We saw the final artwork for the cover of Alliance today.
It’s awesome.
The artist is Bruce Jensen again. He did the Linesman cover too, and the two covers look great side-by-side.
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Alliance book cover
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Where we’ve been on the internet
This week, it’s all about editing. We’re busy working on Alliance.
We have also done some guest posts for Linesman in the last month, so rather than leave you with nothing to read—if you missed any of our guest posts—here is an update.
Firstly though we would like to say a big thank you to John Scalzi, Chuck Wendig, Mary Robinette Kowal for providing great support, not just to us, but to all writers. And a huge thank you to Sally, at The Qwillery, for her support for both us and all other debut authors, especially in our genre. Thank you all.
Without further ado, in order of posting:
July 2, 2015: John Scalzi posted our Big Idea for Linesman. Here we talk about where the idea for Linesman came from.
July 3, 2015: Interview with The Qwillery about writing in general, and about and Linesman.
July 9, 2015: Five things we learned writing Linesman, on Chuck Wendig’s site.
July 14, 2015: Mary Robinette Kowal posted Our Favorite Bit of Linesman on her site.
July 17, 2015: The Qwillery very generously allow us a guest post spot. This time we are talking about how we co-write.
And if you are still looking for something to read, there is always the book itself. You can read the first chapter by clicking on the link from the front page of our blog. (This is the ARC version, so it may have some typos.) Or you can read a longer extract on the Penguin Random House site, on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.
Enjoy
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Reflecting on technology
In 2008 I bought a Hewlett Packard tablet PC. I used it five times before I gave up and went back to my desktop. It was too heavy to use as a slate, and almost too heavy to use as a laptop. Nowadays it’s just junk. I can’t even give it away.
Ever since I can remember, I was convinced tablet computers would replace desktop PCs and laptops. It seemed such a logical progression. They had touch screens, you could carry them around, what more could you ask? Yet even though tablet computers had been around since the late 1980s, by the time I put that HP into storage I was starting to wonder if they would ever take off.
Then of course, Apple brought out the iPad.
The iPad was the tipping point for tablet computers. Now, tablets are everywhere.
What about the technology that doesn’t last?
Recently, over at John Scalzi’s blog, Whatever, we posted about the ideas—or images—that were the precursor to writing Linesman.
One of these was
… we read about an early Comdex or Macworld exhibition where the first Apple Mac was on show. An old man stopped to look at the Mac. He picked up the mouse and moved it in front of the screen to see what would happen
One of the commenters (thank you, Matt), said
… what the old man was likely thinking of was the light pen, which was an even older technology that worked exactly like what he was trying to do with the mouse.
So naturally, I looked up light pens. Which are exactly what they sound like. A pen that you point at the screen and the screen detected the change in light and sent that information back to the computer. Think of it like a modern-day touch-screen, only instead of measuring electrostatic fields it measured light.
The light pen never took off because you had to hold it up to the screen for long periods of time. Look what we have now. Tablets, with touch screens.
To become popular a technology has to be useable. I didn’t use my HP tablet. It was too heavy both as a table and as a laptop. Light pens didn’t work because you couldn’t physically hold your hand up for long periods of time. (The requirement for specialised software would have impacted too, but software can be written.)
Timing and marketing also has an impact. Can anyone remember Betamax vs VHS? Which doesn’t matter any more, because both technologies are now obsolete.
The iPad is light. It looks good and it’s easy to use.
You don’t always get what you want
Back in 2008, when I bought my HP tablet, I expected that by 2015 the tablet would be the only thing I would use. I wouldn’t have another computer.
For some people it is, only for them it’s a mini-tablet and it’s called a mobile phone.
For me? I seem to have regressed. My phone is a phone and a camera, and that’s all. The only time I connect it to the internet is to download images.
My iPad? It’s the best little eReader around. I play the occasional game on it, and I use it to listen to music. That’s all. As for software—I’ve stopped trying to find new apps. I don’t use them.
My laptop. I can put it in my bag, which is a big plus. I use it on the train to write, and when I am out. Again, that’s it.
The bulk of my work is still done on the desktop PC.
Which is not what I would have expected mid-2015.
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Answers to What Cat Am I
Our latest quiz was about cats. Real cats, feline aliens, people with cat names. You name it, we had it.
Answers are hidden below the fold, so if you still want to do the quiz go to What Cat Am I.
Otherwise, click Continue Reading for answers.
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What cat am I?
It’s time for a new quiz
So far this week it’s been all about our book. It’s time to talk about other people’s books, and to have some fun.
Andre Norton wrote a lot about cats, and the internet is filled with them. (Cats, we mean, not Andre Norton, although it is pleasing to see there seems to be a lot more around about Andre just recently.) So, it’s a perfectly good subject to write about.
While we don’t have cats in our book, we have read lots of books with cats in them.
And not just cats, people who look like cats, people who are named for cats — anything’s fair here.
Because cats are so popular you get a double dose today. Ten questions instead of five.
The question is, as always … What book am I reading?
- I was a fiddle, turned into a cat using someone’s life
- I was nearly left behind at the cat shelter, but I now live in a magical inn
- I join forces with a human who travels into the unknown in a test for survival
- I have strong opinions which I am always willing to voice. I also have a keeper. Or rather, the keeper has me. Whatever
- A plague is ravaging our planet and killing us all. The cure may be in a song
- I earned my name from my green eyes with slitted pupils. I can see in the dark
- Get off my tail or I’ll smother you in your sleep
- All the dogs in the neighborhood are scared of me. I send them running
- My son, Morgan, loved being a kitten. When we got turned back into humans he was most upset
- I have razor sharp claws. I travel around in a shopping cart wheeled by my owner.
