Show Notes: Marjorie M. Liu

Discussion: Sean from Edwards AFB wonders if there’s a difference between editing on a computer and editing on paper, and if that affects readers and writers alike. Is lazy writing — the shortcuts people have become accustomed to taking for text messaging and emails — affecting the way we notice spelling and grammatical errors in print? Are more readers becoming more forgiving or accepting of such typos on the Internet and in print?

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Interview: Michael and Michael chat with Marjorie M. Liu about her urban fantasy series “Hunter Kiss”, and the newest book, Darkness Calls. The inspiration for the heroine, Maxine Kiss, and the world and war she lives in came from the old SciFi Channel promo featuring the tattoos coming to dinner.

Marjorie is also writing comics, and she just finished up “NYX” and is now working on “Dark Wolverine” for Marvel Comics.

Submitting Listener comments: If you have any suggestions or comments, please let us know! “Cover to Cover” has it’s own call-in line, 206-350-READ! That’s 206-350-7323, or just email Michael with a comment you’ve recorded yourself!

FarPoint Forums: Head on over to the FarPoint Forums and join in the discussions on Dragon Page topics, and for most of your favorite FPM shows!

Second Life Info: FarPoint Media’s Second Life space is now in the village with Third Life Books, the place for SL versions of Michael A. Stackpole’s writings, and many other goodies, including a Wednesday night writing workshop. You can find the castle at http://slurl.com/secondlife/beraudes/203/151/49.

Link: Marjorie M. Liu
Promo: Technorama

 

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Author Tim Pratt posted a note to his LiveJournal about a project of necessity:

Bone Shop: A Reader-Supported Novella

As I mentioned yesterday, my wife was laid off this week, and while we both hope she finds a new job soon (and that I sell some more novels, as far as that goes), we’re in sudden need of money now. I could have just straight-out asked for financial help — and for those who’ve offered that, thanks, it’s appreciated — but I’m a writer, and if there’s one thing I have in ample quantity, it’s stories to tell.

Specifically a story I’ve been wanting to write for a while, but couldn’t find the right market for: a longish piece about the early adventures of my series character Marla Mason.

Bone Shop is a serialized, donation-funded urban fantasy novella, available for anyone to read for free. New chapters will go up every Monday. The Bone Shop website is here, though there’s not a lot there at the moment. I’ll post the first chapter on June 29.

Marla Mason is the chief sorcerer of Felport, a woman who’s tangled with gods and monsters and come out on top (if a bit damaged in the process). But she wasn’t always a formidable engine of brute force and pragmatism; she started out alone, in a strange city, without allies or any more power than the average teenage runaway on the street. Marla was always willing to do anything necessary to survive, and it didn’t take long for her to stumble into a world of magic, danger… and even the occasional moment of grace.

Bone Shop tells the story of Marla’s evolution from runaway to sorcerer’s apprentice to mercenary magician and beyond. Fans of the urban fantasy series that began with Blood Engines will find surprising secrets revealed about Marla’s past, and new readers can meet the character from the very beginning.

Your donations will help keep a roof over our heads, and pay our son’s medical bills (he has congenital glaucoma, and requires regular visits with specialists to keep his eyesight from deteriorating). We appreciate whatever you can give. And I hope you enjoy the story!

Visit Bone Shop and donate to the novella and help out Tim’s family.

Show Notes: Intellectual Property and Infringement

Discussion: Continuing the discussion from Show #364A, on whether or not fan fiction and other derivative works are indeed copyright infringement, and the implied or actual harm done to the owner of the property in question. Mike and Mike dance through various scenarios of what is legal and permissible, and what is copyright infringement and actionable regarding ownership of intellectual properties (books, movies, etc).

Do consumers of the fanfic and the unauthorized works help or hurt the original creators? Is the corporate trend of preventing works from going into the public domain after a reasonable amount of time hurting creators even more? Join the argument!

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Listener Review: A “Cover to Cover” listener review of The Mirrored Heavens by David J. Williams.

