A previously undiscovered audio clip of Steve reading one of his poems.
Here’s the link.
To our Anonymous Friend posting from Eugene Oregon: Thank you so much for your thoughtful contribution to Splinter Universe and its upkeep! It arrived today and is much appreciated.
Chapter Five, the final chapter of the splinter Shadow of Artemia, is now ready for you to read.
Chapter Four, the penultimate chapter of the splinter Shadow of Artemia, is now ready for you to read.
Chapter Three of the the Lomar Fasholt splinter, Shadow of Artemia is now live!
For those keeping score, there are two more Lomar splinters after this one, with the last being posted on November 1.
A note about splinters, as there seems to be some Question.
Splinters are — splinters. They are not whole stories; they are bits, bobs, and outtakes that for some reason that very rarely has to do with the Actual Writing, did not — or cannot be made to — fit into existing storylines. As such, they do not come to a Satisfying Conclusion. Mostly, they just — stop.
We post splinters because some readers find such things interesting, and as a way to illustrate that writing is so very much an intuitive process — an art, if you will, no matter how hard we try to ring it around with rules or pour it into flowcharts.
Here’s the links to the chapters so far:
As They Say, Haste Makes Waste. Or, in my case, Confusion.
Last week, I posted the first chapter of Shadow of Artemia, completely forgetting that there was a Prologue.
That means, this week, those following along with this splinter get a bonus — two new installments, the Prologue and Chapter Two.
Here’s your links:
Those of you who have been with us for awhile, or who have at least read Conflict of Honors, by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (the second published Liaden Universe® novel), will remember where this All Started.
In the course of that novel, Shan pays a visit to a longstanding and valued trade partner — Lomar Fasholt. The situation on Lomar’s homeworld is changing and not in a good way. The Temple has recently decreed that traders may only do business with outworlders whose families are properly headed by women, and there seems to be worse in the offing.
During the scene in Conflict of Honors, Shan and Priscilla have a run-in with a priestess of the Temple, and only escape by means of a ruse. Shan didn’t expect that this ruse would cause trouble for his trade partner, who he values, but — well. Korval and their damned luck.
Over the years, Steve and I have tried several times to come to terms with Lomar. One attempt is “Songs of the Fathers,” which was published in FROM EVERY STORM: Adventures in the Liaden Universe® No. 35.
The fragments that will be posted here are another attempt. We abandoned this one at just over 9,500 words, when we realized that, to do justice to the storyline, we would have to write at least four books and maybe more, and that the story was going into a darker place than we usually like to go.
Facts of possible interest:
1 Lomar has eight husbands. In order of marriage they are: Terbus, Jeni, Aramis, Karaman, Ronlath, Vroyd, Sleak, Nathin
2 Lomar has three daughters: Sima, Brit, and Aster
And I think that’s enough to get us started.
Here’s the link to Shadow of Artemia, Chapter One
For those who partake, the eARC of Salvage Right, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller’s 100th collaborative work, and the 25th book set in their original Liaden Universe®, is now for sale.
There will be — repeat! There WILL BE a Tyop Hunt.
Watch the skies.
And! the Final Boskone 60 schedules have arrived.
Things you need to know about this schedule:
1 All panels are 1 hour, by which Boskone means 55 minutes.
2 Our joint reading is 25 minutes, by which Boskone means 20 minutes.
3 The above time-slips are so that the room can be cleared, and allows the next event to start on-time.
4 You will note that there is no separate “autographing” item. Please do bring your books to the Book Party on Saturday night and we’ll bring our pens.
5 Boskone 60, February 17-19 at the Westin Boston Seaport, featuring Nalo Hopkinson, Victo Ngai, Tui T. Sutherland, Dave Clement, Jeanette Epps. Here’s your link
Lee and Miller’s Boskone 60 Schedule
FRIDAY
Building Fandom and Community
Marina 2
Fri 5:30 PM
Duration: 01:00
Janice Gelb (Janice Gelb) mod, Steve Miller, Jen Wilson-Hughes, Scott Edelman, Lisa Hertel
Fandom is a glorious and multifaceted thing that spans generations and genres. It’s become more than a little fragmented over the years, but we are all still part of a larger whole. What have we lost with the fragmenting of fandom? How can its niche groups engage with the wider fan community while still honoring and protecting what makes them unique? This will be an inclusive session aimed at bringing people together.
