With half the penultimate episode and the finale left, the most recent season of Orange is the New Black has been maybe not that good.
Month: June 2017
In which I am dadding today
So… four years ago, maybe? my son contracted the nastiest case of hand- foot- and mouth syndrome I’ve ever seen. This isn’t saying much, as I know so little about the disease that I keep insisting on sticking the word hoof in there whenever I have any reason to bring it up. The boy, to be clear, lacks hooves. But whatever he had, it was Goddamned horrible– there were scabs all over him, particularly around his face and his eyes, and he was basically a giant ball of horror and misery for a week and a half or so before it finally cleared up.
Amazingly, though, other than a couple of bouts with the sniffles that was the last time he’d been sick, until this week. On Saturday he abruptly threw up in a parking lot on the way to the grocery, and last night– yes, four days later– he threw up again three more times. In between? Completely fine. Today? Completely fine as well, eating everything in the house. And I’ve been queasy as fuck and waiting to throw up all night, as well as the vague nightmare where all you really want to do is sleep and all the boy wants to do is lay around and watch videos because He Threw Up Last Night and he knows he can get away with it. I’ve been trying not to nap all day. Blech.
In other news, Balremesh and Other Stories was, for a brief period of time, actually outselling a few Neil Gaiman books in one of the microcategories it’s slotted into. It’s still available for preorder, for just 99 cents. Go get it!
BALREMESH AND OTHER STORIES back cover copy is now live
A last stand against ultimate evil. A refugee from outside of time. A corrupt governor and a graveyard of wronged spirits. A technological breakthrough that could change human culture forever, or end it entirely. An executioner listening to a genocidaire’s’ final statement. And a door, hanging in the air, a door that must never be opened. These and other tales await you within BALREMESH AND OTHER STORIES, a novella-sized collection of short stories and microfictions in the horror, science fiction and fantasy genres.
Hundreds-selling, Hugo award-nominated(*), generally-not-as-acclaimed-as-he-feels-he-deserves author Luther M. Siler returns to independent publishing with BALREMESH AND OTHER STORIES, his first new project in nearly two years. His other works include the BENEVOLENCE ARCHIVES series, the near-future science fiction novel SKYLIGHTS, and a nonfiction book about teaching, SEARCHING FOR MALUMBA.
(*) Anyone can nominate anyone for a Hugo. It’s like the Nobel prize. He was not a finalist.
You can pre-order Balremesh and Other Stories here, or add it to your Goodreads shelves here.
FINAL COVER REVEAL: TALES FROM THE BENEVOLENCE ARCHIVES
My entire life nowadays is just looking at things and saying holy shit over and over and over and over. Jamie Noble Frier is absolutely the real goddamn deal, guys. And while you’re at it, do not sleep on that blurb at the bottom there. Michael J. Martinez blurbed my goddamn book. WHAT IS HAPPENING.
Release date on this one real soon. For now, you can pre-order Balremesh and Other Stories for just 99 of your human Americapennies. That one will be out July 5! My birthday! Preordering is like giving me a present!
BALREMESH AND OTHER STORIES: Out July 5!!!!
…I am putting the finishing touches on Balremesh and other stories RIGHT NOW, and it’s out July 5th at Amazon. I’ll link to the page once it’s up; preorders ought to be available pretty damn soon– like, probably by Tuesday or Wednesday. Yep, that’s right. New book! In, like, TWO WEEKS!
(EDIT: I think it’s gonna be here; in the meantime, Amazon’s 404 pages are adorable.)
Why July 5th? Because it’s my birthday. So I assume y’all know what you’re going to get me.
Now, that said: an important thing you need to realize about this book is that nearly all of it is on this site, for free, right now. Those of you who are regular blog readers may want to give this a pass, and that’s okay. (Then again, it’s only 99 cents. Raid your couch.) The total wordcount is currently a noodge over 25K, and I expect that to go up a bit– there are a few other stories I’m considering including and haven’t decided 100% yet, but honestly the book is releasable as it stands. I’m planning on using Balremesh as another nearly-risk-free way to get a sample of my writing without digging through my website, and when the print version comes (stand by) I’m going to price it as low as I possibly can without actually losing money on it. Now, none of these stories have ever been available in an ebook before, and there are going to be a couple in there that aren’t on the site, so if you’re a regular reader you’ll get at least something new for your 99 cents. But I don’t wanna mislead anybody: most of this is still out there.
What about Tales from the Benevolence Archives, you ask? Stand by. But I expect it out by the end of August, maybe early September– no later than that. I’m done with all the stories but one, and my wife has started her editorial readthrough. My artist is finalizing the digital cover and I’ll have him working on the print cover pretty damn soon. It’s coming.
The drought is ending.
I promise.
And I think you’re gonna love what I’ve got planned next.
Picture, 1000 words, etc.
I really did have a crazy productive day– look at the progress bar for Tales over there!– but the internet has been an unreconstructed horrorshow since I got home from dinner so it’s probably time to go to bed and read. 
Call your Senators
Pure anecdata, and I just said this on Twitter but sometimes I like to say things in more than one place: I just called both of my Senators, one a Democrat and one a Republican, and told their staffers that I needed them both to vote against the Senate healthcare bill. Also said to the Democrat’s staffer (who sounded exhausted) that I expected him to do literally everything in his power to oppose it.
I got through to the Democrat’s office on the first try. It took four to get through to the Republican’s office. And damn near every single response to this tweet by Todd Young is anti-AHCA. It’s amazing:
My statement on the Senate discussion draft: pic.twitter.com/ktXqwAH3LI
— Senator Todd Young (@SenToddYoung) June 22, 2017
There’s a lot of weasel words in there, but I’m choosing to take a bit of solace in the fact that it’s not a full-throated endorsement of the bill.
This bill will hurt literally every person living in this country. Every single one. Get on the phones, folks, and make your voices heard. The DC Senate switchboard is (202) 224-3121, but I find more luck getting ahold of actual people by calling the local offices.
AN ANNOUNCEMENT
I just finished the first draft of the final story of Tales from the Benevolence Archives, guys. That doesn’t mean the book is done– there’s several of them unfinished– but I know how everything ends, now, and the rest of it will be cake.
Go grab the first volume, if you haven’t already, and start getting ready.
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