So, as usual, I discovered my book was out in the UK through other people telling me through twitter :-p

aka the book of Aztec imperial intrigues/serial killer in the palace. More Teomitl and Mihmatini for those who liked those characters, and generally expanded worldbuilding–featuring Texcoco, Teotihuacan and a lovely, albeit hurried trip through the Anahuac Valley. Also, various political intrigues, the election of a new Emperor, and divers alarum and chases of supernatural creatures.

Oh, and star-demons, of course.

More info here, including the real blurb; the first spotted review here at Val’s random comments, courtesy of Rob Weber.

Book seems to be shipping through some of the usual places in the: amazon.co.uk, the Book Depository, Waterstones and WHsmith.

Meanwhile, I have a %%% cold and was up for much of the night–so right now I’m feeling a bit zombified. But consider this my celebration post, while I go on contaminating my colleagues at work with my germs

So, if I have the choice between:
-item 1: ebook for the Kindle, 7 euros. DRM-protected, MOBI format , found only after extensive search (amazon turned out to be the only seller I’ve found which would take my French money for this particular ebook). Can be lent to friends exactly once in the entire lifetime of the book. And, of course, my ebook reader doesn’t read MOBI, so we’re looking at cracking the DRM on my own ebook and converting it to epub via Calibre, probably losing a lot in the process (and, er, not exactly doing legal things, even though I wouldn’t be distributing the de-DRMed ebook).

-item 2: physical book. 5.50 euros including P&P. Fully owned by yours truly, lendable to whom I feel like it, as many times as possible. Can be dropped in the bath, lost in transit, etc.

What on earth makes you think I’m going to pick item 1 over item 2, exactly?

(yes, I know, item 1 takes up less space. But also can be lost when my hard disk crashes)

In other, less ranty news, I am now a proud subscriber to the digital edition of Locus, and it rocks. No more waiting a full month to get it, no more lost issues–and way cheaper than the international subscription for something I don’t keep around anyway (and before you ask, it comes in epub format, without DRM).

So, now that we’ve finally finished watching it…

(warning: spoilers below for all seasons)
Read More »

Since it seems to be the custom this time of the year… may I point out that:

-my novelette “The Jaguar House in Shadow” (Asimov’s, July 2010 issue) is currently eligible for the Hugos, Nebulas and BSFA. It’s in the SFWA forums for those who want to download it, and also online on my website.

-my short story “The Shipmaker” (Interzone, Nov/Dec 2010 issue) is eligible for the Hugos Awards, and for the BSFA awards (and has received at least one nomination already). Likewise, quite happy to email it to voters.

-for those with more time on their hands, my novel Servant of the Underworld is eligible for the Hugos, Nebulas and BSFA awards (and the email offer still stands). It’s also in the SFWA forums.

-if you hate my guts and/or didn’t feel my stories were great (fair enough), don’t forget to still read and vote. As I understand it, a lot of awards suffer from too few potential voters actually casting their votes, leading to the loudest people winning (Cheryl Morgan had a fascinating article about how a lot of people, especially women, abstained by saying they hadn’t read enough in the voting year; and how they were then drowned out by people who hadn’t read enough either but who voted anyway). So–go forth and nominate!

EDIT: just realised “The Shipmaker” is also eligible for a Hugo, if you feel so inclined.

Second installment of Author’s Notes, this time for “Shipbirth” (in the February 2011 issue of Asimov’s).

Hmm, first off, this one requires an apology: the tonalli, the life-force according to the Aztecs, is of course not located in the heart but in the head. I realised I made this mistake only after the issue of Asimov’s went to the printers, when it was already too late to correct this.
The Aztec medicine system was fairly complicated, admitting the presence of no less than three entities in the body: the tonalli (in the head), which is the lifeforce, and, when chased out of the body by a fright or a spell, can result in catatonia; the teyolia (heart), which is the closest to what we think of as a soul (in particular, it’s the part that survives into the various afterlives), and the ihiyotl (liver), which is more numinous. See Mexicolore for more information, if you’re interested.

(more after the cut, though spoilery)

Read More »

So… in 2010, I published 9 short stories, 6 novelettes (one in collaboration with the inestimable Gareth L. Powell), and 1 novel.

I don’t keep as much track of my writing as I used to, which is really bad, but I wrote the following:
-Shipbirth (novelette)
-Age of Miracles, Age of Wonders (short story)
-Exodus Tides (short story)
-The Shipmaker (short story)
-Harbinger of the Storm (novel)
-Various non-fiction pieces, including “Science Fiction in Non-Western/Non-Anglophone Countries”, and three pieces for SFnovelists.
-Starsong (short story, currently in redraft)
-Nameless book 3 of Obsidian and Blood (56,000 words out of a projected 110,000)

A great year for sales and publications, but not so much for writing (see below for explanations of why). Hope to do better next year.

In non-drafting news, I got married (part of the reason for the non-productivity, since this was fun but a timesink for both my family and me); attended Eastercon and two Villa Diodati workshops (both in Germany), was translated into French and Romanian; and picked up for Gardner Dozois’ Year’s Best SF.