So...

... my author's copies of the French graphic novel version of The Warrior's Apprentice finally arrived today.  Very nice format -- about 9" by 13" shiny-hardcover -- and big, bright, clear printing.  Full color throughout.  I've just given it a read, as much as my 40-years-back high school French plus familiarity with the story allows.

Mon Dieu, but she is a hoot!  I'm not sure how someone draws with a French accent, but there it is, recognizably my story, yet full of surprising detail and interesting artistic choices.  Somebody had fun with this.  The writer made some shrewd choices in the necessary compression of some scenes, and for the most part, the sequence of events is pretty much all there, so far.

It starts with Miles's obstacle-course debacle interspersed, interestingly enough, with a bit of the climax of the trial in the Council of Counts, upping the stakes at the start, and then goes into tell-the-story-in-flashback mode.  This first volume goes to just as Miles & Company prepare to hijack the Ariel.  (The fight scene where they first capture the Oseran blockaders' inspection team is a stitch.)  Two more volumes to come.  I don't know when Volume 2 is due out, tho' brisk sales of Volume 1 couldn't hurt the process.

I'm looking forward to Vol. 3, when Ivan presumably shows up again -- he was drawn very French-Ivan in his bit-part in this section.  Elena... well, I don't think she would dress, or undress, like that, in some scenes, not with her Da around, but I suppose one must allow the poor hardworking artist his perks.  Some time between the preview last summer in Lanfeust and this, somebody corrected Cordelia's hair color from black to red, which I appreciate; otherwise she'd be rather hard to identify at first.  Well, and the blond Gregor with the mustache took me aback, rather, if that was indeed Gregor.  The Barrayaran backgrounds seem to be overblown Napoleonic Empire crossed with Star Wars, rather than the somewhat 19th C. British-inspired vision I had, but the story stretches to cover that without tearing unduly; about a quarter of the Firsters were French, after all.  The only other color gaffe was the notion that all Barrayaran uniforms are brown and silver, instead of that combo just being the Vorkosigan clan's colors; I miss my favorite Imperial forest green, but am willing to consider it part of the necessary simplifications when transposing media.  There is a good deal of fun had with stuff going on in the backgrounds of some panels.

Amazon Canada is going to be carrying it, for readers on this side of the Pond -- they claim to ship this month.  I have no idea what other American or Canadian sources will carry it, or be able to order it; if anyone knows, shout out.  I'm unfamiliar with how comics media are being distributed these days.  I'd be curious.

When searching on-line, look for keywords such as writer's and artist's names -- Latil and Beroy -- and the publishing company Soliel.   La Saga Vorkosigan appears in large print, as well.  I missed it on my first check because I was looking under my own name, which is not how it's listed.  Oh, hey, or the ISBN, just thought of that.  A universal code:

ISBN 978-2-30200-676-8

Ta, L.

My esteemed webmaster Mike Bernardi from over at www.dendarii.com has reminded me, he did a link round-up quite a while back...


http://www.dendarii.com/ebooks.html


Even more compact and useful, for a certain value of useful.

Ta, L.

I was lately reminded, one can hand out rather generous free e-samples of my prose from the Baen site, when trying to explain my books to people who haven't read them before.  Right there on the spot.  Without even having to wrestle them past my cover art.  Because, as has been pointed out, if you don't immediately catch the eye of a passing internet denizen, they'll be off in the next millisecond to watch Welshmen play Pong with electrified sheep on YouTube, or something, and by the time they come up for air, they'll have forgotten the prior conversation altogether.  "Short Attention-Span Theater", as the old Firesign Theater fellows put it.

Shards of Honor: http://www.webscription.net/chapters/0671578286/0671578286___1.htm

The Warrior's Apprentice: http://www.webscription.net/chapters/0743436164/0743436164___1.htm

Falling Free: http://www.webscription.net/chapters/1416521410/1416521410___1.htm


I believe most of my other titles there also have samples.  Pass 'em on,  post 'em, whatever...

Ta, L.

Hiya --

    I have my Boskone 47 programming schedule, for those interested.

    http://www.nesfa.org/boskone/

Programming as listed below, plus a few other events as seems good, or as my endurance endures.

The NESFA hardcover reprint of _The Vor Game_ will launch and be available at (and after) the con, as well.




