Shortest update ever?

look-im-a-human-catFinal edits for A Daughter of No Nation are done, done, OMG done, and the book’s back at Tor. Soon there will be copy-edits to proof. Meanwhile, I’m finishing up a short story for License Expired and then moving into polishing up The Nature of a Pirate.

So… blogging will commence approximately six minutes after I can form a sentence more complex than “Dur dur dur.”

I do spend a shocking amount of time saying “Get off da counter!” as it happens. CinCin has an advanced degree in incorrigible and she loves loves loves to mooch.

If you would like to kickstart this process whereby I become communicative again (kickstart in the old fashioned sense of the word, and not the “Let’s raise money for a rockin’ awesome project!” sense, though if you want to throw money at me of course I’ll knit a pink net to catch it with), feel free to suggest some topics. I’m often at my most interesting when I’m talking about something I hadn’t realized you all wanted to know.

Meanwhile, “Dur?”

Stormwrack and Sophie – your questions

(null)Now that I have a shiny new cover for A Daughter of No Nation, I asked if anyone had any questions about the upcoming book, which’ll be out in November.

And Paul Weimer did! He asks:

Is Sophie’s brother coming back?

Yes. Bram is in both A Daughter of No Nation (or, sometimes, ADoNN) and the third book, whose tentative title is The Nature of a Pirate.

How much time takes place between the end of Child of a Hidden Sea and the beginning of ADoNN?

The second book picks up about six months after Sophie’s deportation from the Fleet at the end of CHS.

Will we ever see a map? (you knew I needed to ask that)…

Honestly, I don’t know. I have hopes that it’ll happen one day… but as you probably remember, there’s so much ocean on Stormwrack, and so little land, that any full map of the planet would look like a blue sphere with green pimples. Also, since I am completely incapable of drawing one, some assistance will be required. A better bet is getting maps of some of the great nations, one day: Sylvanna, for example, and Verdanii. I don’t think there’s going to be a map in this book, though.

What new characters are you most excited to introduce us to?

Hmmm, who’s the most exciting new character in the second novel? We do see a little more of Sweet, who has been promoted up from her bosun’s assistant position on Nightjar, and you meet Watts, a doctor they pick up en route in this second book. I think the most fun I had with characters you haven’t seen previously was probably with a certain monk on Issle Morta, who has some strongly held opinions about Garland Parrish’s life and career choices.

You also get a quick look at Sophie’s adoptive parents, Regina and Cornell Hansa.

Paul, thank you for the questions! And the floor’s still open, everyone–what else do you all want to know?

A Daughter of No Nation, cover art and preorder pages

(null)As many of you will have already seen on Facebook and elsewhere, Tor has revealed the finished cover for the hardcover edition of A Daughter of No Nation, which will be out this November. The illustration was done by Cynthia Sheppard, and shows Nightjar, with Sophie, sailing into the harbor at Lamentation, which is the main port on Issle Morta. (It’s not the capital, mind; I’ll have to take you all to Hell on some other occasion.)

That’s right, folks–Parrish is going home in this novel, at least for a quick hit-and-run visit!

I’ve linked to the Amazon pre-order page above. You can also order early via Indigo (though they don’t have the cover up yet.) So does Powell’s.

I should be turning in the third Sophie Hansa novel, NATURE OF A PIRATE, to my editor at Tor quite soon. But first I have pages for the paperback edition of Child of a Hidden Sea to proofread; that will be out in June. What’s more, I’ve been putting a shine on a submission for this James Bond-themed bad boy of an antho, out soon from ChiDunnit.

If you have questions about the sequel, shout ’em out. I won’t spoil, but teasing isn’t out of the question.

I #amWriting, amReading, amRithmetic

Sometimes I can get through a book without ever having to print up a manuscript and make hard notes. Not so with the current book, though. I’ve run it off, divided it into five separate hundred-ish page segments, and am most of the way through a pink pen edit. This is not a sekrit publishing technical term. It just means that the next edit will be a green or blue or possibly orange pen edit. I am hoping to only read it this way twice, as the story came together pretty delightfully once the scribbling commenced.

Work in progress: DAUGHTER OF NO NATION

And speaking of delightful, I am now about 70% of the way through my shiny advance copy of M.K. Hobson’s heartrending steampunk novel The Warlock’s Curse, which will be available to the general public so very soon. This novel is the follow-up to the Nebula nominated The Native Star and its sequel The Hidden Goddess. I won’t say anything more about it until I’ve read that last 30%, except for this: damn you, Mary, you’ve gone and made me all emo! Those sodas at your Orycon launch party better be amazing! And also: guys, this is a superfun novel.