suricattus

and I don't care.

The Locus poll & survey is closing in a few days. You don't have to be a subscriber to vote.

Here's how it works:

Here is the online version of the 38th annual Locus Awards ballot, covering works that appeared in 2007. You may vote for up to five works in each category. In each position, you may either make a selection from the drop-down list OR enter a write-in candidate in the blank box at the right. Do not vote for the same work more than once, except Best First Novels may also be listed in Best Novel categories. [If you violate this rule, we will disregard your ballot.] Feel free to leave some categories blank or partially blank.

The drop-down selections for books and short fiction are based on Locus's 2007 Recommended Reading List [this link will open a new window], which gives full titles and publication credits. Drop-down selections in magazine, editor, artist, and publisher categories are based on the last two year's results. However, you are welcome to vote for anything. Note that the Hugo and Nebula awards have somewhat different eligibility requirements; Locus Awards are open to publications or work that first appeared, anywhere in the world, during calendar year 2007. If you are voting for items not on our Recommended Reading List, please give both author and title as well as place of appearance (and please enter in the same format, [lastname, title] with no quotations marks or other punctuation, as the drop-down selections).

Needless to say, BURNING BRIDGES isn't in the drop-down options. But if you feel so inclined, you could certainly write it in. Or, yaknow, any other books you've enjoyed in 2007....

EtA: while I absolutely am promoting my own work, I am also encouraging you to write in other books as well. The Locus poll is self-limited by what THEY thought was the best/most enjoyable, and that often does not seem to line up with what the larger readership thinks... so tell them what you liked!

Library Journal chimes in on Burning Bridges to say:

"Set in the same alternate Earth as Curse the Dark, Gilman's latest novel provides a view of magic and magical creatures that is anything but bright and shiny. Valere is a tough, resourceful heroine, a would-be loner who cares too much to truly walk alone. A strong addition to urban fantasy collections."

To keep my ego in check, I am savaged slightly on Amazon.com by someone who thinks this book is all useless filler, and that I'm not the writer Jim Butcher is.

Not only can you not please all the people all the time, it's a wonder you can please anyone ever. This is the mantra to keep in mind when reading reviews. Else you weep blood, gnaw your innards, and end up like a dog with a nervous tail-chewing habit...

( there be snippet here! (non-spoilery) )

Going forward, I plan to post a monthly snippet from Book #5 up on the Cosa Nostradamus blog. So don't forget to check!

I will be at Pandemonium Books (4 Pleasant Street, Cambridge MA), this Sunday June 17th, from 1pm - 3pm!

Come by and say hello, get a book or three signed, and be the first to hear about the next Retrievers title!

not so much the start of a busy week as the continuation of busy days. But two things, as I sweep through....

1. An interesting reader-review of Burning Bridges, which manages to recap the first three books, review the fourth, and make comments without actually giving away any spoilers. There are professional reviewers who could take notes... (the fact that she liked the book is a very nice plus, of course).

2. The Improvisational Chef's Sunday Lamb

It had been with great glee that I discovered a local organic farm was selling lamb direct to the consumer -- literally raised, butchered, vac-packed and carted several miles to the local market. I picked up two loin chops, about a pound total, and pondered what to do with them.

Finally, feeling the urge for something light and citrusy to match the rainy Spring weather, I mixed some lemon-infused olive oil with a mild white vinegar and coated the chops, then cut slits in the chops and slid in sliced dried apricot. I wrapped the chops so that the fat-laden 'tail' coiled around the meat, and placed them on top of the rack with the fat side up. I added white pepper, black pepper, and cinnamon to the remaining liquid, and brushed the chops with it, then placed them in the oven at 450 degrees for a few minutes, to sear the fat, and then down to 350 for another 20 minutes. The fat dripped down through the meat and into the pan, and the apricots warmed and oozed, and the final product, served with a green salad and a meritage from Long Island, was deemed damned good eating.

I think, in the future, I might add a sharper spice to the mixture, to offset the sweetness of the apricots, but for a first-time improvisation, I'm rather pleased.

