Despite a strange whistling sound coming from the back end, the mighty Scion managed to haul the vast realms housed in my imagination across the state line into New Mexico a little after 7:00 p.m. Central Time this evening. As I type, I am holed up in the Best Western in Clovis for the night. Tomorrow car, computer and I climb back onto the road for Albuquerque and (fanfare here) Bubonicon 42 this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 2010 is my fourth year attending this great event, and the pull of friends is strong.

If I have any hesitation about time away from Intergalactic HQ right now, it is that the revision of Entranscing is demanding more time and attention than anticipated. Instead of being finished, the rewrite is but three quarters done. This is not the result of malingering, I swear. Rather, I feel like I am finally finishing this small book. The first edition went to press after only four drafts. Frankly, that is not enough polish for a writer of my small accomplishment. I am up to my armpits in draft #6, and the book is turning out to be so much better than the first edition that I no longer want to sell any of the old back stock from the original publisher. One does not often get an opportunity to erase multiple disappointments in one swoop. This relaunch will do that, if only I can wrap the revision. Further progress is likely on hold until I am again ensconced in the Stikmantic command chair on the far side of this journey.

Before the year is out, I look forward to other journeys. Entranscing and Nod’s Way will certainly be relaunched before the Scion carries your humble author and his stock to Denver in October for MileHiCon. Marking my third year at this event, I’ll make the drive as a guest but not a vendor.

The second edition of Sleeper Awakes will not be done before MileHiCon, but my sincere hope is that it is wrapped and printed before we bid 2010 goodbye. My plan (Travelocity and Continental Airlines willing) is to spend the final days of the decade speaking halting Spanish in Buenos Aires. After five days of spiritual renewal at the far end of the hemisphere, I’ll bounce back ready to start hammering out additional fictions in 2011.

One of the additional fictions up for consideration is an almost book length outtake from Sleeper Awakes that I had thought lost to the evil-doer who swiped my computers last February. Happily, last week I found the outtake attached to a message in the in-box of my day job e-mail. The contours of a story are present in that text, just waiting to be hammered into shape.

On a related note, I had also believed the burglar (cursed be his, her or their posteriors) had relieved me of every trace of my sound art compositions from the past decade. But, oh, this is a finding time, and just a day after finding the outtake from Sleeper Awakes, I found disks onto which I had burned both audio files and mp3s of several of my pieces. I’m looking at different ways to share these with the cosmos, which may even happen during the next few days. In the words of Jeremy Hilary Boob,

“Ad hoc, ad loc and quid pro quo. So little time—so much to know!”

Don’t fret. I’m on it.

Finally, the coupon for a dollar off the e-book version of Prelude to a Change of Mind available on Smashwords is valid until September 3. Hie thee off now and purchase this first of my relaunched titles in your preferred format. Time grows short. Enter coupon code RC92P at checkout to get the discount.

pencil and colored pencil on paper 5.5"x8.5"

I’ve spent some time this evening messing with my scanner, which no longer works as perfectly as it did once. For reasons I do not understand, the commands available hooked up to this computer are much reduced from those available when hooked to the previous computer, which was stolen. Despite poking into every detectable cranny of the scanner’s software, I can find no way to recalibrate the beast. The unit at issue is a six year old Epson something or another. Could this be Industry’s way of telling me it is time to invest in devices of a new day?

Check out ebook options for Prelude to a Change of Mind on Smashwords. Enter coupon code RC92P at checkout to purchase this first book of The Hidden Lands of Nod for only $1.99—in your preferred format! Don’t hesitate. This coupon expires September 3, 2010.

Prelude to a Change of Mind is also available in trade paperback through your favorite bookseller, or directly from the link in the left column of your screen.

Here at the last minute of the eleventh hour I would like to invite everyone to the virtual release of the newly revised Blue Moose Press edition of Prelude to a Change of Mind, the first book of The Hidden Lands of Nod. Let us stamp August 1, 2010, as the official date of appearance. You may order copies of the handsome trade paperback from your favorite bookseller, or from the link on my website. All copies ordered through the website will be signed by the author.

If you prefer a post-paper reading experience, Smashwords offers the complete text in ten popular ebook formats, from PDF to Epub to Kindle. A distinct Kindle version that preserves design elements from the print edition is available on Amazon.

In hard copy or not, this Blue Moose Press edition remains the gateway to the world of the Dvarsh, refreshed and renewed. Highly recommended.

