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Excuses, part 673052

Sorry, I've been in London — where I saw these guys and did this gig, plus a signing at Forbidden Planet, lunch with my editor from Orbit, a kaffeeclatch that wasn't, this exhibition, and a partridge in a pear tree.

I am now flattened: which would be okay if I wasn't trying to write a keynote speech for this conference, running the washing machine until its bearings glow red hot, checking that my travel insurance is kosher for swine flu pandemics in strange places, and being stalked by an unhappy cat (she's upset because I haven't been around for her to ignore).

I'm going to be hitting the road on Friday, for about three weeks — this trip takes me to Seattle, then Portland, then (via an overnight stop in Chicago) to Baltimore, where I'm guest of honor at Balticon over memorial day weekend. (I may also be doing signing and/or readings in Seattle and Portland; this isn't confirmed yet, but I'll update here as/when I know what my schedule is.) This is, however, a working vacation, so I am going to try to not do any writing work.

When I get back, I will probably be facing a stack of edits for "The Fuller Memorandum", the third Laundry novel — then a super-sekrit side-project, and then the sequel to "Halting State". Assuming my schedule comes untangled the way I expect it to, TFM will probably show up in bookshops next year, to be followed by the HS sequel; then on to other projects, such as the fourth Laundry novel and, oh, we'll be into 2010 by then so there's no point guessing. There's no end to this job in sight, for which I am deeply grateful.

And so, to bed.

23 Comments

1:

I look forward to standing you a pint while you're in our Emerald City :)

Cheers!

2:

sigh It seems like all of the cultural stuff I'm interested in started showing up in Portland after I moved to new Zealand five years ago. Charles, do you think you might attend the 20120 WorldCon in Melbourne?

3:

sigh It seems like all of the cultural stuff I'm interested in started showing up in Portland after I moved to New Zealand five years ago. Charles, do you think you might attend the 2010 WorldCon in Melbourne?

4:

That's two pints while you're in Seattle...

5:

Damn! I wish I could go! Come to the real Portland in Maine!

Well, have fun in Baltimore.

6:

drop me a note and you've got a third pint in Seattle.

7:

And, as I've said before, I'll stand a pint in Portland. Do we have any other webfeet here who'll up the dosage?

Incidentally, Charlie, thanks for the good timing; you're coming in neatly after the carpal tunnel surgery, and before the back tuneup. I was hoping it would work out that way; I'd be really pissed off if I couldn't get to raise a glass with you because the codeine hadn't worn off yet. If you're curious why this is Surgery Season for me, it's simple: I've got insurance coverage now, and I won't have it after spring of next year, unless the job market here gets a lot better. And given how much that insurance is costing me, I'm damn well going to get as much done as I can.

8:

Blimey! Ultravox have aged! How did that happen?

9:

Craig: Melbourne in 2010 is on my agenda, finances permitting (it's a long way from Scotland).

Everyone else: I'll put word out next week when there's a venue/time for a pub meet in Seattle. And Portland. OK?

10:

How were Ultravox, anyway? I really wanted to see them. Hopefully they will come to the states.

Now, the music geek in me wants the ORIGINAL Ultravox to reform with Foxx and Shears, Robin Simon - the whole lot!

11:

Chang: Ultravox have been having fun on stage on this tour, and it shows: great gigs, good atmosphere, and they're one of those bands who sound better live than on a studio album. Dunno about coming to the states, but they were recording for a live album and DVD at Camden and there are rumours of a European tour coming up.

Original Ultravox ... nope, not gonna happen. Last time I saw John Foxx on stage he was doing a film/multimedia event and mentioned off-hand that he really hadn't enjoyed the rock star experience at all. Even leaving aside personality issues (it took Midge Ure and Billy Currie the best part of two decades to bury the hatchet) that doesn't sound too promising.

12:

Chang@10: Robin Simon replaced Stevie Shears - the two of them were not in the band at the same time. Robin Simon was in the audience for the Roundhouse gig this time round, though.

In addition, a quick listen to Systems of Romance followed by Metamatic reveals that that incarnation of Ultravox(!) was really just John Foxx plus backing band. Warren Cann, Chris Cross and Billy Currie didn't really come into their own until Vienna.

13:

I'm glad to hear that you're getting stuck in to more books I always seem to read them too quickly. :)

Do you have any plans to revisit some of your other settings? Every single time I've finished one of your books I think that it would be brilliant if you wrote more in it's setting, but at the same time really enjoy all of the amazing variety, so don't really want you to stop writing the new stuff either. :D (I'm particularly thinking of the Eschaton universe or Glasshouse btw :) )

14:

Matt: there will be no further Eschaton novels.

Accelerando and Saturn's Children stand alone.

I'm taking a multi-year break from Merchant Princes but might go back.

I am contracted to produce a sequel to Halting State, and another Laundry novel.

I'd like to do more Laundry novels, a sequel to Glasshouse, and a novel-length expansion of Palimpsest. However, each of these is a 6-12 month project that requires a publisher who wants to pay for them before I get started.

Does that clarify things?

15:

Charlie, when exactly are you going to be in Portland?

I'll be stopping through there the night of May 16 on the way back to Hawaii, and I'll be a couple hours drive away next week. If we're there at the same time, I'll add a pint to Bruce's. Bruce - if Charlie's not around, I might try to meet up with you the night we're on the way back.

(If I'm in the mood by then. This was not a planned pleasure trip, it was a call from my brother saying "Come visit your mom NOW." Her idiot doctors put her back on a med which has caused severe mental deterioration within the space of days, possibly one or more strokes. If she lasts until our usual December visit, I don't know whether she'll recognize me or her grandkids by then.)

16:

No more Eschaton novels? Why not?

17:

You are one busy guy. Got a question: what is the novel your are collaborating with Cory D on (mentioned in the Login blurb)?

18:

Craig, Charlie's gone into a bit more detail in past posts here, and may not feel like rehashing it again - try site search with Google? - but basically he felt he had painted himself into a corner with impending logical contradictions that he couldn't get a plot out of resolving.

(I expect his fans would tolerate massive infusions of handwavium as needed to repair the time-space continuum, but hey, I'm not the one who would have to write it.)

19:

Charlie: Thanks for the comment, yes that does.

I will, as Clifton's suggested, have a search of the site and look for your previous comments on Eschaton. Natch it's never going to be the easiest universe to write about in any kind of fashion that preserves causality. ;)

20:

Any chance of a hardcover of The Fuller Memorandum? It would look lovely next to my hc's of the previous books.

21:

Martin A: I believe Ace and Orbit will release TFM in hardcover -- however, it won't be the same size or design as the Golden Gryphon editions.

22:

Charlie: Bummer... But that's still better than getting just a paperback (it would mess up the occult symmetry of my bookshelf), so I'm not whining too loudly. Thanks for the quick reply!

23:

If you have any time for Chicago (≠ O'Hare), I'd be happy to point you toward what you're interested in.

Specials

Merchandise

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This page contains a single entry by Charlie Stross published on May 5, 2009 9:28 PM.

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