The Library: New to the Library this week: Wireless by Charles Stross; Gamer Fantastic edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Kerrie Hughes; Winter Duty by E. E. Knight; Divisions by Ken MacLeod; Haze by L. E. Modesitt, Jr; Hylozoic by Rudy Rucker.

Submitting Listener comments: If you have any suggestions or comments, please let us know! “Cover to Cover” has it’s own call-in line, 206-350-READ! That’s 206-350-7323, or just email Michael with a comment you’ve recorded yourself!

FarPoint Forums: Head on over to the FarPoint Forums and join in the discussions on Dragon Page topics, and for most of your favorite FPM shows!

Second Life Info: FarPoint Media’s Second Life space is now in the village with Third Life Books, the place for SL versions of Michael A. Stackpole’s writings, and many other goodies, including a Wednesday night writing workshop. You can find the castle at http://slurl.com/secondlife/beraudes/203/151/49.

 

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Writer Brandon Sanderson is having a pretty good year.

Sanderson was chosen by the estate of Robert Jordan to complete work on the final installments of the “Wheel of Time” saga and his current fantasy offering “Warbreaker” is winning critical praise.

According to SF Scope, Sanderson has just signed a new four-book deal with Tor.  The four books will be the first four volumes of a new epic fantasy series to be called “The Way of the Kings” with the first expected to appear in the second half of 2010.

Sanderson’s agent, Joshua Bilmes told SF Scope, “”he books are planned to alternate with the three books by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson that will conclude Jordan’s ‘Wheel of Time’ series. Per book advances [for the new series] are in the six figures, and with performance-based bonuses possible total advances on the deal could exceed $2.5 million.”

Show Notes: James Enge

Discussion: The particulars in the lawsuit brought by J.D. Salinger to stop publication of an unauthorized sequel bring up several questions on the legalities of parody and satire, and what constitues infringement in those circumstances.

Link: Author at the Center of Salinger Lawsuit Defends Book

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Interview: James Enge joins Michael and Michael this week to discuss his new book, Blood of Ambrose from Pyr. They chat about story outline and structure, intentional and circumstantial comedy and planning out multivolume series.

Chaos enters, hilarity ensues!

Submitting Listener comments: If you have any suggestions or comments, please let us know! “Cover to Cover” has it’s own call-in line, 206-350-READ! That’s 206-350-7323, or just email Michael with a comment you’ve recorded yourself!

FarPoint Forums: Head on over to the FarPoint Forums and join in the discussions on Dragon Page topics, and for most of your favorite FPM shows!

Second Life Info: FarPoint Media’s Second Life space is now in the village with Third Life Books, the place for SL versions of Michael A. Stackpole’s writings, and many other goodies, including a Wednesday night writing workshop. You can find the castle at http://slurl.com/secondlife/beraudes/203/151/49.

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Show Notes: The Start of the Summer Reading Season

Listener Review: Web Genii brings us a review of The Last Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko.

Submitting Listener comments: If you have any suggestions or comments, please let us know! “Cover to Cover” has it’s own call-in line, 206-350-READ! That’s 206-350-7323, or just email Michael with a comment you’ve recorded yourself!

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The Library: New additions to the Library this week: WWW:Wake by Robert J. Sawyer; Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America by Robert Charles Wilson; Green by Jay Lake; Fragment by Warren Fahy

FarPoint Forums: Head on over to the FarPoint Forums and join in the discussions on Dragon Page topics, and for most of your favorite FPM shows!

Second Life Info: FarPoint Media’s Second Life space is now in the village with Third Life Books, the place for SL versions of Michael A. Stackpole’s writings, and many other goodies, including a Wednesday night writing workshop. You can find the castle at http://slurl.com/secondlife/beraudes/203/151/49.

Promo: Variant Frequencies

 

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Show Notes: Sex Education in School

Lorrie, Megan, Mike, and Jessica are in studio this time around, and tonight’s discussion is about sex education in school.

This show contains frank discussion about sex

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First, the discussion starts with how they were educated about sex when they were young, and the frightening gaps in information given teenagers at the time, and talk about how the gaps seem to be wider with today’s educational models.

