ECHO BEACH

Direct from the Nightshade Books catalogue, here are the release dates.

Dark Space – October 2010

Chaos Space – April 2011

Mirror Space – August 2011

Transformation Space – December 2011

And here’s the Nightshade Blurb:

The Sentients of Orion is a wide screen, epic space opera. Deep Space chronicles of the intrigues and conflicts surrounding a seemingly omnipotent alien artifact, and a seemingly insignificant backwater star system and its ruling family.

I’ll be signing at the Angus and Robertson Northlakes store this Saturday 10 am – 12 pm. The shop is too small to fit more than one author at a time, so when Kylie and I were there last time we had to sit out in the corridor. This time I’m returning solo so I can sit inside the shop. I’d love to see some familiar Northside faces, or meet some new ones!

I'm neither here nor there about 'things that run in families'. Never thought about it a great deal. But my Grandfather, my sister and my brother are all writers. And now my twin nephews have their first book coming out. Call it genetics or a 'cluster effect', but there's got to be something going on there!

Anyway, their book is rather special. It's called Out of the Frying Pan and is a collection of stories from young people about their experiences as they emerge into adulthood; some poignant and some very, very funny. The book is produced by Finch publishing who have brought us books like Raising Boys etc.

The book has a website where you check out the contributors, editor info and where to buy.

Orbit have given me a release date of May 6th, 2010 for e-books of the Sentients of Orion and Parrish Plessis series. For those of you who’ve been asking about them for a while, go forth and crash the download limit :)

Trans Space is nearly a KO. About ten days left on it and then goodbye to all those characters (sniff) who I’ve spent five years with… Kinda weird thought.

Am also thinking about a website make over. Tell me which websites you love the look of best – and then I’ll tell you mine ….

I love having a number of projects to think about at once. I seems to make my pistons fire more efficiently. I’m on the last bit of my Trans Space rewrite and thinking about my new proposals as I work, and about finishing Tara Sharp book 2. It’s like humming a favourite song.

I’ve also been making a new wordpress site for my nephews who I’m, excited to say, have their first book coming out on March 23rd. It’s a non fiction collection of essays about emerging into adulthood and I’m gonna make a big splash about it soon. The publisher is Finch, who publish the Steve Biddulph books. Very cool indeed and one of the contributers is the talented Ozzie spec writer, Joanne Anderton.

Mira Fedor and her friends stand in the eye of the hurricane. Everything is in flux and nothing is as it appears to be.

Mira’s pregnancy seems to be proceeding at an inhuman pace and the sedate acceptance of this state of affairs by her biozoon, Insigna, is as much an irritation as it is comfort. It seems clear that the extropists’ procedures have had an unforeseen effect – but will her child be more than human? Or less?

Meanwhile, the galaxy-wide conspiracy that has plagued the Orion League for so long is blown wide open. The conspirators stand unmasked, but is there time to prevent their carefully-laid plans coming to fruition? And even if there is, how many of the Orion Worlds will pay the price for their leaders’ blindness?

The pieces are all in play; all that remains is for each side to commit to its end game. But there’s one question nobody has thought to ask: will god play by the rules . . . ?

I was devastated to miss out on my Perth trip, and it’s taken me a couple of days to get over missing out. However, I’ve tried to think positively and my reward was pizza and the last two episodes of Fringe season 1. Thank you Small Mercies!

I’m thoroughly delighted to say that Nightshade Books will publish the Sentients of Orion in the US through 2011. That means unique editions with new covers and some small text changes.

Nightshade publish quality SF and F including authors like Kage Baker, Iain Banks, Greg Egan, Neal Asher, Elizabeth Moon, Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Walter Jon Williams and many others.

To date, the Sentients of Orion series has only been available in the Commonwealth countries. Pizza celebrations tonight!

Among the many exciting things happening at WorldCon in September, will be the launch/release of collections by Karen Waaron, Angela Slatter (both Ticonderoga), Cat Sparks (Orb) and myself (Twelfth Planet Press). Way to go girls!

I’m starting to accumulate appearances for the year, including some new signings for Borders and Angus and Robertson and a free panel at Logan Library in March. Check the Appearances pages on my websites for details

I was excited to get reprints of the first three ‘Sentients’ books in the mail this week. DS was reprinted 3 times last year – something I never expected. It’s odd the things that get writers excited. It’s very much a profession bouyed entirely by small wins. Each sale, each bestseller listing (however brief), each positive review, each translation, each recommendation, each story finished, sustains a career. The negative experiences get lumped and eventually swallowed. If nothing else, you have to acknowledge that we’re a resilient lot.

And speaking of resilient, I walked 1.5 ks yesterday, the furtherest since my op. Once I’m back to 3k-4ks at speed, I’ll know I’m pretty much back to normal.

Now, work time…

Been having an interesting discussion on my Facebook page about the future of Urban Fantasy. Feel free to get over there and add your opinion.

Am also pleased to be back working on my structural rewrite of Trans Space. These characters have been through a lot and I feel like I've been right there with each of them. It will be sad to say goodbye - five years together. Like saying goodbye to friends.

In other news, Supanova has a schmick new website which you must check out. I'm pleased to see some familiar, lovely international guests returning this year. Looking forward to re-acquainting with Lou Ferrigno, Michael Winslow, Vic Mignogna and a bunch of others.

Trent Jamieson (who has a fab new-look blog), Tansy Rayner Roberts, Cory Daniells and Graham Storrs. But there’s a bunch of other new local talent around as well. Check out Rhonda Roberts, Nicole Murphy, Kim Westwood, Kim Falconer – all Aussies.

Also, I will be in Perth for the Perth Writers Festival at the end of February. My list of panels is as follows:

Genre is not a Dirty Word
Crime, thrillers, mystery … It’s all fiction isn’t it? Michael Koryta, Sara Foster and Marianne Delacourt explore what it means to be a genre writer.

