What Else in May

Writing Work

PHYSIC, Eric’s first solo novel, is out in the world. And it’s doing well download-wise. As with Model Species, we’re going free with PHYSIC, at least for the time-being (and at least in the US. It’s price-matched at Amazon and that doesn’t always carry over internationally). It’s pretty much blowing away all our previous releases. (And, Eric has his first review at Amazon! And it’s a good one. Celebratory donuts will be had!)

If you’re interested in a hard science take on superheroes with an autistic main character, please, give it a look! It’s available at Amazon (Kindle), Smashwords, and B&N (Nook).

The first portion of May was spent on some false starts with In Need of Luck, followed by another re-read of PHYSIC and a final formatting pass. And then this last week has been Armchair BEA, which I mostly approached as a reader rather than a writer. Regarding In Need of Luck, it feels like it’s been a while since I’ve really sat down and written on a project with Eric. It’s going to take some readjustment.

Other Life Stuff

Not a heck of a lot went on in May that wasn’t reading or writing. I’m not playing women’s frisbee league and generally ultimate winds down in the summer.

Before Bout of Books, I decided to lay off on reading (and worrying about) ARCs. This was mostly in response to adding my ebooks to Goodreads. I own …a lot… of books that I have not read. I still have a few ARCs to finish up and I’ll take a gander at NetGalley occasionally, but I intend to be much more picky in the future.

Armchair BEA was fun and exhausting for an introvert like me. I commented more than I’ve ever commented. Loaded more blogs than I’ve ever loaded. My RSS list grows. It was especially nice to run into a good group of non-fiction readers. Non-fiction is only about 25%-33% of what I read, but I’m happy to see other bloggers who are passionate about it.

 

Deal Me In, Week 22 ~ “In the Teeth of Glory”

Hosted by Jay @ Bibliophilopolis

“In the Teeth of Glory” by Dave Wolverton

Card picked: Seven of Spades

From: David Copperfield’s Tales of the Impossible

Review: Everyone has encountered a little old lady like Henretta. She’s never mean to anyone to their face, but she never has a kind thing to say about anyone out of their hearing range. She’s judgmental, but knows that she never does wrong. She believes she’s a good Christian.

Wolverton’s story asks why. What is it about life that forms someone like Henretta? Is it her neighbors who don’t share her views? Her grandson and great-grandson have moved her from neighborhood to neighborhood when things get too much for her. Is it due to the awfulness of her husband’s death? She believes that he dragged part of her soul with him and will dramatically tell you that this is the case. Is it because she’s maybe a little mentally ill and prone to fits of paranoia? Or is it something tied to an old Indian legend about the taste of souls?

Despite my teaser there, this story was very light on speculative elements. It meanders a bit, but does a decent job of making Henretta at least a little sympathetic. Aging…it isn’t for the faint-hearted.

About the Author: In Copperfield’s intro to this story, he cops to only being familiar with Dave Wolverton as the author of The Courtship of Princess Leia. Which, despite being an award-winning author in both literary and genre circles is where I know him from too. (I used to read a lot more Star Wars fiction when it was the only Star Wars to be had. Also, Copperfield is a Star Wars fan?)

Is This Your Card?