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a memory about AC Crispin
The other day there was a “heavens yes, email that author whose books you love and tell them that you loved them!” thing going around on Twitter, and I was reminded that as a teen who wanted to be a writer and loved AC Crispin’s STARBRIDGE books, I wrote her a letter in which I presumably said both of those things. I really don’t remember *what* I said, honestly.
What I do remember is that she wrote me back a 4 page handwritten in red ink on yellow legal pad letter full of encouragement, enthusiasm, and love. I still have it somewhere. It was an incredibly kind, thoughtful gesture from someone who surely had better things to do, but took the time to do it anyway.
Years later, not terribly long before Ann’s death, we became friends. We even discussed collaborating on a new Starbridge novel, a thing I’d dreamed of since I read the first of them. She knew she was ill then, and that I would have to do the heavy lifting on such a collaboration, but she loved the idea of it, which even now is just…such an extraordinary gift, really.
She was too sick for us to pursue it the way we’d hoped to, but I tell you, some days for no reason at all I remember the story I’d hoped to write, and how happy we both were that even for a moment, it seemed possible. I’ve been so terribly lucky in the people I’ve gotten to know over my career, even if only briefly.
(For those of you who’ve read the books and know their structure: my first-contact aliens for the book were going to be an otter-like species. Their spaceship was going to be designed for FUN. It would have been amazing. <3 :) )
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a happy day
The past few months–well, years, but I’m just going to focus on the months :p — have been so exhausting and wearying and overwhelming that when I noticed I was happy, I thought I better mention it.
Part of it is definitely that a friend I hadn’t seen since before I moved to Ireland was able to visit for a couple of days last week, and it was SO WONDERFUL to see her. <3 <3 <3 Part of it is also definitely that my new Virtue Shifters novella, SOMEBUNNY TO LOVE, is out, and I’m happy about that because it’s silly and sweet and has made people laugh, and right now that’s of massive value to me.
But some of it is, like, I was working and hadn’t seen the dog for a while, so I went downstairs to see if he was on the couch, and he was not! Good dog! So I got myself some lunch, and as I was cleaning up the kitchen afterward, I glanced into the living room, and saw this:
He got down as soon as he realized I’d caught him, but it was very funny. :)
Some of it is this lovely thread on Twitter about a one-page Spider-Man comic, and how it and Into the Spider-Verse affected the writer of the thread.
Some of it is that although I didn’t even know it until it was far too late to get tickets, Bruce Springsteen, who by all appearances LOVES Dublin, was here over the weekend for a 3 night gig and brought the house down. My Twitter timeline is full of people who had an amazing weekend because of that, and it’s just…heartening. (Bruce went bowling, and hung out at local pubs and chippers singing for people, and visited the Book of Kells while he was here, the first of which is, like, he’s got a local bowling alley, he goes there every time he comes to Dublin, it’s great. <3) And just a minute ago over on Twitter I saw the first images that the JWST had taken of a star with an asteroid belt similar to our own, and that’s just super cool.
It’s nice to feel positive, even if only for a little while. I hope things are going all right for you all, too. <3
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Recent Reads: THE GREAT GODS
About twelve years ago, Daniel Keys Moran published a book for the first time in about twenty years. I spent hundreds of dollars to read it–I bought my first ereader to do so–and it was WORTH IT.
Last month, Dan published a novel for the first time in about, well, twelve years. This time I didn’t have to pay hundreds to read it because I already had an ereader, and also I subscribe to his Patreon (you can find him @FatSam) where he’d been giving us a chapter at a time over…IDK, a while, but actually most awesomely in the interim I’d gotten to be friends with him and got an advanced reader’s copy so I could read it all at one go in case I wanted to say nice things about it.
I did. :)
This is what I actually said, like, for quotage stuff:
I’ve waited twelve years for this book, and it was worth it. Daniel Keys Moran hasn’t lost his touch: The Great Gods is a homecoming for fans of the Continuing Time, and an engaging introduction to one of science fiction’s most fascinating literary universes for new readers. Not to be trite, but I laughed, I cried, and I’m going to read it again immediately to find the things I missed the first time.
Moran could write all 33 promised books of the Continuing Time and I’d still be left wanting more, but folks, this is a pretty goddamn satisfactory return to form!
—C.E. Murphy, author of “Urban Shaman”
All of that is entirely, wholly, absolutely true. I make no attempts at suggesting I’m a dispassionate observer; I *love* Dan’s books. They’re desert island books for me. Every few years I’ll look for something to read and I’ll start one of them because it’s a comfort read and then I have to read all of them (o woe is me!) and it’s lovely every time.
I cannot promise that everyone will like them as much as I do. And I’m coming with thirty years of history here, which means in my SOUL I want to tell you to start AT THE BEGINNING, or at least with THE LONG RUN, which is one of the best science fiction novels I’ve ever read.