Coffee's ready. Back to work...

Woke this morning to e-mail from a friend in the UK, informing me that BURNING BRIDGES was #12 on the bookscan fantasy trade list, first week on-sale. What does this mean? Basically, that a lot of you bought the book the moment it became available.

I'd smooch you all if I didn't know where some of your mouths have been. *adjusts halo*


Meanwhile, I have been to BEA and BEA has been at me. My feet *hurt*. The signing went very well -- at no point did I misspell anyone's name or forget how to spell my own (it happens, after a dozen or so books signed rapid-fire), I saw many people both skiffy, LJ-ish, and Previous Career, picked up a reasonable number of freebie books (most of which are for other people -- Terri, Vampry, I have gifties for you!), got taken out for a fabulous lunch wherein I learned that a NYT bestselling romance author I'm a fan of is a fan of mine (!!), was interviewed for a podcast, had dinner and drinks with dianora2, and decided to treat myself to a lovely foot massage which, trust me, even one day at BEA makes a medical requirement, not a luxury.

Oh, and it was around 90+ degrees in Manhattan today. *wilts*

Tomorrow, more of the same.

For now, I fall over go thud.

(a reminder: we're tracking sightings here)

In honor of the day, and because my brain is busy elsewhere, I'm declaring this an Open Thread. Ask away. I am here but to entertain, eddicate, and eradicate...oh no, wait, that's what the Daleks are for, never mind...

*goes in search of more cafFiend*



(There may also be a political post coming, if I can find the time -- despite the three day weekend, the stupidity, crassness and arrogance of our elected and wanna-be-elected officials never ceases...)

Although the official publication date for Burning Bridges is Tuesday, it's already been released into the wild (I know this because I got a fan e-letter yesterday, making her the fastest fan in the South [Books-a-Million in Louisiana])


So I'm curious -- if you see it, tag it and report back the where and the when!

After some plot wrap-up*, Kathy Samuels of Romance Reviews Today says:

"BURNING BRIDGES is another exciting dip into the fantastical world of Talents and, specifically, the life of Wren Valere that you won't want to miss."



* in which she points out, not unfairly, that there is more intrigue than romance in this installment, which makes me want to remind everyone once again that I'm not a romance writer, damn it, and these are not romances.... They like me, though, even as I screw with their personal preferences. I take that as a compliment.

Twenty days until BURNING BRIDGES is released. No, the nerves never do go away...

If you're interested in having me scribble in your copy, you can find me at the following locations over the summer:

Friday June 1st, BookExpo America (Javits Center, NYC). 11 am signing at the Harlequin booth.

Saturday June 2nd, Posman Books (Grand Central Station, NYC). ETA: LOOKS LIKE I'LL BE THERE AROUND 2PM, IF YOU WANT TO STOP BY....

Sunday June 17th, PANDEMONIUM BOOKS (Cambridge, MA). Signing from 3-5pm.

July 6th-9th, ReaderCon (Boston, MA). I suppose I should do something about a hotel room...

Saturday July 14th, Milford (CT) BORDERS (at the Milford Mall) 2pm-4pm.

July 20th-22nd, Necon (Providence, RI).

July 26th-29th, San Diego ComicCon. I have no idea where, what, or how, but I'll be there. I'll post more detail if/when it becomes available.

Thursday August 2nd, BORDERLANDS BOOKS (San Francisco). Details to follow. I may also be doing drive-bys at a few other bookstores, so if you have a favorite, sing out now...


Updates as they happen.

(EtA: I just realized this means I'm travelling every weekend in July. Ooooh, the cats will so hate me, with so much feline hate...)

Break out the potables, the UPS guy delivered boxes of bookses to me today. Shiny, pretty bookses!

Alas, I am too tired and too aware of certain Issues not resolved to my satisfaction to be doing the happy author-with-new-book dance.

Still. Is good bookses. *pets bookses* Good stuff in there. Am pleased and very happy to have them on the shelf. If I weren't so tired I would at least give them a woo-hoo wiggle.