They mention the “Midwest Teen Sex Show” series on YouTube, an educational series aimed at teens, that pulls no punches with questions or answers, and talk about the dangerous increase in incidences of STD’s amongst teens these days.

The teachers also talk about how much education about sex can and should be taught in school, as well as how badly education about sexually transmitted diseases need to be directly taught to kids to help them protect their health and their lives.

The discussion continues on with how to talk sex education with developmentally impaired students, and other students in special ed who still need to learn about the subject, and the problems facing teachers in helping students from many walks of life and family backgrounds.

Submitting Listener comments: If you have any suggestions or comments, please let us know! Just leave a message at 206-350-READ! That’s 206-350-7323!

Voicemail: Darcy’s Dad wants suggestions on keeping a child interested in a subject they need but aren’t interested in, like math, and there are many offerings of ways to do math exercises to keep things fun and interesting.

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Promo: The Gmail Podcast

 

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Good science fiction speculates on things that are theoretically possible given some of the conditions and advances of our current level of technology. In many cases, the advances may be years or decades away from becoming reality, but in the case of Robert J. Sawyer’s new novel, “WWW: Wake,” part of his speculated future has become a reality far too quickly.

It’s disconcerting to pick up a novel that speculates on the future and find one plot element concerning an outbreak of a new form of the flu virus. In fact, the virus that breaks out is the H1N5 in the novel, possibly some distant cousin of the current virus that is creating a global scare and a potential world-wide pandemic.

Of course, I shouldn’t be shocked that Sawyer has done has homework and is able to predict things that could happen in the near future. He’s had a long, distinguished career of doing just that and his new novels are always those I look forward to reading next.

“WWW: Wake” is no exception.

The start of a new trilogy of novels, the story follows several different threads. One is the story of teenager Catlin Decter, who has been blind since birth. A new technology could possibly open give her sight for the first time by making use of the power of the Internet. But there’s something lurking out in cyberspace, building itself up and slowly becoming more and more aware of itself.

Stir in a story about China’s dealing with an outbreak of the H1N5 virus by removing the affected areas and shutting off communication with the outside world for several days and a plot about a highly intelligent hybrid primate and you’ve got a lot of ground to cover in this first installment. And make no mistake, this is clearly a first installment. Sawyer introduces a lot of threads and a lot of fascinating ideas in the course of his story and while he does wrap-up most of the immediate plot threads in this novel, he still leaves you hanging in the end, wanting the next installment immediately, if not sooner. There’s not a character in peril type of cliffhanger here, but instead there are several intriguing points that Sawyer leaves the reader to mull over and consider as we wait for the next installment.

But while the book is full of big ideas, those ideas are grounded in identifiable characters. The main focus of the story is Catlin and her journey from lack of sight to her new ability to see. Sawyer ably puts the reader inside the mind and experience of Catlin, making us see how she works within the world while being blind and how she must learn to adapt to a world where she can see. Catlin’s story will have you feeling her joy, her frustration and her curious nature in how she relates to the world. And a revelation about her father half-way through the story is ably set up and paid off in the course of this first installment.

The only real criticism I can come up with this one is it ended too soon and left me eager for the next installment. And that next installment cannot come soon enough…

Michael Hickerson

WWW: Wake by Robert J. Saywer
Published by: William Morrow (June 2, 2009)
ISBN-10: 0441016790
ISBN-13: 978-0441016792

Show Notes: Becoming New Authors

Discussion: The frequent question from aspiring authors lately has been on how to get published, and making the journey from hopeful to walking the path.

Mike and Mike talk about the changes and challenges facing new writers today than in previous decades, with the added responsibilites of self-marketing and self-promotion and building recognition around the fictional world created for the story.

Will writing be your career or will it be your hobby? That decision lies with each writer.