In typically Stikmantic fashion, I’ve been trying overly hard to make all the details sit nicely in rows before formally announcing publication by Blue Moose Press of the 3rd edition of Prelude to a Change of Mind, the first book of The Hidden Lands of Nod. The product illustration for the Kindle version on Amazon is still unsatisfactory, and Smashwords has yet to rule on the rightness of the file uploaded to that site. To heck with it. The book is out. It is relaunched. It’s a beautiful book, a beautiful story, newly revised and competitively priced. You will need at least a dozen. How do you get them? Heading the left column of this site is a book for directly ordering the book from me, which carries the added value of my signature in every single copy so purchased. The trade paper edition may also be ordered through your favorite bookseller, whether a brick and mortar store or online retailer. Here is the Amazon product page. For those of you who have transitioned in whole or part to ebook readership, you can order a Kindle version with all the spiffy Stikmantic formatting from Amazon by going here, or you can get the bare bones text in any of several e-reader formats by visiting Smashwords.

I plan to announce a virtual release event within the next couple of days. Check for information here and elsewhere that I dally on the the internet.

Things were looking ominous for rebirth of The Hidden Lands of Nod. By the middle of last week I was thoroughly stressed about completing preparation of an ebook version of the new edition of Prelude to a Change of Mind in a timely manner while remaining on track to relaunch the print version of its sequel, Entranscing, before the end of this month. Just when it looked like the only way both goals could be met was by surrendering sleep for the duration of July, I remembered Joshua Tallent and his business, eBook Architects. Joshua prepared the Kindle releases of the previous editions of these two novels, and I met him face to face last summer at ArmadilloCon. Besides being very good at what he does, Mr. Tallent is both local to Austin and a very nice man. That combination always wins points with me when I’m shopping for services. A quick exchange of e-mails, followed by a bit of packaging and uploading files, lifted the burden of ebook preparation from my shoulders completely. While eBook Architects accepted the task of converting Prelude to a Change of Mind for all currently available ebook formats, I found myself making such good progress on revising Entranscing that I took a couple nights off to consume popcorn and cinema.

The two films I chose could be a study in contrasts. First was Micmacs, a French comedy about a man who sets out to settle scores with two munitions companies, one the maker of a landmine that killed his father and the other the manufacturer of a bullet left lodged in the man’s head by a bizarre shooting accident. The protagonist, Bazil, and his gang of social misfit collaborators channel the spirit of Rube Goldberg as they outfox merchants of death with a celebration of life. Heartwarming and funny, Micmacs (d. Jean-Pierre Jeunet) is imperfect, but immensely satisfying. I recommend it as a night out for every champion of the underdog.

My other film choice for the weekend was Winter’s Bone, (d. Debra Granik). A powerfully rendered tale of suspense, this film is superb but virtually devoid of feel good qualities. The story follows a teen-aged girl, Ree, as she tries to either find her father or prove him dead before bail bondsmen seize the family home. Set among tight-lipped clans and amphetamine kitchens of rural Missouri, the story unfolds relentlessly as desperation forces Ree time and again to walk into danger with open eyes. If I left Micmacs relishing afterglow of a visual feast, I departed Winter’s Bone brooding on images and a story I could not get out of my head. To the serious cineaste, I endorse this film without reservation; to everyone else, I offer the caution that, however fine director Granik’s achievement, Winter’s Bone is a story about confronting demons, not escaping them.

After back to back movie nights, I have turned again to revising Entranscing. The new edition is on track, as are tasks for relaunch of all my existing titles. I’m pounding along so happily, in fact, that I begin to fantasize a longer break from Stikmantic output. A friend’s offhanded suggestion has caught in my imagination, and left me wondering what Buenos Aires might be like in late December. “America” is a concept played out across two entire continents. I can’t help but think it would be enriching to make an immersive journey to the southern vision. For all the practical reasons for ignoring the impulse, a powerful fraction of inner dialog says, “Go.”

Two days out from ApolloCon 2010, I am still none the wiser. There were moments I enjoyed immensely, old connections I was pleased to renew and new connections I was happy to make. That said, I remain uncertain about how effective a strategy for promotion of my work participating in this or any science fiction/fantasy convention may be. That I am slowly building an audience is undeniable, but is it the fastest way? That these exposures are helping to clarify exactly what is unique and what is generic in my work is equally true, but does the clarification indicate that I am reaching out to the right or wrong subculture? The jury is still out. Perhaps I’m worrying the issue too much. I spent three days in the company of some incredibly cool people. I sold some copies of my books, especially the new edition of Prelude to a Change of Mind. I had opportunity to listen to really smart, knowledgeable people talk about topics that interest me. Justifying the weekend in Houston is certainly not difficult. If fame and fortune were again shy about tagging me, fun was not.