Hints:
- One of these books has not yet been published but you have been able to read it on-line
- There’s a wide reading age range (the widest)
- One author is here twice.
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Released today
Need we say more?
Pirate moments
I remember the first time I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean Curse of the Black Pearl. We hadn’t seen any shorts, we had no idea what to expect.
We came out of that movie laughing, feeling good.
We enjoyed the movie so much saw it six times more in the theatre and we’ve seen it on TV countless times since, but that first time was absolute magic.
The same week we saw Pirates of the Caribbean we also saw Gilbert & Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance. It was the ten/twenty year revival of a stage show that had run first in the mid-1980s, and again in the 1990s. It had Jon English as the Pirate King, and Simon Gallaher as Frederick. We loved it so much we had already seen it a number of times in each of the two earlier incarnations, so we knew roughly what to expect.
We still came out of that show laughing and feeling good.
Ever since then we’ve used the term ‘pirate moment’ to describe an experience which makes you euphoric, on a high.
Our book comes out on Tuesday
There are a lot of pirate moments on the way to becoming an author.
They’re not always the moments you expect.
Getting an agent was a pirate moment. The first feedback you get from an editor—even if they’re saying no—is a pirate moment.
Selling the book—not so much. That took two years, and was more a relief than anything. But once the book has been sold, the first time you hear from your editor is a pirate moment.
When your agent, unexpectedly, emails you and says we have an offer for audio rights. That’s a pirate moment.
Getting a box of ARCs (advanced reader copies) was a pirate moment. We weren’t expecting them, and suddenly, here on the doorstep is a box of books with green covers. It’s a book! A real book.
We were expecting the final books when they arrived a month later.
Not that we’re unhappy about publishing contracts or seeing final copies of our book, because we love it. But the euphoric pirate moments come from the things you’re not expecting.
A five star rating of Linesman on Goodreads. A tiny mention in an article saying that your book is one this person looks forward to reading. An email from your local library asking if you want to do a book talk as part of their Emerging Writers series.
Happy book birthday to us
Our book comes out on Tuesday June 30. Happy book birthday to us
So far it’s not shaping up to be a pirate moment. Of course, you can’t tell until the actual day, but it’s one of those things you’ve been anticipating for so long that when you get to it, it’s almost anticlimactic.
It sounds ungrateful. It’s not. And there will be plenty more pirate moments to come. But right now neither of is really sure how we feel about Tuesday.
There’s plenty to keep us occupied in the meantime, anyway. We got the edits for book two (Alliance) back from Anne the other day, and we’re still not done on the first draft of book three.
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First world problems
As I write this I am waiting for delivery of our new washing machine. I haven’t looked forward to a delivery so much in a long time. (Except perhaps a certain box from Penguin Random House which is due soon too.)
We’ve a house full of dirty clothes and we’re both down to our last clean garments. If the washing machine wasn’t being delivered today, I know what we’d be doing tonight. Laundromat duty.
I have nothing against Laundromats, mind. The first ten years after I left home I washed my clothes at the local Laundromat. But once you get a washing machine in your home it’s hard to go back to packing your dirty laundry in a basket, collecting coins and soap powder—and a book to read—and making the trek down to the laundry.
It’s so convenient to come home at night, toss your clothes into the washer and have them in the dryer by the time you’re eating dinner.
We all know how indispensable a washing machine is. And a dryer.
Another modern convenience I never anticipated wanting was a dishwasher. I mean, who minds washing up? (We all do, I suppose, but it doesn’t take that long.)
This house had a dishwasher when we moved in. At first we only used it when we had a lot of dishes to wash, usually when we had visitors. After all, who wants to wash up when you’d rather be chatting to your guests? It didn’t take long before we were using it full time.
When the dishwasher finally broke down there wasn’t any question as to whether we would buy another one, just what sort. We bought a two-drawer that was more suited to the smaller loads. When that one gave up recently the only question was, “How soon can we get the replacement?”
Ah, first world problems.
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Over talking the story
I’ve always said there are … two kinds of writers. There are architects and gardeners. The architects do blueprints before they drive the first nail, they design the entire house, where the pipes are running, and how many rooms there are going to be, how high the roof will be. But the gardeners just dig a hole and plant the seed and see what comes up. I think all writers are partly architects and partly gardeners, but they tend to one side or another, and I am definitely more of a gardener.
A conversation with Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin. SMH, 2011
When you’re writing as a team talking to each other is part of the process. You talk about the story before you start writing, you talk about it while you’re writing, and once you’re done you talk about it again, looking for problems and ways to improve it.
We’re a long way into book three of LINESMAN now, and we’ve done a lot of talking so far. But we’re pantsers, too. Or, if you prefer, more gardeners than architects.
We can talk ourselves out, to the detriment of the story.
That is, we over-talk what happens.
The spontaneity that makes the story enjoyable to write dies. The writing stops. We have to backtrack and pick our way around what we know is going to happen. Sometimes we just unravel the boring bits a strand at a time and hope that by the end of the many drafts we have written, the lack of fire will have been covered.
Sometimes we have to ditch that section altogether and write a new scene.
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Sample chapter now available
We’ve added a sample chapter of LINESMAN. It’s here, if you want to read it.
This chapter comes from the advanced reader copy (ARC), which is the uncorrected proof. If you’re familiar with ARCs you’ll know there may be typos, or even some bad grammar. Hopefully we’ll have caught it by this stage, but you never know.