(Anyone wanna do the dance for me? anyone want to do my laundry for me? Anyone want to do my filing for me? no? Darn. I need a minion-refill)


And to celebrate, another reviewer is heard from...

"...Gilman avoids formulaic plot devices and sappy sentimentality; the emotions and problems that threatens the relationship are genuine and convincing....(A) good read."
-- Don D'Ammassa

And An Excerpt!

( from BURNING BRIDGES: A Retrievers novel, on-sale 28 May 2007) )

I have been informed by sekrit sources that BURNING BRIDGES has gotten a 4-star rating from Romantic Times. I am waiting to see what the text of the review actually says....

EtA: and thanks to fashionista_35 for clipping and posting the text:

This fourth book in Gilman's engaging Retrievers series delivers-- it's fast-paced, laugh-out-loud funny and just plain entertaining. Wren and Sergei's relationship, as usual, is wonderfully written. As their relationship moves in an unexpected direction, it makes perfect sense-- and leaves the reader on the edge of her seat for the next book.

(I'm a little bemused that they don't mention the magic, the twisty politics, and oh yeah, the lovely, nasty violence tastefully described. But "wonderfully written" makes up for a lot.)

(and a review-reminded reminder -- get thee to your local bookstore and pre-order your copy today! The Management [and the felines, who like getting fed] thanks you)

There's nothing quite like getting an e-mail first thing in the morning saying "Publishers Weekly* is going to review Burning Bridges." And then realizing that you're not going to know until Monday, at which point you'll be on your way to the airport. Thankfully, obsessive web-surfing came to my rescue...

It's not a rave, but they did seem to like it. The bolded emphasis is mine, obviously. And hey, I meant for it to be convoluted!

Burning Bridges
Laura Anne Gilman. Luna, $14.95 paper (400p) ISBN 978-0-373-80274-6

At the start of Gilman's convoluted but diverting fourth Retrievers fantasy (after 2006's Bring It On), set in a near-future Manhattan, Wren Valere, a professional thief with magical "Talent," and her demon sidekick, P.B., discover the brutalized corpse of an angel. The gutted angel, or winged nonhuman "fatae," turns out to be just one casualty in a heated conflict between Nulls (humans without Talent) and the powerful human Talents, along with the fatae. Not only are bigoted human vigilantes going after supernaturals, but it appears the Silence, a covert organization that used to employee Wren's partner and lover, Sergei Didier, has become corrupted from within. Several Silence Talent operatives have gone missing, and Sergei is drawn back into the group's politics as a new truce falls apart.

Though newcomers to the series might find the plot and multiple cabals a little confusing— with the spy stuff a little too derivative of TV's Alias and not enough fey— Wren's can-do magic is highly appealing. (June)

(I find it amusing that they accuse it of being derivative of Alias, since I never watched the show, but hey, the reviwer, like the reader, makes assumptions that aren't always right...)

* the major publishing industry rag that all my former co-workers and bosses read. Yes, I was a wee bit invested in this, why do you ask?



--- and hey, one of 'my kids' from Roc, Scott Mackay, gets an excllent review for his Phytosphere Yay Scott!

For those of you who might be attending, or know someone who might be attending, I will be signing BURNING BRIDGES (and anything else put in front of me) at Book Expo America in Manhattan, June 1st at 11am.

I will, apparently, be sharing the time slot with Caridad Piñeiro, Heather Graham, L.A. Banks, and Donna Hill. *facepalm* I'll be the one with the t-shirt that says "no, you don't know me. want a book anyway?"

(for those of you who don't follow such things, Heather Graham is a NYT and USA Today bestseller, award-winning author with over a hundred books to her credit, mostly in romantic suspense and various supernatural-friendly genres. I am not even close to being in the league next door to a league that's close to hers, in terms of name recognition)

late orders came in for BURNING BRIDGES and they upped the initial run.

*is pleased*


(and I just realized that may have been written in publisherese. Everyone grok?)