Friday  7pm        Seriously, Where *Do* Your Ideas Come From?
       Lois McMaster Bujold            David Anthony Durham        (M)
       Darlene Marshall            Paul G. Tremblay            Mary A. Turzillo

We know ideas don't come from a mail box in upstate New York. So,
   seriously, where do they come from? Do you muse on "what if's"? Are
   there personal inspirations for your tales? Do you find a particular
   setting evocative, and just waiting to be detailed in a story?


Saturday11am       Kaffeeklatsch
       Lois McMaster Bujold

    
Saturday12noon     Autographing


Saturday3pm        The Heroine's Journey
       Lois McMaster Bujold            Greer Gilman            Rosemary Kirstein        (M)
       Margaret Ronald            Jo Walton
Is it different from that of the hero? If so, in what ways?



Saturday 5pm       Reading, 55 minutes 

(From _CryoBurn_; I plan to read the opening scene, and then select
 two different scenes from the ones I've been reading for the past many moons.)



Saturday9pm        Saturday Night Award Presentations
       Lois McMaster Bujold            Mary Crowell            Bob Eggleton            Jim Mann            John Picacio            Alastair Reynolds            Tom Shippey            Vernor Vinge            Michael Whelan            Jane Yolen


    
Sunday  11am       The NESFA Bujold Books
       Lois McMaster Bujold            Suford Lewis        (M)
   To some extent, a book is a collaboration between an author and a
   publisher. The primary players in this "Mirror Dance" will discuss
   the ups and downs, trials and rewards, problems and particulars
   relating to the NESFA Press Bujold book project.



Sunday  1pm        Believable Relationships
       Beth Bernobich            Lois McMaster Bujold            Geary Gravel            Darlene Marshall        (M)
       Jo Walton        How can believable relationships between characters be best
   depicted? Does sexuality matter much to you when setting up these
   encounters, i.e., if said characters are straight/LGBT, mono/poly,
   etc., etc....? Or, can you build characters and connections in such
   a way that everything else is incidental? How?? Participants explore
   these and other knotty (naughty? Heh) questions, as they talk about
   the steamier side of fiction.


Sunday  2pm        Autographing

A sharp-eyed fan in France reported the first sighting in a shop there of the The Warrior's Apprentice graphic novel, Volume One (of a projected three).

 

http://www.amazon.fr/saga-Vorkosigan-LApprentissage-Guerrier/dp/2302006763/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264668656&sr=1-1

I figured fans on this side of the Pond might have luck looking in Amazon Canada, but it looks like it won't be available for another month there:

http://www.amazon.ca/SAGA-VORKOSIGAN-T01-LAPPRENTISSAGE-GUERRIER/dp/2302006763/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264728304&sr=1-1

I didn't find it on my first search sweep because it's not listed under my name, but rather, under the names of the scripter and the artist.

I'm really looking forward to getting my author's copy, which always takes some time to wend to Minnesota from anywhere overseas.

Ta, L.

Evidently in support of an upcoming convention appearance, filker Tom Smith's splendid song based on Falling Free is up on-line -- lyrics on the linked page, MP3 beyond.  (I have the CD, myself.)  I recommend the MP3 link to your attention -- the four-part harmony is a spot-on delight.

http://www.conflikt.org/feature.php?feature=singalong

Enjoy!

Ta, L.

The Sharing Knife, Vol. 4: Horizon is due out in its mass market paperback incarnation starting, officially, Tuesday the 26th, which is when Amazon claims to start shipping it.  In practice, this means copies will start trickling onto brick & mortar bookstore shelves anytime from this weekend into the first week of February.  Call before you drive, I suppose.

The most important thing for a series of this sort -- one story divided into four volumes, starting at the beginning with Beguilement strongly recommended -- is, of course, getting stores to restock Book One at the time succeeding volumes come out.  This tends to be maddeningly hit-or-miss.

Anyway, if you haven't tried The Sharing Knife (or want to share The Sharing Knife), or have been waiting for it all to be out in paperback, nabbing a copy of Beguilement and its second half Legacy (remembering that it was originally one book cut in two for publication) would be a good thing to do now, any way you can.  On-line and specialty retailers in stores where my books do well will likely have it in stock; the rest will be a gamble.  Speed readers could be ready for Vol. 4 by Tuesday, no doubt.  The rest of us will get there in due course.

Ta, L.

Amar Akbar Anthony (1977)

From about the same era, but rather a cut above, the sort of bizarro-world Bollywood version of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers that I watched a year or so ago.

