No motivation monday today. I have manflu. By which I mean a cold I’m milking for all it’s worth.
(so far today I’ve watched ‘Snatch’, ‘Leon’, ‘The American in Paris’ and the 60s version of ‘The Time Machine’)
This week I’m interviewing Brian Libby, who’s self-published through various companies.
Leaving the Institute for the Homeless, Andiriel longs for excitement. Befriended by a knight of the illustrious Sovereign Order, she enters the Order’s auxiliary services and finds herself on a strange mission leading to a challenging future in a job she hardly expects. No magic swords or mighty rings, no orphans who are really kings, no elves or dwarfs or prophecies, no ghouls and vampires, if you please. A mercenary regiment, its men (and women), where it’s sent, its training, tactics, work and play; a growing threat (still far away): That’s Storm Approaching.
Publishing: Richard Curtis talks about the conflicts he’s faced running an epublisher as an agent. As one of the first agents to take this step, it’s interesting to see him speak openly about why he made the moves he did.
At the same time, the subject of adverts in ebooks has reared its head again. I wouldn’t have a problem with well-targeted, unobtrusive adverts, but what are the odds of that?
Dorchester’s move to ebooks seems to be an attempt to man the lifeboats, but there’s not many people left to do the manning. They’ve fired all but one editor, they’re not getting books out, they’re struggling to pay authors… Not Good.
Interest-Piquing: On a lighter (and incredibly interesting) note: why books are the sizes they are. Medieval sheep!
InsPiring: Top 12 Urban Fantasy jobs, courtesy of tor.com. Now hiring: a people person with a strong stomach and a good alcohol tolerance.
Procrastination: As part of a giveaway SBTB asked its readers for real life ghost stories (to win a copy of the latest Jennifer Crusie). You know what I’m like about ghost stories, so you’ve probably figured out I’ve worked my way through the comments. You should too; well, only if you don’t mind sleeping with the lights on!
Today’s willing victim is Mike Markel, who published ‘Big Sick Heart’ through Books For A Buck.
It’s just another job to police detective Karen Seagate and her partner Ryan Miner. Because Karen is the chief’s least favorite cop, she gets lots of lousy assignments and providing security to a couple of guys debating stem cell research is one of those. Listening to the two debaters go on about football for hours afterwards while she’s stuck drinking club sodas (and dying for a real drink) is the icing on the cake. But when one of the debaters, Arlen Hagerty is murdered that night, what had been a boring job becomes a high-profile case.
Working with her young partner, Seagate has to confront a host of her own issues, starting with a broken-down family and her own drinking. With the chief breathing down her neck, trying to push her in directions that bring him favorable publicity rather than moving the case forward only makes things worse. As Seagate moves forward with the case, her own life goes more deeply into crisis mode.
There are plenty of reasons why someone would want to kill Hagerty. His wife or mistress are obvious and had plenty of opportunity. Then there’s the man whom Hagerty pushed from his job as he clawed his way to the top. Or could it be the politician he’s been blackmailing or his fellow debater?
Author Mike Markel combines police procedure with an intriguing and sometimes disturbing character in Karen Seagate. Markel’s writing drew me into the story, made me care about Seagate even when she engaged in self-destructive behavior, and gave me convincing red herrings to chase after as the real killer threatened to slip away entirely. This is Markel’s first published novel (he’s published a number of non-fiction works) and it looks like the start of something very special.
Publishing: All247News accuses the iPad of causing the Que’s demise. It looked like a great ereader, but I think blaiming the iPad for its demise is going a little too far. I think it’s $649 price compared with the Kindle’s $139 is what killed it. eReaders aren’t multi-use devices, and as such can’t command muti-use prices. A good MP3 player costs about £40 now (you know, the kind that can technically play video but you’re never going to bother try it out), and at some point eReaders are going to have to come down to the same level. Not soon – it took MP3 players, what, about 8 years? – but s long as they’re over $100 or £70 they’re going to remain a luxury electronic good.
Interest-Piquing: Will ebooks eat the world? Is the printed book on the path to destruction? Has anyone in the industry noticed how physical forms of digital media haven’t disappeared in other industries, like film and music? No? Sorry, but the argument’s drive me up the wall sometimes ^_^ I don’t think printed books will disappear, but I think it’s going to be a toss up whether it’s the ‘collector’s item’ hardbacks survive or the ‘cheap and disposable’ paperbacks. People will still want a physical medium, but are they going to go for vinyl records or CDs?
I’m not the only one bored with the whole mobius strip aspect of the discussion: consider the ebook article drinking game.
InsPiring: Oh god, I thought this only happened in urban legends: a pea plant grows in a man’s lung. Funnily enough, it’s not on snopes yet.
Procrastination: What, Snopes wasn’t enough for you? Okay, how about Punch n Pie, and it’s forerunner, Queen of Wands.
