A character speaks her mind

The Protagonist Speaks is one of the more unusual -- and fun -- interview venues for authors. Many of my interviews, whether audio, video, or written, overlap significantly in their questions. (That's fair enough -- different venues, one assumes, have different audiences -- but the repetition can make things less interesting for the interviewee.) 

The Protagonist Speaks is very different. Its unique feature? The "interview" is with a character from the author's book. It can be, and often is, the protagonist. But instead it can be the antagonist. Or the plucky sidekick. Well, anyone the author chooses.

I recently had the pleasure of introducing one of my characters to The Protagonist Speaks. Ekaterina Borisova Komarova, Katya to her friends, features prominently in Deja Doomed -- but she isn't a point-of-view character. Which isn't to say she herself hadn't seen a lot. Lunar exploration. Ancient alien ruins. Triumph and tragedy.

I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Katya better through an interview done in her voice. I venture to guess you'll enjoy making her acquaintance, too.

Here is Katya's interview.

My third and fourth least favorite questions

The recently released The Best of Edward M. Lerner finally offers answers to my least favorite questions numbers one and two. (Those are, “What’s your favorite from among your books?” and “If I want to try one of your books, which should it be?”)

And numbers three and four? Often asked by randomly encountered people (if they discover I'm an author) and interviewers alike: "What's your typical work day? How much time do you put in?" For which the honest answers are, "There are no typical days," and "Yeah, I wonder that, too."

Of course, there are days when all I do is sit at a computer and compose and/or edit text. I suspect many people would be surprised how few days are like that. Because there is so much more to the job ...

Outlining. Plotting. Fleshing out characters and locations. Research directly applicable to a specific book, story, or article project. All manner of interaction with editors and publishers, at every stage of the process. For some projects, interacting with beta readers. Those are, unambiguously, part of the writer's job. But then there all these other activities:

• Long walks pondering story ideas, or how a character might react to a situation, or (me being an SF writer) the rules of some extrapolated tech
• Reading that might -- and might not -- lead to a new book, story, or article
• Reading to stay current in science and technology (again, me being an SF author)
• Reading a sampling of colleagues' new books, to know how the genre is evolving, and to avoid inadvertent similarities
• Maintaining a professional social-networking presence (Facebook, LinkedIn, this blog [and this post?], my authorial website, ...)
• Doing sysadmin duties for that website (software updates, security-log review, backups)
• Doing promotion (interviews, signings, conventions, lectures) -- and travel time for many of those
• Maintaining -- and following up on -- a tickler file (of story submissions, contract expiration or renewal/rollover dates, royalty due dates), because without follow-up, a lot goes astray
• Keeping records of income and expenses for tax purposes 
• And on, and on, and on  ...

Methinks I'll stick with "There are no typical days" and "Yeah, I wonder that, too."

InterstellarNet: happy anniversary

Some of my most popular fiction -- the InterstellarNet series -- takes place in an alternate/future history that splits off from our familiar timeline in 2002.  The triggering event: a radio signal from extrasolar aliens. 

First novel of three

I never specified an exact date that year when the signal was recognized, beyond that the weather in Geneva was warm. So: I declare today, in the story's timeline, the twentieth anniversary of the series.

If you're not familiar with this corner of my work, what began as a standalone novelette ("Dangling Conversations") in the November 2000 issue of Analog eventually grew into a three-novel series. 

Along the way, InterstellarNet collected a goodly share of recognition. "Creative Destruction" (the second story in the series -- expanded, along with its predecessor, into the opening of InterstellarNet: Origins) marked my first appearance in a "year's best" anthology. Downstream, "Championship B'tok" got me a Hugo Award nomination. And InterstellarNet: Enigma -- novel #3, and the culmination of the series -- won the inaugural Canopus Award for "excellence in interstellar writing."

Canopus Award for 3rd novel

SETI. First Contact. Second Contact, up close and personal. Aliens, obviously. AIs -- and alien AIs. Hackers extraordinaire (you did notice the "Net" aspect of InterstellarNet, right?). Galaxy-spanning, mind-bending intrigues. InterstellarNet has all that -- and more. 

Curious? To learn more about any of the novels in the InterstellarNet series, click its cover in this post's righthand side.

The Best of Edward M. Lerner

You know what I imagine must be every author’s least favorite questions? “What’s your favorite from among your books?” And, “If I want to try one of your books, which should it be?” These are like asking a parent, “Who’s your favorite child?” 

