Here’s what’s arrived in the mail today: The copy-edited version of The Ghost Brigades, which I need to go through and see if I agree with all the copy-editing (which I’m sure I will, mostly. The same fellow did the copy-edit for Old Man’s War and did a fab job of that; indeed, aside from a difference of opinion regarding the serial comma, it was perfect). As the production cycle of TGB is on an expedited pace at the moment, which may or may not have something to do with someone turning in the manuscript so late, he said in a tiny wee voice, I’ll be banging through this in the next couple of days.
Also arrived: Cherie Priest’s Four and Twenty Blackbirds, which I ordered a couple of days ago off Amazon, which apparently now has a warehouse in Cincinatti, which suggests most of my orders with them will now arrive in two days no matter what shipping I pay for. Location, location, location! As well most of you may know, Ms. Priest and I have been jointly fighting the forces of online stupidity in the wake of the hurricanes, me with the "Being Poor" piece and she with her famous LiveJournal piece on why the poor didn’t leave New Orleans, which was to a not at all insignificant degree an inspiration when I sat down to do the "Being Poor" piece. As it happens, Ms. Priest is a Tor author as well. Coincidence? You decide. Be that as it may, having found her LiveJournal to be thought-provoking and readable, I was eager to try out her fiction, and here we are.
This reminds me that at some point I want to do a think piece about which is better for a novelist: posting a novel online or having a really interesting blog. The two aren’t exclusive, of course; but I suspect one is more useful than the other, and at some point I’ll explain why. In the meantime I’m frustrated that Four and Twenty arrived the same day as my copy-edit; I have to do the latter before I can reward myself with the former. As they say: Waaaaaaah! I’ll be taking it with me this weekend, however, as I trundle off to Chicago to shill for Tor at the Great Lakes Booksellers Association convention.
Another reason I’m interested in Four and Twenty, incidentally, is that it was edited by the most excellent Liz Gorinsky, who is one of those hypercompetent folks who assure you that one’s own generation doesn’t have the lock on brains and talent, and I’m not just saying that because I strongly suspect that one day she’ll be running a publishing company and I want to be among the first in line to toady and fawn. I’m interested in her seeing mad hot editing skillz in action, and this book looks like a good opportunity for that. Yes, I realize it’s very book geeky to be interested in a book for its editor as well as for its author, but come on. As if I’m not a book geek.