Listen to me moderate with Trish Wilson (who writes as Elizabeth A. Black),Paul Elard Cooley, and Doc Coleman. Discussions on new media, steampunk, promotion, and muppet porn. Only at Balticon 46. 🙂
Tag Archive: podcast
Another episode is up after a few weeks of a hiatus. Punkie and Rogue – Fireside Meanderings: jibba-jabba : Plugging and Panels and Writing, Oh My.
I have been informed, by Balticon, my permanent real schedule is coming soon. It may be different than what I posted earlier. I’ll repost it here when that becomes available.
Some people have asked me about international purchasing. Right now, I am not sure how this is going to work with Amazon.co.uk, or Amazon.de, or .fr because frankly, I thought that I’d have maybe a handful of international fans and I’d ship the books from my own house (I have copies sent here for my upcoming book signing). It seems to be available as I post this, however, from DE and FR going for roughly EUR 11-12. UK shows “out of stock.” Try that first, and if that’s not workable, read a little further.
People have asked what my “most profitable” way is to buy the book (you are very sweet, guys). Well, the hard copy on Amazon nets me the most; more than in person, and more than when the Kindle comes out. But we’re talking less than a dollar either way, so if you want the Kindle over the dead tree copy; I’m not complaining unless you download it and put it on PirateBay. Then someone let me know I’m up there so I can crap all over the comments section and say, “If you like the book, send $5.00 to my Paypal account so I can afford to write more,” or “This version is missing chapters, and the ending is not the same as the print copy!” or “How come half of it is in German?” because, really, I can’t stop piracy. I can only manage it. Honestly, though, I would be a little flattered if that happened. Pissed, but flattered. I remember a friend of mine selling my first book from her table was MORTIFIED when someone stole a copy, and offered to pay me for the whopping $5 loss. I said, “Well, my book must be good enough to make people commit crime,” I joked and declined the offer.
Friendship first. Profit last.
But *IF* you want a hard copy mailed to you; like you want it signed or live somewhere where having it shipped from Amazon isn’t conducive to you getting it (“Gewöhnlich versandfertig in 2 bis 5 Wochen??” NEEEEEIIINNN! You poor German bastards), I’ll ship anywhere if you pay for the book and shipping. You’ll have to use Paypal, but wait AFTER this Memorial Day weekend (I simply won’t have time to ship it until after that). I’ll even throw in some free crap I have lying around: my promotional bookmarks, some expired DC Rollergirl postcard promos, a Duke Nuk’em 3D CD, a stick of Big Red, a cartoon drawing of a stick figure with a sword… you never know. Or if you want to ship me a copy you got and have me ship it back, pay for the shipping. My turnaround might be laggy, though. Send me some e-mail if you’d like to have a transaction.
Note: DO NOT just send me money by Paypal. In the past, Paypal mail has kinda gotten lost, and sometimes I have no idea anyone bought one until I use Paypal to buy something, and even then… it may slip between the cracks. I’d be humiliated if someone paid for a book and never got it. I’d be all sepukku up in that.
A new episode of Fireside Meanderings is up, where Rogue and I discuss our misspent youth. What will my mother say– oh, right, she’s dead. Sorry, Mama.
I am DONE with “Stone Ice Raven,” my sort story for the new “Rush of Wings” anthology. I shouldn’t have let it go so long, but it took longer than I thought. I am pretty sure I’ll be in this anthology, but I still won’t count my chickens before they hatch hah hah hah… see what I did there?
Trolley is up next. I had two cover artists go onto better things, but my publisher and I have found a replacement. I will be editing like MAD over the next few weeks. Like a crazy person. Poor Heather! I am going to have to relive the horrors that happen to this sweet, innocent tomboy.
In my spare time, I’ll be doing Katsucon stuff. T-Mode is coming up, and I think we’re there. I might celebrate by taking a bath. Balticon has an autograph session all lined up for me, and Trolley is still set to be released that month. I will also be doing a lot of “Balticon New Media” stuff at the con, hobnobbing with authors, and generally being the usual nuisance I am during the Balticon Podcast. I am going to try for an “Eye of Argon” reading for the first time since… FanTek cons? That should be fun.
Also set for this year is “Mothership,” which is a tale of an abusive space captain and her second-in-command. I have this 40% written, and know the general plot line. I hope to have this done by Christmas.
Ugh, it’s like 1:30am and I am beat.
Alright… here Rogue and I talk about previous jobs we had. Punkie and Rogue – Fireside Meanderings:Oh, the Jobs You’ll Work. You also get to hear about Intercon, a compnay many friends of mine worked for, and I so desperately wanted to.
New power supply still en route so I can start editing Trolley as early as the end of this week, but I built a lot of buffer time, so I am still on schedule. In other news, Katsucon still winds down as my wife and I get ready for a YEAR of convention running. Probably 2 years, but we have to be approved by the board for K19, so we better do a damn good job with K18.
No new Balticon Podcasts, but they have me as a guest or staff, not sure which, for Balticon 45. My first Balticon was 18, so I feel old.
Things are looking up…
My desktop died. I need a new power supply, which is on order. Thus editing has come to a standstill. But I am in a new podcast! “Punkie and Rogue – Fireside Meanderings.” Rogue is a publisher, author, and musician whom I have known since 1990 or so.
Punkie and Rogue – Fireside Meanderings : jibba-jabba : Conventions
The date has not been announced yet, but I sent in my final contract stuff. My story is “Butterfly Dreams” and will be in anthology called, “A Taste of Armageddon.” The collection of short stories will be about war, “but not preachy about war,” because the publisher wanted different sci-fi and fantasy perspectives on war that weren’t the same “war is bad” that covers a lot of the literary landscape. I think it’s coming out early summer. It would be nice to come out before Balticon, but hey.
I have been confirmed as a guest again at Balticon, but this time from a staff angle as well because of the Balticon Podcast. I have done three podcasts with them so far, and will be doing some interviews, I think, at the con. Paul at Dancing Cat has been under the weather recently, so production has stopped again until he gets his life and health back in order. Family always comes first.
I am really excited about “Trolley.” I promised I wouldn’t start the final edit until I heard from the last beta-reader.
The real deal: contract, money, bio, and everything. This is the first in many, many years for a short story. As some of my longer-term fans have known, most of my stuff has been one-off projects, like some of the ghost writing I have done (almost all technical articles), some NDA stuff with a TV show, and two manuscripts that never saw the light of day BUT I was paid, which is kind of the important part, IMHO.
I think the last time anything of mine was paid for where I could claim credit (besides the Saga of Punk Walrus), were some of the works in the now defunct literary magazine, “Gateways,” and that was back about 15 years ago. This is not my first short story, I think it’s my fifth, but it’s the first since I started working in the IT field that was NOT related to “Dr. Strangesoruce: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Linux!” or something so deep into the dork forest, I was finding server clusters run on VIC 20s.
I won’t say who or what story until I get the papers signed and the green light to advertise (and believe you me, I will be advertising), but I will tell you it’s a short story collection of science fiction related to war. I am super, super pleased with this.
In other news, “Trolley” has been returned by all but one editor, and I will be making some revisions after the 15th. Then a final edit, Katsucon, then publication! I am still on target for release by Balticon 45 this year. I’d like it to be done by the end of March, but given how busy I have suddenly been with work and so on, I am glad I have that buffer.
Punkadyne Labs 