Two new books written with Jay Lake finally published!

Shortly before the recent theatrics with the Amazon Content Review Team (see my blog posts here and here) I finally got around to publishing two works I wrote with Jay Lake before he died. There are a number of reasons why it took me so long — Jay died in 2014, after all, shortly before what would have been his 50th birthday. Not only was I working on Second Contact at the time of his death, there were all the complications of a publication with shared revenue to take into consideration. Since half of the proceeds will go to Jay’s heirs, I didn’t want to have to deal with the accounting necessary for expenses such as editing and cover art. That meant I would have to do all of that myself, which drew out the process quite a bit. Not only did it require a series of beta readers, I also had to create the covers myself. I did pay for the cover art out of my own pocket, but the designs I did myself. But before I came up with the ones I finally ended up using, I created several rejects — also requiring a certain investment of time.

I’m actually quite happy with the final results — but feel free to tell me you don’t agree in the comments below. 🙂

Because I don’t want the complications of advertising costs either, I’ve created a free version of the prequel story, “The World Always Begins in Light.” That is all the advertising I will do, other than trying to get it listed on free sites now and then. As I said, I just don’t want to have to deal with the accounting.

Anyway, on to introducing what I decided to call the “Lost Colonies Series”:

THE WORLD ALWAYS BEGINS IN LIGHT

Sharan never wanted to be fleeing for her life on a foreign planet. But when Arnoldson leads a mutiny and takes over the ship, that is exactly where she finds herself.
She never wanted to betray Polity Force Protocols either — only, in order to survive, she doesn’t have a choice. While Arnoldson attempts to become a god, Sharan assists the rebels fighting him. Will they be successful? And even if they are, will Sharan ever be able to go home again?

Also available on Apple, B&N, Kobo, and others.

SECOND CONTACT

Over 100 years after the mutiny and war started by the original expedition to the planet Bonificium, a new recontact team arrives to assess the damage done. But even the Polity admits the mission to put the situation to rights is logically impossible.

Field agent Rogelio finds himself drawn into the politics of the planet, even as he — against all rules and regulations — starts falling in love with one of the planet’s leaders …

When the new star appears in the heavens, the people of Bonificium know it means that the Sky People have returned. Armsmistress Melia is determined that her people will make the new visitors from the stars their own — and she decides that the starman Rogelio is the key …

Also available on Apple, B&N, Kobo, and others.

Be my guest and grab your free copy of the prequel story, wherever you get your digital fiction!

I’m at #55 in the Kindle Store! (Not alone, unfortunately *g*)

As of this writing, the awesome anthology Galactic Empires, edited by Neil Clarke and containing my novella “Looking Through Lace” — alongside such greats as Greg Egan, John Barnes, Robert Reed, and Ian McDonald — is #55 overall in the Kindle Store!

Here’s the description and the complete lineup:

Neil Clarke, publisher of the award-winning Clarkesworld magazine, presents a collection of thought-provoking and galaxy-spanning array of galactic short science fiction.

From E. E. “Doc” Smith’s Lensman, to George Lucas’ Star Wars, the politics and process of Empire have been a major subject of science fiction’s galaxy-spanning fictions. The idiom of the Galactic Empire allows science fiction writers to ask (and answer) questions that are shorn of contemporary political ideologies and allegiances. This simple narrative slight of hand allows readers and writers to see questions and answers from new and different perspectives.

The stories in this book do just that. What social, political, and economic issues do the organizing structure of “empire” address? Often the size, shape, and fates of empires are determined not only by individuals, but by geography, natural forces, and technology. As the speed of travel and rates of effective communication increase, so too does the size and reach of an Imperial bureaucracy.Sic itur ad astra—“Thus one journeys to the stars.”

At the beginning of the twentieth century, writers such as Kipling and Twain were at the forefront of these kinds of narrative observations, but as the century drew to a close, it was writers like Iain M. Banks who helped make science fiction relevant. That tradition continues today, with award-winning writers like Ann Leckie, whose 2013 debut novel Ancillary Justice hinges upon questions of imperialism and empire.

Here then is a diverse collection of stories that asks the questions that science fiction asks best. Empire: How? Why? And to what effect?