Reading: Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
Griffin
Fri 8:30 PM
Duration: 00:25
Featuring Sharon Lee & Steve Miller as they team up for this special Boskone reading from one of their published or in-process works. They will also host an author Q&A as time permits
SATURDAY
Worldbuilding from the Ground Up
Harbor 1 – Hybrid
Sat 10:00 AM
Duration: 01:00
Liz Delton (mod), Marshall Ryan Maresca, Suzanne Palmer, Steve Miller, Paul Di Fillipo
Some spectacular stories take place in worlds very different from our own: from life on (or in) a gas giant to a civilization that lives on a world-tree as big as the Himalayas. But there are perils associated with venturing far beyond human experience. An inconsistent or poorly described worldscape can result in a confusing story or challenge a reader’s ability to suspend disbelief. Hear from writers who have created fully realized worlds that their readers can almost see, touch, and smell.
Writing Romance across Genres
Marina 2
Sat 4:00 PM
Duration: 01:00
Christie Meierz (mod), Darlene Marshall, Sharon Lee, Andrea D Hairston
Romance plays well with other genres, creating threads that weave easily across stories, connecting characters and causing conflict. Our panelists explore the hallmarks of the romance genre, and how to pepper romantic plots and subplots in your fantastic and futuristic worlds. How can we best incorporate romantic tropes into other genres in a way that feels fresh and dynamic? And how do you write romantic conflict in realistic and compelling ways as couples try to survive your next plot twist.
Boskone Book Party
Galleria – Autographing
Sat 5:30 PM
Duration: 01:00
Jane Yolen, Andrea D Hairston, Annalee Newitz, C. S. E. Cooney, Cat Scully, Dana Cameron, Michael Green Jr., Yvette Lisa Ndlovu, Theodora Goss, Steve Miller (and Sharon Lee), Mike Allen, Laurie Mann
Come join the fun at Boskone 60’s Book Party. You’ll meet the authors and publishers who have new books coming out at the con! This is your chance to see what’s new from writers you already love, as well as those you have yet to discover.
A Muddle of Mad Scientists
Marina 4
Sat 7:00 PM
Duration: 01:00
Chad Childers (mod), Gillian Lynn Daniels, Sharon Lee, Michael M. Jones
From Faust to Dr. Horrible, genre fiction is filled with crazily creative geniuses. Why do we love them? What makes the mad scientist character so appealing in horror, comedy, and everything in between? Join us for a mad, mad discussion featuring some of our favorite screwy scientists and inventors from the past, present, and future.
Participant information: Wearing of lab coats optional 🙂
SUNDAY
The Shadow of the City
Harbor 2
Sun 11:30 AM
Duration: 01:00
Walter H. Hunt (mod), Carole Ann Moleti, Annalee Newitz, Sharon Lee, Darrell Schweitzer
What are the challenges and benefits of using a real-world city in your urban fantasy or other spec fic? How accurate do you need to be before locals cry foul? London, Tokyo and New York have served as settings for innumerable novels. How would these stories change if the Tube were replaced by the New York subway, or vice versa? And if the setting was Paris, New Delhi, or Sydney, how would the story change?
Kaffeeklatsch 1: Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
Galleria – Kaffeeklatsch 1
Sun 1:00 PM
Duration: 01:00
Join these writers and a few fellow fans for an informal chat. Sign up at Program Ops on the Upper Level near Registration, on Saturday after 10am. You must be attending Boskone in person to sign up for this session, and you can only sign up for yourself.
Steve Miller will be a virtual panelist at Boskone 59, February 18-20. Boskone 59 is a Hybrid Convention this year.
Steve’s schedule is below. All times are Eastern Standard.
VIRTUAL: Unhappy Endings Format: Panel
18 Feb 2022, Friday 8pm – 8:50pm, Marina IV (Westin)
Jane Yolen, Steve Miller, Julie Czerneda, Paul Di Filippo (M), Ada Palmer
Tragic plays from Shakespeare, Sophocles, Aeschylus, and Euripides are still with us … hundreds, even thousands of years later. Not all stories let the protagonist triumph — sometimes they lose; sometimes they even die losing. Some science fiction and fantasy writers’ unhappily ending stories are quite popular. Why do they succeed? Why do other such stories fail — even fail so hard their authors never try to write unhappily ever after?
VIRTUAL: My Favorite Character
18 Feb 2022, Friday 9pm – 9:50pm, Marina IV (Westin)
Olav Rokne, Jen Gunnels, Steve Miller, David Marshall, James Moore (M)
Google once estimated that humanity had published 129,864,880 books. If about half were SF/F/H trilogies — never mind, let’s ask it this way: from all the speculative fiction stories ever published, who’s your favorite character, and why? Heroine, villain, sidekick, romantic interest, alien bystander? Would you like to meet, have dinner with, or be that person? What does your choice say about your own character?
VIRTUAL: Solo Reading
19 Feb 2022, Saturday 12:30 – 12:55, Marina IV (Westin)
Steve Miller