Want to learn more about Onward, Drake!?

Want to listen to me yak about the book--and about Dave?

Want to hear other authors, including David Afsharirad, Tony Daniel, Hank Davis, and Eric Flint do the same?

I thought you did, and now you can, courtesy of the Baen Free Radio Hour podcast.  A group of us were guests on the show a little while ago, and our episode premiered on October 30.  You can listen to it or even download it here.

Enjoy!

A radio show about Onward, Drake!

Monday morning, Dave Drake and I joined hosts Sam Montgomery-Blinn and Mur Lafferty on the Carolina Book Beat show on a local radio station, WCOM LPFM, to talk about this tribute anthology, which I edited.  The discussion ran an hour and thirty-eight minutes, and now you can listen to it right here.

We covered a lot of interesting topics, both some directly about the book and some only related to it, the latter group including the first time Dave and I went out to dinner together.  We also messed up and let out a few bad words--and, to my embarrassment, I was responsible for the worst of them.  (Sorry, Sam and Mur.)

If you'd like to learn more about this book, about Dave, or about me, or if you'd like to hear Mur, Dave, or me read from our stories in the collection, or if you just have a little free time, check out the show.  I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy it.

And, of course, once you've listened to the broadcast, be sure to pick up your own copy of the anthology.  I'm completely confident that you'll enjoy at least some of the stories, and quite possibly all of the contributions, in the book.

Onward, Drake! is now available!

If you've preordered your copy, you are now the proud owner of a bright, shiny, new book full of excellent stories.

Click the image to see a larger version.

If you haven't yet picked up a copy, isn't it about time?  Many stories and afterwords await you.

I hope you enjoy it!

Onward, Drake! is nearing publication

and I already have my editor/contributor copies of all three editions of the book.

Click the image to see a larger version.

On the left is the standard hardback, on the right the World Fantasy Con limited edition trade paperback, and in the center the signed, limited-edition, leather-bound hardback.

You know you want this book.  You don't want just one copy, though; oh, no.  You want one of each format for yourself, plus similar sets as gifts for all your friends.  After all, Chanukah and Christmas are not far away, not really, not when it comes to books.

Why am I pushing this book so hard, when I've never hustled as much for a novel of my own?

Two reasons.

First, this anthology is a tribute to Dave, and he and it deserve the widest possible audience.  In addition, I'm confident there are interesting stories in this volume for almost all readers.  

Second, though I've edited several anthologies and liked them all, none has ever earned out its advance.  I hate that fact.  I like making money for Publisher Toni.  I don't like it when I don't earn out.  So, I want this book to earn out big-time, to earn out in such big numbers and for such a long time that contributors are getting royalty checks from it for years to come.  Wouldn't that be nice for all those nifty authors?

Yeah, you know you want this book.

Happy Birthday, Dave!

My friend David Drake turned 70 today.  A small group of friends and family--really, extended family--celebrated the occasion with him at a very good local restaurant.  On Sunday, a much larger group will gather for his traditional birthday pig-picking.  A lot of folks like and care for Dave.

Dave and I met in 1984 and became friends in 1985.  That's 30+ years, half of my life, nearly half of his.  I owe Dave a lot for all his years of friendship.

The SF field also owes Dave, but not for friendship; he'd keep writing regardless of whether anyone liked his work.  No, the field owes him for telling the truth about his experiences in war and the experiences of other vets.  Dave's been accused of writing war porn, but only by those who either haven't read his books or weren't paying attention.  Showing the reader the way it really was and is in battle, as Dave does, is neither pro-war--quite the opposite--nor porn of any sort; it's the most serious way to create cautionary tales.  Dave knows exactly what war costs those on the sharp end, and he quite understandably wants the rest of us to have at least some inkling of the toll war takes on those we send to battle.

Dave's influence on other writers is what made it so easy to quickly fill the Onward, Drake! tribute anthology that I've discussed before and that goes on sale soon.  Check it out, if for no other reason than his two stories, and you will be glad you did.

I'm going to hope for 30 more years of friendship with Dave, 30 more years of hearing his amazing laugh, 30 more years of reading his work, 30 more years of having a friend who really gets the things that trouble us both--as unlikely as those hopes are to materialize.

Happy birthday, my old friend.

On the road again: DragonCon, Atlanta, day 4

Waking up in the single digits is never a good thing for me.  Doing it on a Sunday is doubly bad.  Doing it on a Sunday at a convention--well, suffice to say that little could make me do this.  What made me arise early today was Publisher Toni treating the Baen authors and artists at DragonCon to a brunch at Pitty Pat's Porch, a nearby well-established Southern restaurant.  I went not for the food, though it was good basic brunch fare, but for Toni and the crew.

After brunch and a bit of rest, I joined a number of the same folks at the Baen Traveling Road Show. I talked about Onward, Drake!, the audience was good,

Click an image to see a larger version.

and everyone seemed to have a very good time.

My next event of the day--and my final commitment of the convention--was a reading.  Readings generally draw poorly.  Readings during con dinnertime--they scheduled me for 5:30 today--usually attract even fewer people.  When the reading is by me, I'm lucky if anyone who didn't arrive with me shows up.  Today, I was fortunate enough to have two people attend.  Both listened to the entire story--I read "All That's Left", my piece in Onward, Drake!--and both were gracious and interested.  My thanks to them for coming.

I headed from the reading to a local shopping area that included a movie theater.  After some decent ice cream--better than Jake's but nowhere near as good as Jeni's--at a Kilwin's, I caught The Transporter: Refueled in a Regal cinema with VIP seats.  The movie was exactly what you'd expect--big on action, little on smarts--and though not as good as the original, strong enough that I had a pleasant time watching it.  The seats, though, were fantastic, with huge cupholders, swinging trays, and the ability to recline almost to horizontal.

