Beta copy of “Space Bitch” out to beta readers

SEE… amazing speling errors! MARVEL… at grammar is the poorly! FIND… thongs the spill Czech her din knot kvetch!

So… Katsucon came and went. Major hotel stress. Hotel acting like assholes. Many years from now, I will be able to tell this story in full without jeopardizing any contracts. It makes me sad how quickly some people will blame the Jews from BBYO, but trust me… they were NOT the problem. In fact, they helped us FIX the problem from both sides, and the hotel had to admit all their mistakes on Monday after the con. That was an uncomfortable meeting, let me tell you. If any good came from this, I got to meet some cool people at the BBYO and the hotel will be pretty decent with us in 2014.

ANYWAY… I was co-chair, then I was elected President of Katsucon Entertainment, Inc., which meant I couldn’t be a con chair anymore (conflict of interest), so then I ran their communications division, and while I still do, being President of the Board and head of Communications, PR, and Marketing is about half the work of being co-chair. My wife took over, and then retired due to her health. This means now I can focus on my book, which I did with all speed because I wanted to get the rage of the hotel issues out of my head. Today, Friday, February the 22nd, I released my first draft beta to my readers!

I hope to get these back by April, have a revised Beta 2 for professional editor, and I *hope* to have this book out May 24th!

Balticon 46 has invited me back!

Somehow I managed not to offend the wrong people, and I have been invited back as a panelist and general resident wise-guy. I’ll let you know what panels and signings I shall have in a later post… probably in late April.

Meanwhile, “Space Bitch” is almost done. Right now, we’re at about 90%. I have to work on the ending a little, and then the first alpha edit will start. I don’t know if this will make it by Balticon, I have to talk with my publisher (who is out touring in Texas). I am still working on the title, and I will start working on getting some cover art after Katsucon. A sequel is already partially diagrammed out.

Everything is “after Katsucon” at this point because it’s less than 6 weeks away. That process is going smoothly. Last night Christine (my bride of almost 23 years and other co-chair) told me we’re ahead of schedule. I was at Magfest this weekend, working the table a little, Katsucon a lot, and finalizing deals and last minute updates with the Gaylord. A big crash meeting in a little over 2 weeks away! Yikes! But thankfully, I HAVE THE BEST STAFF ON THE DAMN PLANET and I am humbled and grateful to have therm work with me.

Nanowrimo Winner, 2011 – Plus new details on my upcoming book.

When all was said and done, I did 66,262 words, for a total of 96,262 words for “Space Bitch.” I beat Sean, who dropped out at the 4k mark. He avoided me for most of AnimeUSA when I threatened to teabag him. I wanted to finish with a round 100k total, but I got sick the last two days. Plus Katsucon is looming around the corner, and I have to work on that.

Right now, we’re looking at about 105-110k words on “Space Bitch,” which is a working title and probably not the finished one. To give you a glimpse of where we are, the plot is as follows:

You have a shipping company called SUNGOD, which is a corrupt bureaucratic shipping contractor for the Vidmar Royal Galactic Enclave that covers thousands of planets and stations in hundreds of star systems. Several people are hired to handle the shipping needs of an outer territory system known as “The Verdes Mujeres,” named after the two large green stars and a dying remnants of a supernova that glow brightly in the local planetary systems’ skies. Like a frontier territory being taken over by new corporate politics, the ship’s crew consists of a strange variety of miscreants.

There’s the ship’s captain, Eliza Mortales, who is a psychotic lone wolf with little to no regard for anyone’s well being. Her first officer and chief interstellar navigator is Sarah Phulajanma, a political refugee from her father’s financial empire where she escaped slavery through arranged marriages. With them is Jennifer “Jen” Koipack, a member of a cult of perky goths who has a secret past. Along the way, Eliza kills off some crew members and random people, picks up a band of orphans, meets some old friends, and tries to wheel and deal her way through making a profit smuggling under her corporate overlords.

It’s kind of a dark comedy with political intrigue, back stabbing, secret politcal alliances, and a lot of plot twists and turns. I am having a shit ton of fun writing it.