Exotica

(Not a typo. What were you thinking?)

As happens from time to time, I'm posting today with eclectic items of interest -- interesting to me, in any event -- that are, despite their esoteric variety, nonetheless  germane to this blog.

First up: the latest progress to be reported by the nascent DC-area Museum of Science Fiction (MOSF). I figure that I should -- before the third quarter ends -- pass along the MOSF's second-quarter report.

And an MOSF preview: I suspect that an item to be reported for the third quarter, when its progress summary becomes available, will be the "MOSF Journal of Science Fiction." In brief: the museum, in partnership with nearby University of Maryland, is setting up an academic journal focused on SF.

Now meaningfully available

And the one commercial update within this stream-of-association post ... For entirely uninteresting reasons, the print edition of my time-travel-themed chapbook, A Time Foreclosed (2013), has been available -- using the modifier ironically -- only with a weeks-long shipping lag. Big surprise: people don't care to wait that long for a book. Today I'm happy to report that, as of a few days ago, Amazon is offering a new ATF print edition -- without that delay, and for a mere $4.99. (ATF remains available as an ebook, of course, for your instant gratification -- for just 99 cents.)

And speaking of said dominant etailer ...

Fools' Experiments -- and other authorial goodies

Fools' Experiments, a novel of artificial life, artificial intelligence, and hubris -- and, as it happens, my most popular solo book -- has become relatively difficult to find.

Bummer, right?

The new cover

No longer! Phoenix Pick (an imprint of publisher Arc Manor) has just re-released Fools' Experiments in trade paperback and multiple ebook formats.

What is Fools' Experiments about? I'm glad you asked. 

"Lerner’s physics and computer science background serve him well for this pulse-pounding yarn about the creation of the first artificial life form inside cyberspace."
— BookPage Notable Title 

“Viruses and worms have come to be an important ‘feature’ of our network landscape. And yet this is just the beginning. In FOOLS’ EXPERIMENTS, Edward M. Lerner gives us a fascinating view on how awesome these threats could soon become.” 
— Vernor Vinge, Hugo award-winning author of Rainbow’s End

Or even more succinctly, as the tagline puts it: We are not alone, and it's our own damn fault.

This being an unabashedly commercial post, here are the Amazon links for the new Fools' Experiments paperback edition and Fools' Experiments Kindle edition. (Other etailers will also offer the novel, of course, in print and non-Kindle ebook formats. And your favorite brick-and-mortar bookseller will be happy to order the new print edition for you -- tell him or her ISBN 978-1612422343.)

And in other authorial news:

• Tomorrow (March 10) is the final day to nominate works for the 2015 Hugo awards. Support your favorite authors.
• Many of you participated in the recent book bombing (see "I've been book bombed! (And that's a good thing)". I hope you enjoyed "A Time Foreclosed."
• MANY of you made your way to last week's free Kindle download of "Championship B'tok" -- a novelette which, by an amazing coincidence, is eligible for a Hugo nomination (see "B'tok (and ka-Boom)". I hope you enjoyed it. The ebook has returned to -- IMO, a still quite reasonable -- 99 cents.
• Now I'm off to pore over the page proofs for InterstellarNet: Enigma. That's my latest novel (see "InterstellarNet redux"), of which "Championship B'tok" forms a key segment. The pub date isn't yet set, but late spring or early summer seems about right. I'll post about it when I know.

A final thought before I go ... please consider helping me get out the word. You might repost, share on Facebook, pin on Pinterest, or tweet about the  new release of Fools' Experiments. And there's always workd of mouth. Icons for sharing are immediately below this post (and its labels).

I've been book bombed! (And that's a good thing)

Book bombing is, in a nutshell, a coordinated -- hopefully to go viral -- promotional blitz. See BOOK BOMB! Short Stories from the Sad Puppies Slate! Hat tip to the mad bombers, fellow authors Larry Correia and Brad Torgerson.

My book-bombed work is the time-travel novella "A Time Foreclosed." It comes bundled with a bonus short-short, "Grandpa?", basis of the hilarious, award-winning, short movie "The Grandfather Paradox." Here's the Kindle link for "A Time Foreclosed."

Funny thing ... this all came about because of another of my stories. "Championship B'tok," a 2014 novelette in Analog, ended up on this year's Sad Puppy slate for a Hugo Award. (Sad Puppies is a whole 'nother funny story.) "Championship B'tok" is the latest installment in my popular, long-running InterstellarNet series.

(B'tok? I'm glad you asked. It's a game of strategy played by the alien Snakes. B'tok is to chess as chess is to rock-paper-scissors. You do NOT want to get into a war with the Snakes ...)