Afterward, I went on my usual evening walk.  Based purely on the size of the crowds in the Hyatt's lobby

and the Marriott's atrium

I believe Saturday night was the biggest night of the con.

Tomorrow, I will do a little con stuff and some work--but only after I sleep a very great amount indeed.

eARCs of Onward, Drake! are available now!

The eARC, or electronic Advanced Reading Copy, is, to the best of my knowledge, an invention of Jim Baen.  Advance Reading Copies (ARCs) are uncorrected, either unedited or not fully edited, limited-run, cheaply printed versions of books.  Publishers have produced them for ages and sent them to reviewers so that reviews of books could appear at the same times as the books themselves.  When Jim took Baen Books into the ebook business, readers started asking an obvious question:  given that you have the book in electronic form well ahead of official publication, why won't you sell us that form?  Jim did what, in my opinion, any sensible businessperson would do:  he took their money.

Thus was born the eARC.

Baen sells eARCs for $15, which is more than the cost of the final, edited ebook.  So, why would anyone pay more to get an unedited version?

Bragging rights:  you will have read the book months before others.

The chance to see the book as the author delivered it; others will see only the final edited version.

Indulging your completist side:  if you want all the states of a book, you'll definitely want this one.

eARCs clearly aren't for everyone, but they are for some.

Oh, yeah, lest I forgot to answer in advance a question I've heard before:  Of course Baen pays authors royalties on eARCs.  Baen, like any reputable publisher, naturally pays royalties on print and electronic versions of books.

Which finally brings me to this book, which I created, edited, and am quite happy with:  Onward, Drake!

For the low, low price of fifteen bucks, you can go to this page on baenebooks.com and purchase the eARC in every major ebook format--with no DRM, and no restrictions on where or how you read the ebook.  You buy the ebook, you get all the formats.  Period.

Wouldn't you like to be among the first to read Dave's new Hammer's Slammers story?  My story?  All the other great pieces in the book?

Sure you would.

So, buy and read this eARC, order the signed limited leatherbound edition (you gotta have that, just for Dave's signature and its limited nature), and pick up the regular hardbound version--a handsome item all on its own--for loaning to your (trusted) friends.

Onward, Drake! has another cover

Sort of.  It's a gag the Baen staff pulled on Dave, but it's pretty funny, providing you're willing to accept something that is most definitely not politically correct.  (If you're not, don't look.  If you're not and you look, don't blame me; I warned you.)

You can see it and read about it on Dave's site here, or you can just jump right to it here.

About my story in Onward, Drake!

I've been mentioning this upcoming book

a lot lately, and I'll continue to talk about it from time to time until it appears.  A few folks have asked me about my story in it, so I thought I'd break my usual silence on such matters and share two facts with you.

First, as the ToC I showed yesterday gave away, the story's title is, "All That's Left".

Next, here's how it starts:

Crane froze a step short of the doorway. The room screamed indifference and menace. He looked at his husband and shook his head.  

To read more, you'll need to pick up the book.

More reasons you need to pre-order a copy of Onward, Drake!

I've mentioned this October book before, and I'm going to mention it again.

If you're even remotely considering not buying it, check out this table of contents:

Introduction:  It’s About Time - Mark L.  Van Name
The Great Wizard, Cabbage - David Drake 
Incubator - Gene Wolfe 
A Flat Affect - Eric Flint 
SUM - Cecelia Holland 
David Drake - Tom Doherty 
The Crate Warrior, the Doppelganger, and the Idea Woman - Mur Lafferty 
Working with Dave, or, Inmates in Bellevue - S.M.  Stirling 
Hell Hounds - Tony Daniel 
Technical Advantage - John Lambshead 
Saracens - T.C.  McCarthy 
The One that Got Away - Eric S.  Brown 
Appreciating Dave - Toni Weisskopf 
Swimming from Joe - Barry N.  Malzberg 
The Village of Yesteryear - Sarah Van Name 
The Trouble with Telepaths - Hank Davis 
A Cog In Time - Sarah A.  Hoyt 
All That’s Left - Mark L.  Van Name 
The Losing Side - Larry Correia 
Save What You Can - David Drake

We're talking multiple bestselling and award-winning writers, a wide variety of stories and essays, and hours of entertaining and often thought-provoking reading.

Yeah, you need this book.

Another reason you need Onward, Drake!

I've mentioned this book before, but I'll be discussing it again many times between now and its early October release.

If the names on the cover aren't enough to persuade you to buy this nifty tribute to Dave, consider this:  the book contains the first new Hammer's Slammers story in nearly a decade.

Oh, yeah.

The story, "Save What You Can," is an excellent piece that in my opinion ranks among the best of the Hammer's Slammers tales--and that's saying something.

Yup, you need this book.

So do your friends.  Spread the word.

You know you want a special leather-bound

signed limited edition of Onward, Drake!  Of course you do.

I have good news for you:  You can have one.  You won't miss out on the beautiful Donato cover art or the nifty new photo of Dave; both will be inside on special color pages.  You will get Dave's signature; that's a cool bonus all on its own.

A mere thirty-five bucks will snag you this lovely limited edition.

If you want this version of the book, definitely pre-order it.  Supplies are limited (hence the whole "limited edition" bit), and way more than half of the planned copies are already accounted for.

I very much look forward to seeing this book.  Dave deserves this tribute, and I'm happy for the part I was able to play in making it happen.

Onward, Drake!

Have I mentioned this book?

I thought not.

Well, I'll be telling you a lot more about it as we draw within a couple of months of its publication, but for now, know that is coming, and that it will be very nifty indeed.

You need to pre-order one now.