Netflix fairly accurately describes it as a comic caper.  As a result of a complicated setup that takes the first 30 minutes of the film to portray, 3 young brothers are separated, one adopted by a Hindu policeman, one by, I believe, a Muslim, and the third by a Catholic priest.  Fast forward 22 years: one has become a musician and singer, one a policeman, and one a bar owner.  Hijinks ensue worthy of a Shakespearean twins plot, and they are reunited with (also) their lost, blinded mother (tho' I don't think blood donation works that way) and, eventually, their father.  Three love stories and two revenge plots tangle simultaneously, till the brothers team up to win their respective brides and reunite the family, although I believe dad still goes off to jail -- long story.  2 hours 40 minutes, 6 song and dance numbers, and an equal number of fistfights -- I begin to see why the jokes about Bollywood fistfights...

I kind of enjoyed it, actually.  Not as slick as the modern productions, but with a charming sincerity.  It's too bad real life can't be more like a Bollywood musical.

Ta, L.
  

Learn Bharatanatym: Korvals, Padam & Javali (2008)

I am actually not going to be learning this or anything else that requires physical coordination, but I signed the disc out from Netflix in the hopes that it would explain the obviously-meaningful hand and facial gestures I was seeing in the other dance series, which more presented whole, polished performances.  Happily, it did so, among other things.  This disc slowed down, broke down, and explained a few of the large array of stylized movements that get put together by choreographers for Indian classical dance, every one of which has its own name -- very reminiscent of what little I know about French ballet vocabulary -- or Japanese judo katas, for that matter.  Ten different styles of walks, for example, several head and neck movements, a mutitude of arm, hand, and finger movements, eye movements, nine gestures conveying specific emotions, and so on.

My knees hurt just watching some of the jumps and turns.

Still think I'd need a book for the more detailed "Where did it come from? How did it get here?" sorts of questions.  A very pleasant way to spend an hour, anyway.  I see there are more discs in the series, hm.

This sort of gift-wrapped visual knowledge would have been absolutely inaccesible to me, 20, 10, or even 5 years back.  Now it just falls out of my mailbox into my hand.  Is that cool or what? 

It's minus-11-F. here tonight.  For the thoughtful fan who hand-knitted and gave me the the pair of blue fingerless mittens at a booksigning a while back, thank you, wherever you are.  They're certainly being used this month.

Ta, L.
 

Before my lovely, quiet, stay-at-home-out-of-the-cold New Year's Day slips entirely away, I expect I should at least come out of my hobbit hole long enough to say Hi!

2010 has rather snuck up on me.  I was much too busy with 2009 to pay the least attention to the turn of the decade, and now, suddenly, here it is.  The date looks... alien, to me.  Like something out of a science fiction novel, perhaps.

2009 seems very full, in retrospect.  There was a book tour to kick it off, I dimly recall, some out-of-town con and in-town cons in the early part -- wasn't there? -- I finished CryoBurn for Baen in June and its revisions in July, plunged into six weeks of unpleasant dentistry, then there was Dragon*Con and FenCon that accounted for September, then the office re-do (still in progress - waiting for furniture, again), unnumbered and, at this point, unremembered e-mail interviews, and so on, till the year was all filled up.  Lots of DVD watching, some remarked upon here, all remembered by Netflix for me -- now, there's a useful prosthetic memory.  Oh, yeah, and I turned 60, a mile marker of sorts.

Unlike 2008, the year did not include any life-threatening medical emergencies, certainly a plus.  Although I spent most of that week in May 2008 walking around with a perforated appendix not knowing I was having an etc., so I don't remember it as having been as scary as it possibly should have been.

I am also growing out my hair, because it hasn't turned gray yet, and I was curious to see what it looks like long, one more time; I've had it short since my 30-year-old daughter was an infant.  So far, it looks rather droopy.

Professional events of note coming up soon:

January 26th, the mass market paperback of The Sharing Knife, Vol. 4: Horizon hits the bookstore shelves, so people who want the complete tetrology in a unified mm size format will be able to complete their sets.  If you haven't read The Sharing Knife series yet, you have just time to get started with Beguilement and the rest.

February 12 - 14, I will be a NESFA Press special guest at Boskone 47 in Boston, Massachusetts:  http://www.nesfa.org/boskone/  for all the details.

There will be some sort of book tour for CryoBurn in November, when it is published; details will not be set till fall.

Here's hoping for a peaceful and productive 2010 for all --

bests, Lois.