Archive for January, 2010

Our Books Have Returned

And what a silly weekend it was.
At least at the moment, my books are once again available at Amazon. They remain unavailable on the Kindle.
I sell content.  I like to call that content stories.  In general, I don’t control availability or format or price.
I want to wake up in a world where the stories I [...]

My Books Cannot be Found on Amazon

If you are a fan and want a copy, try indie bookstores.  I know you can order through a number of them.  Powell’s.com is one example.
I plan to strip links when I have time and re-point them to other stores or to Indie-bound.
In the meantime, I’m seriously saddened that the easiest place to find my [...]

Amazonfail: What Happens if the Distributor (Amazon or Apple) Controls Prices

The current #Amazonfail is about them pulling all of the Macmillan books off of Amazon (the last one -if you remember – was pulling a rankings off of gay and lesbian themed books).  The apparent issue is about price control.  For those who find this news new, John Scalzi has a good summary of the [...]

Geek Girl Goes Army

I was lucky enough to be an invited speaker and guest at the 2010 Mad Scientist Future Technology Center, put on by TRADOC G-2, which is part of the US Army.  Other attendees were from various armed forces (including some form different countries), other science fiction writers, and subject matter experts in various science and [...]

Linkages and Trivia

Congratulations to Cherie Priest for winning the Pacific Northwest Bookseller’s Award for Boneshaker.  There is an article in the Seattle Times, and here is a link to my reading recommendation for the book.
The linkage between man and machine is growing every day.  I call it “The Tender Mashup” in this month’s installment of my column, [...]

I’ll be at Rustycon this Saturday

Places you can find me at Rustycon (Seattle Airport Marriott) this Saturday:
10:00, Moderating the panel, Palaces and Prisons? Urban Development in the 22nd Century in Evergreen I
Is technology accelerating the divide between rich and poor? Will it make sense to live closer together in high-density zones optimized for transit and pedestrians, or will ever-longer commutes [...]

An ordinary futurist reads her Seattle Times

I often get asked what makes me a futurist.  Fair question, since I don’t have the formal training many futurists have.  Mostly I read, and then I think.  I talk to other people.  I am not an expert in any one field (except maybe writing science fiction) but being a generalist has it’s uses.  Anyway, [...]

2010: What we could be doing

This is the third part of my futures post series for January 2010.  The first one evaluated my results for 2009. The second talked about what I think will happen in 2010.   This is the “what could we do” post.  There are a lot of things, but I’m going to pick four.
Reform the way we [...]

An Ordinary Futurist Predicts 2010 Events

After evaluating my predictions from last year (which were in three separate posts to start with), I decided to keep it simple.  Remember that futurists have no crystal ball and I can no more tell you what a stock will be on a given day than a séance leader can.  We can see trends. We [...]

Testing Last Year’s Predictions

I’m not as much of a predictive futurist as some of my friends and colleagues, and I do like to play in the space once a year – right about now.  I’m going to do this in three steps. Evaluate last year’s predictions, make this year’s predictions, talk about what we need to do this [...]

Books

Wings of Creation by Brenda Cooper

Reading the Wind cover image

Available November 10th, 2009 from Tor Books.

Reading the Wind by Brenda Cooper

Reading the Wind cover image

Audio promo:

"Brenda Cooper's newest novel is a feast of character and concept. She depicts the devastation of war on microcosmic and macrocosmic levels, and even more so, the driving motives of young men and women caught in deadly conflict. Cooper is a master explorer of the interaction of society and individuals. She probes the psychology of her genetically enhanced characters with both rare depth and fidelity to scientific plausibility. Moral conundrums drive the plot in this unforgettable narrative. Don't miss this compelling work by a major new talent." - Mary A. Turzillo, An Old-Fashioned Martian Girl.

"Brenda Cooper tells a tale of a powerful brother and sister in a fight for their lives, offering insights along the way into the nature of courage and the hunger for community that burns in every human being. This is a lively book, full of colorful images and a memorable cast of human and animal characters, a worthy successor to The Silver Ship and the Sea." - Louise Marley

Available in July, 2008, from Tor Books.

The Silver Ship and the Sea by Brenda Cooper

Silver Ship and the Sea cover image

Audio promo:

"The first solo novel by Larry Niven's Building Harlequin's Moon (2005) coauthor portrays the thoroughly convincing human colonial society on Fremont, a dangerous planet rife with vicious predators, frequent earthquakes, and falling meteors....Distinctive characterizations, well-limned interrelationships, and the vividly realized Fremont contribute to an exciting coming-of-age story with a strong message about the evils of prejudice." - Sally Estes, Copyright American Library Association.

Mass Market Paperback, July 2008.
Included by Booklist as a "Best Adult Book for Young Adults."

Building Harlequin's Moon by Brenda Cooper and Larry Niven

Building Harlequin's Moon cover image

"Fans of both hard and softer, psychological SF will welcome veteran Niven and newcome Cooper's well-written tale of a 60,000 year layover in space, in which physical challenges of world building are matched by the social challenges of collaboration among disparate groups." - Publisher's Weekly

/