, a long while back (two years, more or less) I had a story out on submission. And an editor said "I like this, I want to buy it. But... we haven't signed the contract for the anthology I want to buy it for yet so can I hold onto it for a while?"

And I - respecting and trusting the editor - said yes.

(okay, there was more negotiation than that, and a 'pending contract' and whatnot, but basically I said 'yeah, you can have it for whenever you can publish it.' Because you do that for editors you like and respect, and think would be a good match for the story.)

That trust paid off, 'cause today the anthology was Officially Announced.

http://www.johnjosephadams.com/blog/2013/04/10/new-anthology-dead-mans-hand/

"Titan Books announced today that next spring it will publish Dead Man’s Hand: An Anthology of the Weird West (May 2014, Trade Paperback), an exclusive “weird western” anthology, edited by John Joseph Adams, that will include stories from many of today’s most talented authors, some new to the genre and others well-known to readers."

And me! And my story "The Devil's Jack."

comments

I could get used to this weekend thing...

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 21:24:24 GMT

This weekend was pretty lazy: a lot of reading, some city-hiking, some sleeping in, and I finished off two beta-reads for friends, complete with probably more notes than they were expecting. Ask an editor...

Also, friends came and hauled away the old sleeper-sofa for their new apartment, and I rearranged the lounge to accomodate the new sleeper-chair that will be delivered later this week. It's strange: I've lived with that sofa in this apartment for five years (and have owned it for nearly 20 years). I can describe every room it's been in, over that time; it's got a permanent place in my mental landscape of "home." And now it's gone*.

On the plus side, the new chair-and-a-half will suit the space, and my usage, much better. It's just going to take a little adjusting.

Mostly though, this weekend has been about recharging my brain. I wrote some more of the Sherlock fic and posted a bit of it, and noodled around with something else, but mainly it's been all for-fun goofing with story, not Work. It's good to do that occasionally.

Also: the dogwood trees are starting to bloom, and I have a huge bouquet of irises on my desk. Simple pleasures.

The big excitement around Ch. Felidae this afternoon was the bringing-out of the deshedding tools. Boomer asks, and then Pandora realizes someone else is getting groomed and comes out to demand her share, and half an hour later I call quits (they'd be perfectly happy for me to continue for an hour or two).

It's not a proper grooming session until we have enough to make another kitten. Or, in this case, a small litter of extra kittens. Anyone out there spin/knit with cat hair? I have some lovely golden and tabby fluff for you....

*for levels of 'gone' that mean 'I'll see it when I go to my friends' apartment"

comments

For All Writers....

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 14:30:33 GMT

with no book-shaped horse in this race, I'm still watching & taking notes - you should, too.

<i>I’ve been reading a lot of responses to the “deal” proposed by Night Shade Books and Skyhorse/Start Publishing, and as pretty much everything has been leaked every which fucking way (kicked off, no less, by a stupidly inaccurate and ill-timed Tweet by one of Night Shade’s own owners, which should surprise no one used to dealing with them). Myself and dozens of others have collected a lot of information and shared it round with folks affected.</i>

http://www.kameronhurley.com/dealno-deal-writers-arent-totally-stupid/ …

comments

There's Got to Be A Morning After....

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 13:01:53 GMT

http://www.lauraannegilman.net/theres-got-to-be-a-morning-after/

Yesterday, I put the final touches on the revisions for SOUL OF FIRE, and sent it off to madame editrix. The next time I see the book, we'll be in copyedits, and then page proofs, and then a finished book. So it's not dusted, but yeah... it's done.

And that means my ten year, twelve-book relationship with Harlequin has also come to - well, a pause, if not an end. HEART OF BRIAR and SOUL OF FIRE will be the last books from Luna for me. The next fantasy book I want to write isn't one they thought would be right for their list, and I really didn't want to put this one aside for another year or more

So we'll see what we see.

Meanwhile, I'm still working on the 3rd Gin & Tonic mystery for Simon & Schuster, and putting "Promises to Keep" into production for the Kickstarter backers, and there's half a dozen other non-novel projects, as well as That Book I Want to Write. Which is good, because the morning after you hit a deadline, there's this sense of panic - but what do I do NOW? I mean, after you catch up on all the old tv episodes you've been meaning to stream on Netflix, and sleeping all the sleep...

Life goes on. The work goes on. Being bored is, thankfully, not an option.

comments

If you ever want to make a writer go all verklempt…

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 00:30:24 GMT

http://www.lauraannegilman.net/if-you-ever-want-to-make-a-writer-go-all-verklempt/

Send them an email like this:

Your endings, why they always please me. You don't wrap everything in a neat package. You leave things for the reader to think about and work at, you let the reader be involved. Thats what I loved about the end of Vineart.....As a reader I hate packaged endings- nothing is ever that clean and perfect. Your endings are real.