Table of Contents:
– “Winning Peace” by Paul J. McAuley
– “Night’s Slow Poison” by Ann Leckie
– “All the Painted Stars” by Gwendolyn Clare
– “Firstborn” by Brandon Sanderson
– “Riding the Crocodile” by Greg Egan
– “The Lost Princess Man” by John Barnes
– “The Waiting Stars” by Aliette de Bodard
– “Alien Archeology” by Neal Asher
– “The Muse of Empires Lost” by Paul Berger
– “Ghostweight” by Yoon Ha Lee
– “A Cold Heart” by Tobias S. Buckell
– “The Colonel Returns to the Stars” by Robert Silverberg
– “The Impossibles” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
– “Utriusque Cosmi” by Robert Charles Wilson
– “Section Seven” by John G. Hemry
– “The Invisible Empire of Ascending Light” by Ken Scholes
– “The Man with the Golden Balloon” by Robert Reed
– “Looking Through Lace” by Ruth Nestvold
– “A Letter from the Emperor” by Steve Rasnic Tem
– “The Wayfarer’s Advice” by Melinda M. Snodgrass
– “Seven Years from Home” by Naomi Novik
– “Verthandi’s Ring” by Ian McDonald

It is currently on sale for only $1.99, but since I’m not the one in charge here, I have absolutely no idea how long you can get it for that price.

I actually hadn’t even been aware that the book was already published — it was only the announcement by Bookbub that one of my books was on sale that clued me in. 🙂

In any case, looks to me like you can hardly go wrong if you like stories of far flung, future worlds.

Last Tale of the Rose Knights: Desert Peace

The last Tale of the Rose Knights, “Desert Peace,” went up on Daily Science Fiction today. It may not be the last forever — I still have a few I started that Jay Lake never had a chance to contribute to. I’ll have to take another look at them and see if I want to whip them into shape by myself.

This is the ending:
He stands there, the soldier, in a uniform so floral and pale pink that many armies would have rebelled to wear it. The Pink Knight is not so tall, but tall enough, and the yellow highlights of the startling tunic match the highlights in his hair. He carries a curious weapon, this soldier, a long thorn like a wooden needle, the end beaded with blood so bright red as to be almost purple.

The tourists come to look, sometimes even to pray, for that blood is always pure and fresh. The soldier does not move. He simply smiles as he stares into an eternity only he can see. Even in the desert, the horizon is finite, but his eyes are on distant stars and a sleepy ember that is invisible to those around him.

In his desert there is peace. The hawks hunt elsewhere. The coyotes pass silent under the mistress-moon who rules their night. Even the cactus thorns have softened a bit, so that rabbits and children might pass near the soldier.

Read the rest here at DSF.

A new tale of the Rose Knights: Rose de Rescht

Rose de Rescht by Florian Moeckel (public domain)

A new flash fiction piece that I wrote with Jay Lake went up on Daily Science Fiction yesterday, but I was too busy decorating the Christmas tree with family to remember to post about it. So here, a day late, I give you Rose de Rescht:

Rose de Rescht
by Jay Lake and Ruth Nestvold
Rose de Rescht was something of a mystery among the other Rose Knights. Said to have come from a land more mythical than real, a land that had once born the legendary name of Persia, the name she bore herself was Dutch, and the language she spoke was that of remote Chemeketa. Known as the Fuchsia Knight, the color she wore was an impossibly deep pink, so dark it was almost purple, a shade decadent and exotic, especially among the Armies of the Moon.

Read the rest here.

Tales of the Rose Knights: Smooth Angel

Smooth Angel, courtesy of Sue Brown (c)

A new Tale of the Rose Knights that I wrote with Jay Lake went up on Daily Science Fiction today, “Smooth Angel.” Here a short teaser:

Smooth Angel came out of the uttermost east, across the great Sea of Grass into the lands of the Roses. She traversed the farthest kingdoms, crossed the Ivory Mountains by hidden passes, and descended through Hy Rugosa, already arrayed as a knight with her pale banners the color of the first orange of sunrise. Her armor was lacquered in the manner of the Sallow Men of the Sea of Grass, and her horse had stripes never before seen by the breeders in the West. It was as if she had ridden across the world.
She met the Sun’s Viceroy on the road outside Fenixtown. He rode fast, without his courtly array, just a hard-eyed company of soldiers and three lesser Rose Knights, bannermen of the knight Snowfire. They were dressed and geared for rough travel.
The Sun’s Viceroy pulled his mount to and raised a hand to stop Smooth Angel. Stop she did, for politeness and curiosity.
“Greetings, knight. I do not recall your banner.” The Viceroy spoke with the iron courtesy that only a man of absolute power can summon, his voice smooth, though he failed to introduce himself or his party. “Do you follow the Sun or the Moon?”
Smooth Angel rested her right hand lightly on the hilt of her longer sword. “Neither. My banner shines equally in starshadow and daylight. Who are you to ask?”

Read the rest on DSF.

