The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms: Cliff’s Notes version

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Hey, readers! Has it been too long (a whole six months!) since you read The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms? Have you forgotten all its little plotty bits and pieces, but don’t have time to go back and re-read before you tackle The Broken Kingdoms? Well have no fear! I’m here to help. Here you may download the original outline for the novel (under its original title), which I wrote back in 2008 when my agent was getting ready to submit that novel to publishers. It’s long — 19 pages — but still shorter than the whole book. Note that it contains […]

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A Raffle, A Reading, and a Rant

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Been a busy few days, as you might imagine, between recovering from jetlag and Launch Week. But three things make a post, so going to pile them all in together here for expediency’s sake. The raffle: The Carl Brandon Society is doing a fundraising raffle for an ebook reader. But wait! This isn’t just any ebook reader, it’s one that comes pre-loaded with short stories and fiction by CBS members, including Yours Truly. This raffle is specifically intended to support the Octavia Butler Memorial Scholarship fund, which sends writers of color to Clarion — the (expensive) SF writing workshop that

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I can write two books a year, but I can’t do NaNoWriMo.

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It’s that time again — no, I don’t mean Launch Week for The Broken Kingdoms; I mean NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. The idea behind NaNoWriMo is simple — write. Write as fast as you can. Write for thirty days, and try to finish a novel within that time. Write even if you write a lot of crap — which you will, guaranteed, if you’re trying to finish a novel in 30 days. But write. An admirable goal — though I’m aware that some people don’t think so. (I disagree with Miller, for many of the same reasons noted

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Launch Day!

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It’s the big day at last — The Broken Kingdoms is officially out in the US. Calling this “launch day” is kind of moot, actually, since most of the major booksellers have been shipping preorders for the past few weeks, both here and in the UK — I did a signing at the London Forbidden Planet on Saturday, so they’ve had them since last week. I figure this is a good thing, me being the impatient type, and I imagine a number of readers feel the same. I’m understandably anxious about this one, because naturally I dread the sophomore slump.

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Also! A new short story at CLARKESWORLD

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Totally forgot this was going up this month; I blame the jetlag. Anyhow, at Clarkesworld this month I have a new short story up: “On the Banks of the River Lex.” It’s in podcast format too, read by the inimitable Kate Baker. A sample: Death liked to walk across bridges. For this reason he had claimed a home for himself relatively far from the center of town. This was in a big ugly gray stone of a building that had once been a factory, and then had been colonized by artists, and then by trend-obsessed young professionals. Now it was

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LaunchElectionVacationreturnAwardnom Day!

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Just got back from London last night! More on this later, when I’ve had time to recover from the jetlag and post photos, but it was a fantastic trip. However! I’ve come home to an inbox full of good news. First, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and The Broken Kingdoms have both been nominated for Romantic Times 2010 Reviewers’ Choice awards for best SF/F novels! I’m positively chuffed, as the folks across the pond would say. Also, this is Launch Week for The Broken Kingdoms! According to Amazon, it’s officially out in all English-language markets as of November 3 (Nov. 4

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Have a going-away pressie

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Yeah, it’s a little early, but I’ve got a million things to do in the next few days before I hit the sky for London, so here’s chapter 3 of The Broken Kingdoms. In which Oree figures out a little more of the mystery surrounding her strange houseguest, and readers of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms get to see a couple of familiar faces…

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Stuff happening in places with people doing things!

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Busy week coming up, boys and girls, as part of the run-up to The Broken Kingdoms’ launch. A list: Sunday, Oct 24: I’ll be reading from my short story “The Effluent Engine” at Steampunk Day at the Dumbo Lofts, here in NYC. Then I’m leaving on a jet plane, and… Wednesday, October 27: I’ll be in London! Reading at the BSFA meeting there, and getting interviewed in person by Niall Harrison. ::wibble:: Might also be doing a Q&A with Orbit UK; more on this later. Then… Saturday, Oct. 30: I’ll be doing a signing with Karen Miller at Forbidden Planet!

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China Miéville is not your Facebook friend. Owl Goingback might like to be.

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ETA: China reports the ersatz Chinas (Chinae?) have been removed. Behold the power of geekdom! And no need to spread further, now. Trimming this down, accordingly. Post title borrowed from Marie Brennan, from whom I heard about this. Basically, author China Miéville is having some issues with Facebook. I’ll let him sum up, in a letter (actual paper letter!) that I have reposted with his enthusiastic permission to all.

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SLF Travel Grant

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What I’ve been doing in my spare time lately: I was one of the judges for the Speculative Literature Foundation’s Gulliver Travel Research Grant this year. I was one of the winners of this grant a few years back, and I used it for a kickass trip to Canyon de Chelly in Chinle, Arizona, in the Navajo nation. Winning this grant was one of the pivotal experiences that helped me feel like a “real writer”, and persist long enough to get an agent and sell a novel. So it felt great to give back, so to speak, and help another

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