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Listener Feedback: Darcy’s Dad recounts some of the YA books she was reading towards the end of the school year, and observes that the lit trend seems to be aiming for Emo Kids; Natalie asks about the use of prologue as a fast-forward to show where the story is heading; Anna is dismayed to hear the guys equate lending libraries with book piracy; Tad from Mesa found the podcast because he was searching for what happened to the radio show Dragon Page the he used to listen to (yes) and wants to know if it’ll return to radio (no, not to KYFI, anyway), and no, authors don’t collect royalties from any used book sales; Sean from Edwards wants to know more about the book ads that appear during the show; Trampas adds fodder to the discussion about what makes a book a “classic”.

Submitting Listener comments: If you have any suggestions or comments, please let us know! “Cover to Cover” has it’s own call-in line, 206-350-READ! That’s 206-350-7323, or just email Michael with a comment you’ve recorded yourself!

FarPoint Forums: Head on over to the FarPoint Forums and join in the discussions on Dragon Page topics, and for most of your favorite FPM shows!

Second Life Info: FarPoint Media’s Second Life space is now in the village with Third Life Books, the place for SL versions of Michael A. Stackpole’s writings, and many other goodies, including a Wednesday night writing workshop. You can find the castle at http://slurl.com/secondlife/beraudes/203/151/49.

Promo: Short Cummings Audio

 

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Show Notes: Access to books for the Visually Impaired

Discussion:Web Genii tells us about her experience with text-to-speech software, and thinks publishers might be inadvertently shortchanging readers, which leads to a discussion about options for books for the visually impaired.

Listener Review: Michell Plested from the Get Published Podcast brings us a review of Realm Shift by Alan Baxter.

Submitting Listener comments: If you have any suggestions or comments, please let us know! “Cover to Cover” has it’s own call-in line, 206-350-READ! That’s 206-350-7323, or just email Michael with a comment you’ve recorded yourself!

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The Library: Mike and Mike learn about David Eddings’ passing during the recording if this show, and Mike S remembers how his writing style in The Belgariad affected the way he’s written his stories.

This week’s books: Black and White by Jackie Kessler and Caitlin Kittridge; Maelstrom: Destroyer Men by Taylor Anderson; Dying Inside by Robert Silverberg; Burning Skies by David J. Williams; Wings of Wrath by C. S. Friedman; Of Wind and Sand by Sylvie Berard; The Island by Tim Lebbon; A Grey Moon Over China by Thomas A. Day.

FarPoint Forums: Head on over to the FarPoint Forums and join in the discussions on Dragon Page topics, and for most of your favorite FPM shows!

Second Life Info: FarPoint Media’s Second Life space is now in the village with Third Life Books, the place for SL versions of Michael A. Stackpole’s writings, and many other goodies, including a Wednesday night writing workshop. You can find the castle at http://slurl.com/secondlife/beraudes/203/151/49.

Promo: How To Grow Your Geek

 

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Show Notes: Interview with Stephen Baxter

Discussion: The Boys are Back in Town! Well, Stackpole is back, from having been in Belgium last week for a conference called “Science Fiction Across Media: Novelizations and Adaptations” (and Summer would like to know if a book with all these papers will be collected and published).

Submitting Listener comments: If you have any suggestions or comments, please let us know! “Cover to Cover” has it’s own call-in line, 206-350-READ! That’s 206-350-7323, or just email Michael with a comment you’ve recorded yourself!

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Interview: Mike and Mike talk with Stephen Baxter about his newest book Flood, a story which explores how people and society react when the water rises higher and faster than the modern world is currently prepared to deal with.

Flood is the first in a post-apocalyptic duology, and begins with four hostages rescued from a group of religious extremists in Barcelona, who have bonded after five years in captivity, and promised to watch out for one another. The world they return to is not what they expected—it is slowly being transformed as water continues to flow from the earth’s mantle, and entire countries begin to disappear as the water rises.

The discussion ranges from the science of climate change, the limits and extremes to what can and might happen in a radical environmental shift, and exploring how people would adapt to different scenarios, and more.

The conclusion to the series, Ark, is due out in August 2009 in the UK, and likely sometime in 2010 in the US.