I try to write the books I like to read - the ones that tickle my brain and set fire to my own imagination, that linger after the last page. So this just.... yeah. *hugs email to self*

comments

Various and sundry worked through the weekend...

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 01:52:09 GMT

I tried to take the weekend off the Internets. For the most part, I succeeded, mainly due to

a) massive amount of work to be done.

b) utterly perfect early spring weather that got me outside.

c) friends moving into the city the next neighborhood over (technically, they're in Manhattan and I'm in the Bronx, but it's a mile walk between, so screw technicalities).

I didn't get anywhere near enough done, and I didn't get enough time outside, but hey, that's linear time limitations for ya. I could go without sleep to finish things up, but I've reached the point in my life where that feels more stupid than solution. Meh.

The Sunday Morning topic of Important Discussion here at Chateau Felidae was hair: should I cut it short for summer, or grow it elf-long? And, irrespective of either, should I keep the silvering, or not? (I'm thinking keep. I kind of like it).

In other Stuff, it was proposed this weekend that indignation and entitlement are twinned concepts, in that very few of us are 100% oppressed by the existing system (you are Black, but you are a male. You are White, but female. You are a minority religion, and a male. You are a White male Christian who is handicapped, etc in a thousand different iterations) and for each hit we take, we are also given a hall pass.

I'm not going to say yea or nay to the theory (it doesn't take into account those who are 100% minority mixes), but it is...something to chew on, with a side of context.

And so we go into Monday. Wheee?

comments

Friday is both Various and Sundry...

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 12:48:31 GMT

Last week, Pentecostal blues/rock with Paul Thorn. Last night, Jewish pop-folk with Rachael Sage (where she channeled everyone's great-aunt from Boca in one terrifying but very funny moment). Next week, Brazilian jazz.

In-between: writing to trance.

My musical tastes: ecclectic.

Conversation:
"So how are you today?"
"Amazon is buying Goodreads."
uncertain pat on the shoulder, offer of a narcotic.

Meanwhile, we soldier on. Things to write, revise, edit, mourn, celebrate, promote... Publishing is not for the weak. Or the sane.

Another client meeting this afternoon, before the next strong push on the project. I'm hoping to get some more words down on my own work(s), and sit down to the page proofs that need to go back next week, follow-up on another long-term project that should start soon, and maybe even do some reading-for-pleasure...

Yeah, may not be time for that last. Hopefully this weekend: there are BOOKS! I need to FINISH!

Good Friday, for those who observe such, and Happy Easter. Happy weekend to the rest of us! Who's got plans? Who's taking it as it comes?

comments

Heart of Briar is up for pre-order!

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 13:25:04 GMT

You know, if you have a desire for such a thing.

He has been taken. And you are his only chance."

That wasn't something Jan expected to hear-especially from strangers who'd just rescued her from some mysterious and ferocious creatures. And she really hadn't expected her rescuers to be shape-shifters....

Now it turns out her boyfriend, Tyler, hasn't gone missing, he's been stolen-and Jan's the only one who might be able to get him back.

From Elfland.

Yeah, Jan's pretty sure the entire world's gone crazy. Even if the shifters claim that the naturals (like her) and the supernaturals (like them) belong in this world...but the preternaturals, what humans call elves, don't. And the preters have found a portal into our world. A doorway they can use to infiltrate, to take, to conquer.

Jan's not just Ty's only hope - she's got to rescue humanity, as well....

July 30, 2013

$7.99 paper/digital

"Do you believe in magic? You will when Gilman's done with you." -- New York Times bestselling author Dana Stabenow

At Amazon

At Barnes & Noble

At Powell's

At Mysterious Galaxy

Via IndieBound

Those of you who are sharp-eyed will have noted the price, and the format. That's right: HEART OF BRIAR is a paperback original.

I know that for a lot of writers, trade or - better yet - hardcover is where it's at. And yeah, the more expensive, more durable format is nice. But I remember being a teenager and going into a bookstore with my allowance -and later, my wee teenaged summer camp counselor paycheck - and trying to buy as many books as I could with the money I had. Paperbacks - the lower price point - allowed me to do that.

As much as I love trade paperbacks and hardcovers, I flinch when I see the prices, and think about the books I wouldn't be able to buy. So yeah, when Harlequin said "we're thinking about publishing this duology in paperback first..." I leapt on it with both hands and some unabashed glee.

I hope y'all feel the same. :-)

comments

And It's Away!

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 23:03:10 GMT

http://www.lauraannegilman.net/and-its-away/

The first "Sylvan Investigations" novella, that is.

This is the first of the Kickstarted novellas, following after DRAGON JUSTICE, spinning off half-faun PI Danny Hendrickson into his own series.

We sent the file off to backers last week, and I've...well, been a little on edge, ever since. I got one "I loved it!" from someone I saw at Lunacon (bless her, I may have made her repeat it *g*), and the rest has been...silence.

Probably, that's because they haven't had a chance to read it yet. Or they're not the sort to gush. Or...they hated it. Ack.