Why, then, is "A Time Foreclosed" a book-bombed work? Because it is available online while "Championship B'tok" is not, and Larry and Brad are all about (fairly enough) authors being paid. If you're interested in "Championship B'tok," shoot me an email (eml (at) edwardmlerner.com) and I'll email back a copy. If you're a Hugo Award voter ... well, you'll connect the dots.

And you'll find plenty more good stories to consider via that Book Bomb link.

Final word: no one will complain if you share, tweet, blog, or otherwise pass this along. That's how book bombing works :-)

March 1, 2015 update. See B'tok (and ka-Boom).

Hoist on my own prolificness :-)

At about this time last year, I was pleased to post (Faster than a speeding photon) about the recently awarded Analog Readers Poll awards, aka the Analytical Laboratory awards, aka the Anlabs.

Down the rabbit (er, worm) hole

Why pleased? Because my 2012 article ("Faster than a speeding photon: The Why, Where, and (Perhaps the) How of Faster-Than-Light Technology" had won in the science-fact category. After decades as a regular Analog reader and years as a regular contributor, the honor meant a lot to me. The year previous (i.e., two years ago), I'd tied with myself for second place in that same Anlabs category.

And this year's Anlabs?

SF/publishing update

Despite the ongoing popularity of TV and movie science fiction (no matter how atrocious the science), SF literature remains marginalized. Some of that marginalization, I'm of the opinion, stems directly from a general perception of  STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) as "too hard." But is it possible genre authors bring marginalization upon ourselves? From Locus Online, see Kameron Hurley's thoughtful essay, "Making Excuses for Science Fiction."

Columbus discovered a new world (here's your chance to top him)

By discovering new worlds of the imagination, of course. You won't even need the support of a deep-pocketed Spanish queen.

(If you hadn't guessed, this is a commercial announcement. But you'll want to read on ....)

Replica of the Nina

In recognition of the upcoming Columbus Day holiday (or my pending appearance October 12th at DC area con Capclave, or just because), FoxAcre Press is running a special through October 17. During the promotion, each of my FoxAcre SF novels and my FoxAcre collection -- in ebook formats only --  is reduced to $2.99.

What titles? Both InterstellarNet-series novels, InterstellarNet: Origins and InterstellarNet: New Order. First-contact novel Moonstruck. Technothriller Probe. Mixed fact and fiction collection Frontiers of Space, Time, and Thought.

As for my freestanding time-travel novella, A Time Foreclosed, it's only $0.99.

Which ebook formats? Kindle, Nook, and iTunes. Check their respective storefronts. (And if a price reduction hasn't yet rippled through for a particular title or format ... check back. The change should be in the works.)

Care to learn more about any of these books (or any other Lerner title)? Over in the right-hand column, click the book-cover thumbnail. Or jump straight to the list of all Edward M. Lerner titles at Amazon.

If you've ever wondered about my writing, now is the time to indulge your curiosity.

As for Capclave, it's among my favorite cons. This year's GOH is George R. R. Martin, of Game of Thrones fame.)

Capclave: where reading isn't extinct

A Time Foreclosed

Last updated January 2, 2023: This 2013 chapbook was a marketing experiment. The chapbook is now out print and ebook formats (but for now still available on Audible). On the bright side, both stories in this chapbook -- having been being well received and among my favorites -- are included within 2022's The Best of Edward M. Lerner. So you might want to check that out.

As a working author, I've followed -- with more than a little interest! -- various publishing experiments and emerging sales channels. One of those experiments is the freestanding novella. What had been an impractical story length has become, in the era of ebooks and print-on-demand, eminently doable.

And so: on to my experiment and breaking news ...

A Time Foreclosed, newly released, republishes -- under a new and improved title -- my recent time-travel novella "Time Out." (It originally appeared in Analog, January/February 2013 issue.)

Or as the publisher puts it:

Time out(s)

I've opined on this blog that time travel is a science-fictional trope -- but that doesn't mean I disapprove. Tropes endure in literature (and not only in SF) because they support great storytelling. And so, on occasion, I indulge ...

If you visit here from an interest in my SF writing -- or if you're curious about it -- I thought I'd mention my new time-travel novella. (A few years ago I did a time-travel novel: Countdown to Armageddon.  Before that, my time-travel short story "Grandpa?" became the award-winning short film "The Grandfather Paradox.")

Anyway ... "Time Out" will appear in the January/February issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact.

(Or is appearing. Apropos of time travel, we Analog subscribers already have this issue in hand or e-reader. The cover date is the latest you might expect to encounter the print edition at a bookstore. To further muddle the timeline, in e-book outlets the issue will linger for months after the cover date.)