It’s Soulless’s second day on sale and no, I haven’t looked at my Amazon ranking since the online launch. I hear from other authors that therein lies madness. I’m in Cleveland at the moment at the GLIBA Tradeshow. This is my old stomping grounds from undergraduate school so it’s a tad surreal to come back through Hopkins Airport after so many years (no, you don’t need to know how many).
Major snafu, in my mad packing forgot both ATM & credit cards.
I swear I thought about which ones to bring, then got distracted by something and forgot to actually put them into my clutch. Discovered this at SFO after clearing security with no time to rectify, and $42 dollars to my name. Brilliant! Called support network in a panic. Support network activated operation Save the Idiot: called hotel, filed necessary paperwork for incidentals (can’t eat anywhere but hotel), determined cheapest way to get there from airport (they have a train now, who knew?), and even promised to mail hotel some cash. Unfortunately, travel proceeded from bad to worse with delays, discovery of more forgotten items, disgusting meat-riddled food, a seat that wouldn’t go back, and finally the stewardess upending a glass of ice water on me. Despite crisis, arrived in lovely hotel unscathed and now beginning my authorial sojourn.
My virtual self is still crashing in a Godzilla-like manner about the blogosphere. Today I have a guest blog over on Myth, the Universe, and Everything. Here’s a sample:
Explaining History Backwards
I’m an archaeologist and I’m constantly distressed by history. This is, as you may well imagine, professionally terribly embarrassing, but the logic of history all-too-often defeats me. (Of course, this is because history isn’t logical.) One has only to look at the British Empire. I mean really, how did they manage it – one tiny island taking over the world (as Eddy Izzard has it) through the cunning use of flags? My initial theory was that the British were on the hunt for better cuisine and simply occupied other countries as an afterthought . . .
Meanwhile, my virtual self is still buzzing about the blogosphere and you can catch me being interviewed by Jonathan Moeller over on his blog. Here’s a sample:
JM: You seem to have taken quite a vigorous approach to self-marketing “Soulless”. What strategies have you been using?
GC: Ah, yes, the result of over exposure to the podcasting community. That, plus the fact that Orbit has been really supportive of my crazy schemes. I met my publishing team at the Denver WorldCon and we got along like a house on fire (alcohol, I suspect) . . .
Quote of the Day:
“History does not repeat itself. The historians repeat one another.”
~ Max Beerbohm
Yikes. The horror's of traveling!
Book Smuggler's review wasn't what I expected. 🙁
Have fun at the show!
It was a little odd. I listened to an Elizabeth Peters book when I was about 10, my Mom was really into the series. I remember liking it, but not a lot else. I do know she and I use the same primary source material, Amelia Edwards, so that could explain the similarity. Regardless, you win some, you lose some.