*does NOT hide under the bed, damn it*

EtA: I'm not asking for reassurances. Okay, maybe I am. But it's okay. ;-)

I'm really hoping they like it. I'm really hoping they're looking forward to the next installment (PROMISES TO KEEP, currently in production). I'm really hoping they like them both enough that I get to write the 3rd novella, which in my head is called SOME MISTAKE...

Whatever happens, though, this was - and is - one of the more enjoyable Publishing Aventures I've had, working with my very own publishing team of stalwart freelancers and lunatics. The fact that none of them throttled me may be a small miracle. :-)

(and yes, the novellas will be available to the open market this winter, so if you missed the Kickstarter, you'll get a second chance)

comments

Boosting the Signal on the S&S Situation

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 12:19:58 GMT

What situation, you ask? This one.

This Saturday I saw the New York Times article Barnes and Noble/Simon & Schuster Dispute Said to Hurt Sales. Later in the day, a high-up Simon & Schuster executive also linked to that post from his Facebook account, saying that yes, this is what's going on.

Another article about it was published in the Wall Street Journal: Barnes & Noble Cuts Back Simon & Schuster Titles.

Both articles are worth reading in full, but in brief: due to the dispute between Simon & Schuster and Barnes & Noble, B&N has cut their orders of S&S books drastically. According to the New York Times, "Industry executives, as well as authors of recently published Simon & Schuster books and their agents, say that Barnes & Noble has reduced book orders greatly, to almost nothing in the case of some lesser-known writers." This policy began in January, apparently.

Needless to say, the people getting hurt most badly by this policy are the S&S writers, especially the lesser-known S&S writers, whose new books...just aren't getting ordered.

http://www.stephanieburgis.com/blog/caught-in-the-middle-hard-publishing-news.php

As an S&S author myself who will probably be caught in the same net, I'm urging you to read Stephanie's blog, pass the word, and keep an eye out for your favorite writers...

comments

State of the meerkat, Saturday edition

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 20:16:45 GMT

Random playlist generator has decided that this is the hour-of-gutting-LAG. Thanks, RPG. Currently up: "Don't Talk to Her At Night."

Burn the blanket
Shoot the light
But don't talk to her at night

And oh, followed up with "Desperado Under the Eaves." We're going to be like that, are we? All right, some Huey Lewis an the News as a chaser, that's better.

I have made it to the halfway point in SOUL OF FIRE revisions, moving slow but steady, and cursing a lot when we have another timeline tangle. Some book I will learn not to run concurrent threads with different characters in different locations impacting each others' discoveries. This, once again, is not that book.

I think I'll make deadline without death (mine or anyone else's*), but no promises.

Meanwhile, it's pizza and RTEs until further notice. Bartender, the glass appears empty. Refuel, svp!

*except them as already dead in the manuscript

comments

Shiny!

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 04:12:33 GMT

Having EARNED* a new toy this month, damn it, I now own an iThing Mini. Now to train it to be useful... (stop laughing! I know it can be done.)

I suspect I'll be using this much as I used to use my DayRunner - schedules and notes and thought-bits (and email!), with the additional plus of being able to sync it all to the laptop at the end of the day. But we'll see what else comes along...

Anyone have any (non-game) aps I should look at? (I already have Evernote up, and will load Scrivener as soon as they get the iOS version running)

And, since the laptop of hard-working is named Archie, I have decided to name the Mini Watson**. Clearly, I have a thing for cute-but-dangerous sidekicks. :-D

*mainly by not dying and/or killing anyone under extreme duress

**make your own short jokes

comments

Another friend gone

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 02:49:02 GMT

Word came today that horror writer Rick Hautala died of a heart attack.

I knew Rick via NECON, a convention that I haven't been able to get to in recent years, due to finances and scheduling, so likewise I haven't seen him in a while. But the idea that he's gone is just.... I'm having trouble wrapping my head around the idea. He can't be gone, because ...

because, damn it.

Rick Hautala. 1949-2013

c. 2006 Jill Bauman (via Nick Kaufmann)

comments

Truth. Fiction. Weird Intersections

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 12:51:08 GMT

For Gin&Tonic #3, I needed to name a puppy in the outline. The name I chose was Parsifal. No, I have no idea why I chose that name, except it seemed 'right.'

Fast forward months later, when I'm writing the actual scene wherein the puppy is found. I have the main character checking out what the owner of the house is reading. A Ludlum title, I think. The missing person seems like a Ludlum reader. So... not a Bourne title, something else, less obvious.

I go to Ludlum's bibliography, and halfway down the list, I see this:

The Parsifal Mosaic (1982)

Okay, you can't make this shit up and get away with it. But so help me, it's true. I named a dog for the book his owner was reading, before I even knew the owner had been reading it. :-)

comments

So, this happened.

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 20:06:49 GMT

http://www.lauraannegilman.net/this-is-not-a-book-post/ ;

comments