Chair: Grant Stone

Dophin Theatre

Sat 27 Feb, 11 – 12pm

From Cyber to … ?
KA Bedford, Marianne Delacourt and Garth Nix consider some of the shifts in science fiction and fantasy writing with Helen Merrick.

Chair: Helen Merrick

Undercroft

Sat 27 Feb, 5 – 6pm

Reluctant Heroes

Putting a new twist on crime fiction the sleuths in Lenny Bartulin and Marianne Delacourt’s latest mysteries are a book shop owner and accident prone tomboy with a talent for seeing auras. From reading books to reading auras these two great authors discuss the creation of eccentric crime characters.

Chair: John Harman

Dolphin Theatre

Sun 28 Feb, 5 -6pm.

Well, I’m back in the seat after surgery, quite weak still but had enough of thinking about it for the moment. Loved all the kind messages on Facebook, so THANK YOU to everyone. Got me through a few bad days.

So let’s think about the year instead. Tara Sharp book 2 popping along, and Trans Space will be out in November. Burn Bright rewrite to do as well. Looking forward to having the energy to work again.

Supanova, the Perth Writers Festival and World Con to attend. Stalking Daylight to complete.

Then a new project to reveal!!

So I’ve got plenty to think about and be grateful for. But mostly I’m grateful for my wonderful family and friends who’ve loved and helped me and made every bit of life worth fighting for.

Tara Moss is running an interesting feature on Writers’ Desks. You can learn far too much from these pictures! www.taramoss.com

There are many fundraisers going on for Haiti crisis at the moment. I’ve chosen ‘Medecins Sans Frontieres’ for my aid donation. I believe they are effective.

A reminder that my e-books will be available from May 2010.

And a heads up on some great new novels coming out in the next few months: Trent Jamieson – Death Most Definite (Orbit), Tansy Rayner Roberts – Power and Majesty (Voyager), Graham Storrs – TimeSplash (Lyrical Press), Cory Daniells – The Bastard Son. (covers on my website journal:
http://www.mariannedepierres.com/blog/index.cfm

 Why won't LJ let me cut and paste anything into it? it's driving me NUTS???? I'm thinking of quitting this platform. Any suggestions?

Well, we’re a couple of crocks. Nick in bed for over a week now with a sinus infection, and me in and out of bed with fatigue related to episodes of fib. Thank all the Good Gods for laptops, and quality, distracting TV.

So hot this morning I didn’t know where to sit and work. Kept roaming the house. Breeze is up now and my brain seems to have cooled enough to get back to my rewrites, aided by the cream cheese icing on the GF carrot cake bought from the local cafe. What would my life be without cake? Too awful to contemplate it really…

Can you believe it? Not even in the SFF section – the general paperback section! The Guardian is the Holy Grail for reviews in the UK, so I am very chuffed. The review is very amusingly written. It doesn’t really make a value judgement about the book other than to point readers to book 4 – so I guess that’s a good thing.

Hot and steamy again. Sprayed youngest son’s room within an inch of its life last night to avoid more ‘bugnophobia’ and ensure a good night’s sleep. Clearly, my stars are misaligned, because both teenage sons went out last night and came home at different times of the wee hours, causing me more periods of wake-and-worry.

A lovely birthday, full of good karma and good food. Now head first into some work. Also making my way through Fringe with the boys. Am reserving my judgement, only seen 3 episodes. Haven’t been able to fully suspend disbelief yet but am enjoying John Noble’s character a lot. Has anyone seen Warehouse 13?

So time for reflection on the year.

Work:

Wrote Transformation Space. Book 4 of the Sentients of Orion is without doubt the hardest thing I’ve ever written. It drained me mentally but was accompanied by a huge sense of achievement. Got to play around with some big themes: evolution and the nature of God.

Began Sharp End (T Sharp 2). Still having great fun.

Finished YA novel Burn Bright and sold it to Random House.

Published Mirror Space and Sharp Shooter. Good feeling about MS and the build on the whole series. SS was a scary venture into a new genre. Looking forward to having a few more of the series under my belt to boost confidence.

Got to collaborate with an artist I greatly admire (news on that still to come).

Got to mentor some writers.

E-books deal sorted with Orbit.

Near miss on a Parrish movie.

Completely overdid the social networking by joining Twitter and Facebook as well as other online commitments.

Personal:

With the older boys doing their own thing, I spent a lot of magical time with my youngest son.

All the health crap was a giant mental challenge aside from everything else. For someone who needs to be active and physical, being reduced to inactivity has been a tough test. So was deciding to have surgery. The good things to have come from it though are, a renewed interest in entertainment; DVD’s and TV and film and music, giving up alcohol, losing weight, and a better appreciation of people who care.

Said Goodbye to Kris Hembury before time.

Met some great people: Lindy Cameron, Carmel Shute and the SIC writers, Tara Moss, Emma Boling, Lisa Flowers, Jake, Gil Birmingham and all the Supanova-ites, Tobsha Learner, Paul Meredith, Jack Heath.

And most importantly… learned that plodding can still get you places when leaping is prohibited.

Happy 2010! Next year I hope to be able to leap again, and to look with a clearer gaze outside my own life.

Fantasy Blogspot has listed Mirror Space in its Top Reads for 2009. Combined with the SF Crowsnest reader listing of Mirror Space at number 20 on its Best 100 Books for 2009, this is the best Xmas present I could have had. Apart from the armchair that is being delivered tomorrow, that is. Our couch is 15 years old and in fairly good condition but it hurts my back. Tomorrow my recliner rocker arrives. I need a name for my new chair and am open to suggestions. It's aquamarine blue, leather and has an extra long back (like me!).