Kindle link

In any event, they’re among my least favorite questions, and they’ve often left me tongue-tied … till now. Today, at long last, I have a definite answer(*): my newly released, career-spanning collection The Best of Edward M. Lerner. 

(*) Oh, and the favorite child thing? Trick question. I don't pick favorites. Just sayin'.

The new book offers fourteen wide-ranging works at every length from flash fiction to novella. 

As the publisher put it: 

Here are the gems! The gateway to the many worlds of Edward M. Lerner!

 While you probably know Ed from his SF novels, including the InterstellarNet series and the epic Fleet of Worlds series with Larry Niven, Ed is also a prolific author of acclaimed short fiction. This collection showcases his finest and favorite shorter works.

 Faced with the common question of which of his books should someone read first, he has carefully selected these stories to cover his wide range. Now he can answer, “This one!”

Alternate history. Parallel worlds. Future crime. Alien invasion. Alien castaways. Time travel. Quantum intelligence -- just don't call him artificial. A sort-of haunted robot. Deco punk. In this book, you'll find these -- and more -- together with Ed’s reminiscences about each selection and its relationship to other stories, novels, and even series that span his writing career.

 These are the best, as determined by awards, award nominations, and the selective tastes of eight top editors and choosy Analog readers.

 Each excellent story stands alone -- you won't need to have read anything prior -- but you’ll surely want to read more of Ed’s books afterwards.

This being a commercial announcement, I’ll share Amazon links for the Kindle, hardback, and trade-paperback editions. Other etailers carry the book, of course (including all popular ebook formats). If you’re a brick-and-mortar shopper and your favorite bookseller doesn't have a copy in stock, s/he will happily order a copy for you. Title and author generally suffice, but the print-edition ISBNs may also be helpful: (in hardback: 979-8447246174 and in trade paperback: 979-8446419043).

And a final comment: if you read, and enjoy, Best of (or any other book, by any author!) consider posting a review on Amazon, Goodreads, Librarything, or the review venue of your choice. 

I have somehow arrived

The package in today's snail mail has me beaming. Mainly I'm grinning at the notion that I have somehow Arrived. Because who *else* is in the SF Historical Trading Cards collection? Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, Isaac Asimov, and Robert Heinlein, to name a few.

As a bonus, it tickles me to have joined such august company bearing number 360. (Yes, cards of the aforementioned have much lower numbers. But still.) Maybe it's from some association with 360 degrees in a circle. Or an ancient Babylonian gene expressing itself. 

Theories welcome.

It's here(ish) ... The Best of Edward M. Lerner

Updated May 9, 2022

Official release in print and all popular ebook formats remains on track for May 23rd—but Amazon has just made The Best of Edward M. Lerner (Kindle edition only) available for pre-order in all three editions. That's hard back, trade paperback, and Kindle.

If you usually read on a Kindle and this is a book you'll be considering, why not consider it, well, now? 

As the publisher has written about the collection (with a touch of reminder about me) ...

Kindle link

"One of the leading global writers of hard science fiction."

—The Innovation Show

Here are the gems! The gateway to the many worlds of Edward M. Lerner!

While you probably know Ed from his SF novels, including the InterstellarNet series and the epic Fleet of Worlds series with Larry Niven, Ed is also a prolific author of acclaimed short fiction. This collection showcases his finest and favorite shorter works.

Faced with the common question of which of his books should someone read first, he has carefully selected these stories to cover his wide range. Now he can answer, "This one!"

Alternate history. Parallel worlds. Future crime. Alien invasion. Alien castaways. Time travel. Quantum intelligence—just don't call him artificial. A (sort of) haunted robot. Deco punk. In this book, you'll find these—and more—together with Ed's reminiscences about each selection and its relationship to other stories, novels, and even series that span his writing career.

These are the best, as determined by awards, award nominations, and the selective tastes of eight top editors and choosy Analog readers.

Each excellent story stands alone—you won't need to have read anything prior—but you'll surely want to read more of Ed's books afterwards.

"Lerner's world-building and extrapolating are top notch."

—SFScope

Coming May 23rd

 For anyone caring to mark their calendars ...

Sneak peek

 Do you know what I suspect are every author's least favorite questions? (Certainly, they're *my* least favorite.) "What’s your favorite book?" And, "If I were to try one of your books, which should it be?"

They're both like asking a parent, "Who's your favorite child?"

But guess what? Pretty soon, I'll have an answer for the non-child questions. As in ... the forthcoming career-spanning collection of my most acclaimed short fiction. More news as it happens, but meanwhile, a cover reveal.