Work Life 2017
Posted on December 29, 2016 Posted by John Scalzi 25 Comments
Independent of anything else that might go on in the world in 2017, which is likely to be considerable, mind you, I myself will be having rather a busy year. Why? Well, to begin, here are the thing I am writing/have written that will come out in 2017:
1. The Collapsing Empire, March 21
2. The Dispatcher (print/eBook version), late May
3. Currently untitled non-fiction book, fourth quarter
4. Exiles of Embermark, a video game I’m part of the brain trust for, tentatively scheduled for 2017.
The first two of these are already done and scheduled; the other two are contingent on a number of factors. Be that as it may, right now, they’re all on the schedule for 2017.
Now, here are the things I have to write in 2017:
1. Head On, the sequel to Lock In, scheduled for publication in 2018;
2. The sequel to The Collapsing Empire, with the working (but to be clear very tentative) title The Last Emperox, scheduled for 2019;
3. That currently untitled non-fiction book, for fourth quarter 2017.
4. Additional work on Exiles of Embermark.
In addition to these, I’ll also be writing occasional pieces for the Los Angeles Times as one of its Critics-at-Large, and of course writing here on Whatever as well, although it should always be understood that as a matter of practicality, pay copy comes first.
I’ll also have some appearances! Which include:
1. A substantial book tour, tentatively starting on March 21 (the publication date of The Collapsing Empire) and running through the month of April (with, to be clear, a couple of breaks to see family and pets). More details on places/dates soon;
2. The JoCo Cruise the first week of March;
3. The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books;
4. The Antioch Writer’s Workshop (at which I will be giving the keynote address);
5. BEA/Bookcon.
Note that these are the things currently scheduled; I’ll likely have more things added in during the year and I’ll let people know about them as they pop up (which is to say, as the fabulous PR people at Tor add them in).
I will be attending a few science fiction conventions this year, including, probably, Worldcon 75, but I should note that outside of readings/signings I’ll be mostly be attending as a fan, i.e., hanging out to visit with friends. I have no guest of honor convention gigs this year, in part because I knew I’d have a monster book tour and would otherwise be booked by my PR folks for events, and somewhere in all of this I have to actually write books (and see family, friends and pets, and sleep). I’ll be more engaged in the convention circuit in 2018 and 2019, I suspect.
And on top of everything above, I have a couple of currently secret and/or unannounced projects about which I can’t say anything yet but if they come to fruition should be pretty cool. I’ll let you know about those when I can.
So, yeah, my 2017 will be busy. Which is good! The alternative in my line of work is pretty grim. I am, as they say, blessed with work.
Regarding book tour appearances:
Please don’t say “you should come to my town!” here in the comments. We don’t just pick random spots on the map, you know; Tor asks bookstores who’d like me to do an event at their store, bookstores signal their interest (or not), and then we go from there. If you want me to come to your town on tour, don’t tell me; tell your local bookstore, so they can tell Tor’s PR people (and also, it’s too late for this tour. But I’ll have other tours soon, probably).
I was about to write, “See you in Raleigh this spring” since this is usually a stop on your tours, but then I remembered HB2 is still the law here in NC. :( If you refuse to come on account of it I’d understand and fully support your decision.
Congratulations on a very productive year, and here’s to the next one!
Beej:
We scheduled North Carolina stops in that halcyon moment between the election of a new governor and the NC legislature deciding that, no, actually, they weren’t going to repeal HB2 after all, because fuck you, that’s why. This is what I get for being optimistic, and for liking North Carolina in spite of its government.
At the moment, my plan is to honor those tour stops and to donate my proceeds (i.e., my income from books sold at the events) to NC-based equality groups.
Really, really glad that you are going to be so busy this year, sir, and not entirely for selfish reasons, either. It is wonderful to see someone in a creative field have so much going on and to see such demand for their work, and with all the other crap that’s going on in the world, that is a very bright point indeed.
The selfish part of me went SQUEEE at the prospect of another non-fiction work from you. I enjoy your fiction very much indeed, but the non-fiction is what I love the most. Thank you for giving me something to anticipate with eagerness in 2017, since most other things about the year already look pretty crappy.
Health and happiness to you and your family in 2017, and may all your plans come to successful fruition.
I just took my last emperox this morning (hypertension) so I need to call in for a refill. Thanks for the reminder! ;)
Good Luck. And productive writing.
As an Antioch graduate of elderly vintage, I was thrilled to see its name in your blog. Enjoy Yellow Springs!
Still hoping for an appearance on the Nerdist podcast…Every time I see that you’re in LA, I’m hopeful!
So the non-fiction title is “101 uses for a spare goat”? We’ve been waiting a while for that one ;)
Sigh. We don’t have any local bookstore in Reston. Heck, I don’t think there’s one left in Northern Virginia that would host an author visit.
Glad I read, “Please don’t say…” before I said it! My bookstore will be hearing from me though. Have a happy new year!
I have been trying to come up with fun things to do in 2017 that will help keep the oxygen mask fastened. Maybe this is the year to finally attend the LA Times Festival of Books. :-)
Would you ever do an appearance in a used bookstore? Apparently sci-fi is a huge part of used bookstore stock and I was talking to a local u-b owner who said they’d explored inviting authors to appear but not very aggressively.
I “met” you for the first time in Chicago at the national library conference in 2013 (?). the conference is back in Chicago in 2017, and I was hoping you’d be doing a talk or panel or book signing or all three! but that is not until the end of June, so doesn’t seem to fit your schedule very well. Any road, I can’t WAIT for Head On.
Here’s to a wonderful new year to you and yours. You have been a voice of sanity and silliness this year and we all appreciate it!
Oh! I’m excited for the nonfiction book, which I don’t remember hearing of before. Just to get way ahead of myself, will you read the audiobook?
Emperox. Either an emperor that’s secretly a guitarist in a Nordic metal band OR an emperor that’s also an ox.
But which one? Ummmm.
JoCo cruise strikes me more as a paid vacation. I get how you cant write when you are busy amusing people.
Guess:
In fact I co-run the literary track on the boat, so I do a fair amount of work both before and during.
Time for my annual fatally flawed attempt to convince He Who Must Be Consulted that we really need to go on a JoCo Cruise … fatally flawed because Australia is a long way from Florida, the costs are currently non-viable and, not least, I have gotten seasick on every boat, from ferries to liners, that I have ever been on.
But they sound like such a blast.
I look forward to when you feel free to tell us the topic of your non-fiction book.
If the Lock In stuff gets a third book, I would like to live in a universe where it is titled “Apply Directly To The Forehead”. :D
The word ‘Emperox’ still sucks. Sorry.
[Deleted because it’s ridiculously off point to the thread — JS]
Dana:
No, it rocks. So there.