Attended NASFIC this weekend. Sold a few books, sat on some panels, and caught up with friends. Very small con, though–under 500 I’d say. Got some writing done, but not much.

Continuing to make my daily word count goals. Going to Nasfic on Wednesday. Programming seems to be rather thin, so who knows what the con will be like–bar con, likely. But without much formal programming, I might get more done on the book than I was expecting. It’s all good.

SF 4-/5

When John Perry’s wife dies, he joins a futuristic army that values the wisdom of old people, but puts them into enhanced bodies in order to fight aliens on other planets. I was really looking forward to this book,  but when I started it, I was a bit disappointed that the characters and underlying assumptions were clichéd. Then I learned from my daughter (with a PhD in creative writing) that the expectations of this genre (military science fiction) are that the central character must be a perfect cog in the machine while also being an outstanding uber-cog—if this doesn’t occur, the book doesn’t fit its genre expectations. Once I understood this and stopped being so judgmental, I really enjoyed the book!

I’m working on a couple of videos to release with the launch of Gathering of Ghosts, Book 3 of my series–my publisher has given me a soft launch date of early October. YAY!!!

Science Fiction 3-/5

Zan wakes with amnesia into a fleet of fleshy worlds/space craft governed by a dictator trying to hold competing political forces at bay. This novel is highly creative in its setting, relationships, and politics, but I found the plot unfocussed and never really bonded with the central character.