Getting the new edition of Prelude to a Change of Mind actually out to the world has been a process fraught with complications. The production facility, which shall remain unnamed because of the necessity of an ongoing relationship, presented serial hurdles involving software incompatabilities, incongruities, misconception and missed connections. Once those were all cleared (to mix sports metaphors), the facility dropped the ball repeatedly on what seemed a simple task of producing and shipping a press proof. Had the difficulty been with some other book the situation might have been funny. Finally, all those issues were resolved, the books were printed and—this very day—delivered. Title in hand, I set out to register the copyright with the government’s online copyright registration site. Discretion suggests that the particular government should also remain nameless because of similar necessity of continuing relationship; however, there is only one government registering copyrights in a certain country in which I am rumored to reside. I leave you to draw your own conclusion.

Was there a problem with the copyright registration process? Why, yes. Setting up an account and entering all required information went swimmingly. The payment process was seamless. The final step, that of printing a required mailing label from the site, did not work at all. No funciona. I contacted the site’s technical support, and received instruction to log out, log back in, select my case number, select my case number again, and wait to be taken to the page from which to print the label. I followed instruction. When I logged back in the account no longer showed a record of the payment I had made, which meant I could only go to the page for making payments, not to the page for printing labels. I contacted technical support again, discovering that—during the sixty seconds it had taken me to follow their instructions—technical support had left for the day. Fortunately, I had requested the optional e-mail verification of my payment, so I can document that payment was made. The case is paid for. Technical support will find my message waiting when they return to work in the morning. We’ll go then to registration round two.

I console myself that this release process is pre-catastrophed. From now forward I hope for smooth waters. Of course, hope does spring in the face of all evidence.

This weekend will see the return of Stikmanz to ApolloCon, Houston’s premiere science fiction, fantasy and horror conference. This year I share my dealer room table with fellow Blue Moose Press authors Ethan Rose and O. M. Grey. For the first time ever, I’ll also participate in ApolloCon programming, as I sit on two panels around midday on Saturday. Check the program schedule for details.

My big news for this event is that I shall be introducing the new Blue Moose Press edition of Prelude to a Change of Mind, the first book of The Hidden Lands of Nod. Not only does this represent the roll-out of a new edition with a new publisher, but I have extensively revised the story. If I may say so, it is a better book than ever. Besides copies of the debut, I’ll also have copies of the first editions of Entranscing and Sleeper Awakes, not to mention the Dvarsh oracle, Nod’s Way. Come play and say, “Hey!”

It was my privilege to spend a chunk of yesterday afternoon as one of a tiny number of participating auditors of Cavernous, created by sound artist Thomas Fang under the aegis of the New Media Art and Sound Summit sponsored by Church of the Friendly Ghost. Placed inside a small cave on the southwest fringe of Austin, the installation featured thirty minutes of three loosely synchronized channels of ambient noise played in darkness. The evolving soundscape was more beautiful than that description suggests. I cannot say what the actual sources may have been, but at different times the sounds suggested, among other things, the crackle of static over a radio, a needle on an old vinyl record, electric strings, surf, and purely electronic oscillating tones. The composition would have been lovely and evocative in any environment. The emplacement and circumstance of this work elevated its realization.

As one might imagine, caves are not often located where artists may conveniently put them to use, and are not necessarily shaped to accommodate a large audience. The particular cave pressed into service for this event is located about a mile and a half from the trailhead where auditors gathered. The hike to the site happened in full June afternoon, passing through lush woodland, and required wading Barton Creek in the bargain. The chamber in which the sounds were played capped a roughly ten foot climb inside the cave, transitioning from the glare of day to warm, close darkness. Visualizing a metaphorical womb is entirely appropriate. The chamber’s small size limited the audience for each instantiation of the work to five people, so the experience was played out three times. This was art that required commitment from its consumers. It took effort, it took stamina, we got sweaty and dirty, and each “seating” spent the duration of the work sitting in the dark with the kinds of critters one finds in a limestone cave in June in central Texas. In a phrase, it was wonderful. I was impressed with concept and execution, and proud to have been part of it. These are feelings that survived the hike back to the trailhead. The whole of the experience was inspiring.

The new location is stuffed to the gunwales with boxes, bins and piles of critical matter. Little by little it self-organizes as I sweep through looking for whatever singularly important item a given moment requires.  Meanwhile, your humble actant continues to progress on the several fronts demanding immediate attention. Press proof of the newly revised edition of Prelude to a Change of Mind is overdue, but now expected any moment. The ebook version is about one hard afternoon’s labor from being ready to upload. A new promotional postcard moves steadily toward readiness. Preliminary talks with an editor for the future works of The Hidden Lands of Nod cycle have opened, more on which I promise to reveal soon. I am continuing discussion with Spirepix Studio about refurbishing my web presence. All in all, movement is forward, and opportunities to shout, “Huzzah!” approach. The wait will be worth it. Truly.