And if you do, I hope you enjoy the story. 🙂

More “Tales of the Rose Knights” up on DSF starting today!

Daily Science Fiction is starting a new round of stories in the Tales of the Rose Knights that I wrote with Jay Lake. Today, “Descanso Dream”:

Descanso is the smallest of the Rose Knights, and perhaps the strangest. He is a dream made flesh, a pale man with skin the white of the ocean’s dead, riding a horse of fog and silk. His banners trail behind him like a wind from the Orient. His smile gleams of starlight and the gentle thoughts of a loving woman.

Read more.

(c) Rakel Leah Mogg, Creative Commons License

Flash fiction “Osiana” published on DSF

Last year, I got back to submitting some short stories I wrote with the late Jay Lake. The first in a series of flash fiction pieces which will be appearing in Daily Science Fiction came out today, “Osiana.”

The characters of the stories in “The Tales of the Rose Knights” are all named after roses. Here is the real Osiana:

Osiana Rose, M. Israel

Hope you enjoy this story and those to follow!

Book covers and an enchanted hero for #WIPpet Wednesday

I missed last week again, sorry. I was finalizing the paperback version of my latest collection of short stories, Oregon Elsewise, containing previously published works set in the state where I grew up — and that in many ways still feels like home. While I was at it, I decided to also finally put together the new paperback version of Almost All the Way Home From the Stars, the collection of published science fiction stories I wrote with Jay Lake. The original paperback version was done by Draft2Digital, and I was never completely happy with it, so doing it myself has long been on my to-do list. At the same time, I tweaked the cover a bit, trying to make the font stand out more. Here’s what I have now:

For the sake of comparison, here’s the old:

I was noticing that in thumbnail, the font on the old version was looking unfinished somehow, so I decided to mess with it. Happy to hear any feedback you might have!

With all the work on formatting interiors and creating / messing with covers, I haven’t gotten a lot of writing done in the last week or so. Last week, I managed 1600 new words on Shards of Glass. I also did some editing, and cut 2000 words from the manuscript — which means I ended up with a weekly total of -400 words! 🙂

For Wippet Wednesday, we will back up and return to the previous book, Facets of Glass, which is also still in draft mode, so I’m not cheating. I’m just waiting to finish this last book before I go back and start on the edits of the second.

Two weeks ago, we left Gaetano talking with the unconscious Minerva while her sister watches in amazement. This excerpts picks up exactly where that one left off. Today I am giving you 12 sentences for the day of the month, plus 1 to finish the paragraph:

“Who are you speaking to?” Anastasia asked.
“Your sister. She asked me if I am the one who enchanted her. But I have no magic.” Nor did the dowager princess. But she had access to a bevy of witches and alchemists to turn lead into gold and beautiful young women into living corpses.
“Do you have any idea who might have done this to my sister?” Anastasia asked.
“No,” he lied. He still had to stay on the good side of the dowager princess. And he couldn’t trust Anastasia to keep his suspicions to herself.
Anastasia clapped her hands to her cheeks. “Enchanted! Perhaps I can find a witch to lift the spell.”

WIPpet Wednesday is the brain child of K. L. Schwengel. If you’d like to participate, post an excerpt from your WIP on your blog, something that relates to the date in some way. Then add your link here — where you can also read the other excerpts.

“Degrees of Separation” up on Abyss and Apex

My short story “Degrees of Separation” was published on Abyss & Apex today. You can read it here:

http://www.abyssapexzine.com/2015/06/degrees-of-separation/

It is one of the stories in my series “Tales from Far Beyond North” set in fictional Rolynka, Alaska. I’ve published three of the short stories so far for ebook: “The Leaving Sweater,” “In the Middle of Nowhere With Company” and “Misty and the Magic Pumpkin Knife”:

Enjoy!

Island of Glass now live!

I’m happy to announce the publication of my YA novella, Island of Glass! Until the middle of November, it is still available for the introductory price of only 99c, after which it will go up to $2.99.

Seventeen-year-old Chiara Dragoni is a master glassmaker of Venice, a position that is both a privilege — and a trap. For the glassmakers of Murano are forbidden to ever leave the islands of the Venetian lagoon.

When Chiara’s uncle is caught on the mainland and thrown into the dungeon of the Doge’s Palace, she must use all her talents, including magic, to help free him. But the gift she creates for the prince of Venice has unintended consequences, and now Chiara must decide whether to give up everything — and everyone — she knows and loves in order to save her dream.

Set in an alternate historical Venice with alchemists, witches and magic, the story uses familiar motifs from the beloved fairy tale “Cinderella” to tell a tale with a very different message.

Available on Amazon.