The short and the short of it

My posts of late have focused on books and book reissues. I'm overdue with reporting what's new with my writing at shorter lengths ....

Let's start with the sale of a guest editorial to Analog. That's "Dystopic? Or Myopic?" (The first draft was for what I expected to be a post in this space -- but as it kept growing, I decided to redirect.)

Words leaking out of fingertips :-)

Next comes a short story: "I've Got the World on a String." As it happens -- and no spoilers here -- this story also involves some venting. "String" will appear in Galaxy's Edge.

And I've got another newly completed piece of short fiction out looking for its home.

Bring out your dead

No, this post isn't about Monty Python and the Holy Grail (though that movie is a hoot).

But just as the one guy in that particular scene isn't quite dead, today's post deals with something also still with us -- and yet, less than energetic. To wit: books from deep in one's back list. Any author who has been plying his craft for as long as I have has a a book or three like that. Case in point ....

For no discernible reason, this morning I found myself remembering my earliest collections. These contain stories of which I remain fond -- but the books don't get a lot of (read: any) visibility. Haven't in years ....

So: I'm going to indulge myself with a few words about these early authorial endeavors. If this post ends up only Your Humble Blogger taking a stroll down Memory Lane? I'm okay with that.

InterstellarNet: Complete

Updated January 2, 2023: the InterstellarNet series (and with it, this bundle) is temporarily out of print and electrons

Three epic adventures ...
Some of my favorite work ...
All in one newly released, discounted ebook bundle! 

The entire InterstellarNet series

InterstellarNet: Origins. When the first call from the stars comes, do we even dare to answer?

"A wonderfully thought-provoking story ... Lerner's world-building and extrapolating are top notch.
-- SFScope

InterstellarNet: New Order. In which humanity discovers that meeting aliens face to face is very different -- and a lot more dangerous -- than sending and receiving messages.

"... A twisted plot complete with conspiracies, alien psychology, antimatter physics neep, AI spies, and plenty of shooting action at the end."
-- Internet Review of Science Fiction

InterstellarNet: Enigma. Humanity once feared that we might be alone in the universe. Now we know better. And it turns out there are far worse things than being alone ....

"An exceptional book in an excellent series .... If you enjoy a good story on a large scale told by sympathetic characters, read Interstellar Net: Enigma. If you enjoy space opera, space combat, and unlikely heroes saving the earth, you will enjoy this book. If you enjoy mysteries, the futuristic elements will not detract. This is one of the few novels that combine an action mystery with a sweeping science fiction and excels at being both."
-- Galaxy's Edge

And winner of the inaugural Canopus Award "honoring excellence in interstellar writing."

And of the overall InterstellarNet series:

"Edward M. Lerner’s InterstellarNet is one of the most original and well-thought-out visions of an interstellar civilization I've ever seen."
-- Stanley Schmidt, editor of Analog Science Fiction and Fact

As I type, InterstellarNet Complete for the Kindle -- that is, the entire trilogy -- is available from Amazon and in other popular formats for only $9.99. Check your favorite ebook retailer. Will update when the situation changes.

Perhaps you're not ready for a three-book commitment. Fair enough. You can read about any individual InterstellarNet title by clicking its corresponding cover on the right. (For now, the first two of these standalone ebooks are each discounted to $4.99)

Life, the universe, and everything ...

And yet, the number 42 isn't involved :-)

The not-so-little observatory that could

Great observatories have (ahem) greatly extended our understanding of the universe. So, first, let us mark an imminent sad passing: "NASA put its famous planet-hunting telescope to sleep because it’s almost out of fuel: The Kepler Space Telescope’s life is finally coming to an end." This fine astronomical instrument detected more than 2K subsequently confirmed exoplanets (with more confirmations likely  yet to come). Quite the legacy.

The ESO VLT

Another fine instrument -- this one Earthbound: the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope -- has, for the first time, caught a planet in the very first stages of formation. See: "First confirmed view of a newborn planet: A planet coalesces from the disc of dust and gas around the dwarf star PDS 70."

The JWST. Much assembly required.

Alas, the it's-been-coming-forever James Webb Space Telescope -- NASA's long-heralded successor mission to the (fortunately still hanging in there) Hubble Space Telescope -- has hit another snag. As in, "NASA Delays Launch of James Webb Space Telescope Again — This Time to 2021."

That's one day's view of (viewing) the universe. As for the life part of the subject line, an over-hyped bit of last week's science news. First, an example of the more breathless reporting: "Large molecules show Enceladus 'clearly is habitable for life' " And here is a more cautiously (IMO, more precisely) worded version: "No, NASA Did Not Find Even 'Hints Of Life' On Enceladus."

And everything? That was everything for today ;-)

Who knows where the time goes?

(Yes, that's a Judy Collins song title and album. A very good -- if retro -- album as it happens. But take it as a point of departure.)

Yeah. That kinda week

I didn't post last week, not even an "I'm too busy to post" post. Trying to reconstruct where that week went, I see:

• a routine dental exam
• a routine eye exam (and hours thereafter during which the world was fuzzy)
• a broken sprinkler system
• overgrown bushes trimmed so the sprinkler people could get at the water cutoff
• landscapers contacted because I have way more overgrown bushes than I care to deal with
• a semi-repaired, aka semi-broken, sprinkler system to diagnose, and the return of the sprinkler people(*)
• headsets researched; one acquired, installed, and tested for an upcoming authorial interview/podcast (more on that another day)
• sysadmin duties on my wife's recalcitrant computer

(*) Hmm. "The Return of the Sprinkler People." A title yearning to become a story?

All that coming, of course, on top of life's usual distractions ....

When I managed to eke out time to actually work, I focused on "The Company Mole." This new novella follows my SF-mystery novelettes "The Company Man" and "The Company Dick," which appeared last year in The Grantville Gazette ("Universe Annex" Department).

And herewith the good news! A complete draft of "The Company Mole" is in the hands of my first and favorite reader, aka my wife. (Also, fair compensation for the aforesaid sysadmin services.) I have high hopes of wrapping up and submitting this story ere long.