Discussion: Playing with the scientific possibilities when writing science fiction: how far is too far, or is there a too far when you’re writing fictional doomsday scenarios?

FarPoint Forums: Head on over to the FarPoint Forums and join in the discussions on Dragon Page topics, and for most of your favorite FPM shows!

Second Life Info: FarPoint Media’s Second Life space is now in the village with Third Life Books, the place for SL versions of Michael A. Stackpole’s writings, and many other goodies, including a Wednesday night writing workshop. You can find the castle at http://slurl.com/secondlife/beraudes/203/151/49.

Promo: The Babylon Podcast: Get your Giggle On!

 

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Have you ever been standing in the bookstore, browsing the sci-fi and fantasy offerings and wondering–will I like this novel or series once I get it home and start reading?

Of course, there’s always sample chapters of a novel made available on-line by most publishers. But what if you could get a free, downloadable copy of the first installment of a series to read and see if you like it before you took the plunge?

That’s what Suvudu is offering readers–free, downloadable books. The list includes a wide variety of stories and novels from entries in the on-going “Star Wars” novels to Naomi Novak’s Hugo-nominated novel, “His Majesty’s Dragon.” You can also read Nubula-winner, “Red Mars” by Kim Stanley Robinson or the Terry Brooks tongue-in-cheek fantasy, “Magic Kingdom: For Sale, Sold!”

The site will offer new books every month to readers. Of course, if you like the books, you should head out to your local bookstore and buy a copy of the book to support the author. And pick up the rest of the books in the series.

You can browse the entire library of free books HERE.

Best-selling fantasy author David Eddings has passed away at the age of 77 according to BBC News.

Inspired by the success of the Lord of the Rings, Eddings penned The Elenium series, which follwed the adventures of crooked-nosed knight Sir Sparhawk.

His wife Leigh, who died two years ago, played a pivotal role in the creation of his work.

Publisher Jane Johnson said Eddings was “a towering force of modern commercial fiction, a master of the epic”.

Eddings was known for being old-fashioned in his approach to writing. The author wrote his manuscripts long hand and not via a typewriter or computer according to reports.

His work includes The Belgariad series (5 books, 1982-1984) and The Malloreon series (5 books, 1987-1991), with three related books in the 1990s; The Elenium and The Tamuli (two trilogies, 1989-1994); and The Dreamers series (4 books, 2003-2006). His novels were famous for being long and involved fantasy epics.

“”I’m never going to be in danger of getting the Nobel Prize for literature,” he said in an interview. “I’m a storyteller, not a prophet. I’m just interested in a good story.”

“I am here to teach a generation or two how to read. After they’ve finished with me and I don’t challenge them any more, they can move on to somebody important like Homer or Milton,” he added.

This Book Is Only Half the Story
By Mike Musgrove | Washington Post | Sunday, May 31, 2009

A video game blogger named Rachael Webster created a minor stir in the blogosphere last year, when it turned out that she didn’t exactly exist.

Sure, Webster has been cranking out interesting enough commentary at a site bearing her supposed nom de blog, PixelVixen707. She even got herself quoted in an article or two at other gaming news sites along the way. But you probably won’t bump into her at, say, the video game industry’s big trade show in Los Angeles this week. After all, she’s a character in a book.

“Personal Effects: Dark Art,” published next month by St. Martin’s Press, is a creepy page-turner about an art therapist in a mental institution trying to figure out whether one of his patients, a former CIA spook, committed a series of brutal murders. “Rachael Webster,” as it turns out, is the protagonist’s punk-rock girlfriend.

Get to the last page of “Personal Effects” and you’ll have many answers, but to fully enjoy this book, you’ll need a Web connection and an interest in puzzles.

“Personal Effects,” a collaboration between thriller writer J.C. Hutchins and game designer Jordan Weisman, is part book and partly the latest entry in the hybrid entertainment form known as “alternate reality games.” Play the game correctly and you might be able to pick up on details that the protagonists missed — and, perhaps, end up with a different perspective of the book’s events.

Read the full article here: The Washington Post: This Book Is Only Half the Story