If you liked it, I’d say read either THE LAST DANCER (which comes after THE LONG RUN) or EMERALD EYES (which comes before it). Emerald Eyes is…it’s worldbuilding, and it’s good information to have, but it’s not the most polished or cohesive of the Continuing Time stories. I haven’t read it in a while, and the last time I did, I seem to remember thinking it’s basically two different stories put together to be one novel. I’ll be re-reading soon and will come back to that thought if anybody wants me to, but anyway, the real point is that THE GREAT GODS is full of answers (or the beginnings of answers) to questions raised in the earlier books, so I think it’s worth reading in closer to publication order.
That said, I’m 100% sure it works the other way, too: if you read THE GREAT GODS first, when you read the others, they’ll fill in backstory for things mentioned in TGG.
Anyway this is all a very long way of saying I’M SO HAPPY THIS BOOK IS OUT AND YOU MIGHT LIKE TO READ IT TOO!!!! :)
THE GREAT GODS is currently available at Amazon. (I think it’ll turn up on B&N eventually and I’m trying to get him to put his stuff up on Kobo, so fingers crossed.)
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VERY BIG Walker Papers news!
So I have VERY BIG NEWS! News which you might have already heard if you follow me other places, but VERY BIG none-the-less!
I have gotten the rights to the Walker Papers back!!!
Now, I’ve learned that this is a degree of Writer Speak, so let me translate: I never *lost* the rights, per se. When a publisher buys your book to publish, they *acquire* the rights, which then can, after a certain period of time, revert to the author. It doesn’t happen automatically: the author has to ask, and there are generally a bunch of hoops the publisher can jump through to avoid returning the rights. In this case, though, they didn’t jump through the hoops, and just reverted the rights to me. I was VERY MUCH not expecting this, as I spent about fourteen years (not joking) trying to get the rights back to one of my series, and another is dragging through what I hope will be the only round of hoop-jumping.
But what it MEANS is that they’re fully mine to do with as I wish. What I wish is to republish them independently, and I’m pursuing doing that even as we speak!
I’ve just chosen a new cover model for a photo shoot to rebrand the whole series covers under, which is VERY exciting! I’m working with a couple of audio book companies to decide how we’ll be going forward with them available as audio books, and where. I intend to make print editions available, too, and all of this should get rolling really visibly sometime this summer!
I’M SO EXCITED!!! :D :D :D
P.S. a lot of people have asked, so let me clarify: this does not mean there will be new Walker Papers novels. Joanne’s story arc is done. It’s faintly possible that at some point there will be more books set in that world, but…not right now, folks. Sorry. :)
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Release Day: DEATH IN IRISH ACCENTS
Apparently I have a BOOK OUT!
I legitimately thought DEATH IN IRISH ACCENTS was out next Tuesday, but IT CAME OUT ON TUESDAY! Somebody tagged me on Twitter & I was like “oh they must have an advanced readers copy” and then somebody else did and then somebody ELSE did and I was like “wait” and APPARENTLY i have a BOOK OUT this week! °o°
DEATH IN IRISH ACCENTS is available at Amazon || Barnes & Noble || Kobo || Apple now!
After a long streak of avoiding murder investigations, Dublin limo driver Megan Malone thought her life had finally settled . . . but even her Irish luck can’t keep her out of trouble forever.It’s been over a year since Megan found herself entangled in a murder—much to everyone’s relief, including her girlfriend Jelena and Detective Paul Bourke. So when a body of a young woman quite literally lands in her lap at her favorite Dublin café, Megan tries to do the right thing and leave the crime-solving to the police so she can enjoy the St. Patrick’s Day weekend. After all, she has no connection to the victim. Or does she?
Megan’s latest client, world-renowned romance novelist Claire Woodward, is fascinated by Megan’s own history of catching killers. Claire also just happens to be the murder victim’s literary mentor. So maybe Megan can just sort of stay on the periphery of the case while trying to help out? Just a wee bit without causing too much fuss? Even Detective Bourke would approve since he has personal reasons not to trust Claire. The investigation leads Megan to the victim’s writing group, who think that Claire has plagiarized the poor young lady’s work. And when another member of the group is found dead, Megan will have to step up her sleuthing before the killer decides to write her off for good.
This book has a lot of sentimental value for me. The cafe, Accents, was my writing cafe until it was a victim of the pandemic. I’d always intended to set the 4th book in the series around Accents, and decided I was going to ANYWAY, even if it’s not there anymore. At least it can live on in fiction. And the baristas lent me their names for the book, which was delightful and charming of them, so they, too, are immortalized in thanks for all the wonderful hours I spent there. ♥
A number of my writer friends also lent their names to this book, which made it great fun to write. I love it all so much. *beams*
DEATH IN IRISH ACCENTS is available at Amazon || Barnes & Noble || Kobo || Apple now!
