Martha Wells

56. Visitors at Indigo Cloud

The Kek had sent up one of their air-filled bladders with a small bundle of flowers tied to it. Weave, who had set herself to learn the Kek's system of signals, interpreted the combination of blossoms and grasses as meaning that strangers were present in the Kek settlement. "Strangers, not attackers?" Moon asked her.

Sitting on her heels, looking over the deconstructed bouquet, Weave admitted, "I think it's strangers? Maybe?" 

So Moon had found Stone and Ch...

Questions and Other Things

Trying to get the house ready for guests, but here's a few things:

* I have a short story  "Compulsory: A Murderbot Story" in Wired Magazine.  https://www.wired.com/story/future-of-work-compulsory-martha-wells/  

* I've also been doing new book lists/book rec posts again on my blog: 2018-12-19 17:49:08 +0000 UTC View Post

55. Moon Arrives at Opal Night

Sorry again this is so late!  I'll try to get at least one more in before the end of the year to make up for the gap.

Moth bounced off a wall and careened into the antechamber to the queens' hall. Lithe almost dropped the kettle into the hearth as he landed and said, "They're here!" 

"Keep your voice down," Rise snapped. Malachite and Onyx were in the hall behind this room, and it wasn't a conversation that either would take kindly to ha...

Year in Review so Far

This is the post I just did on my public journal, so I thought I'd bring it over here for y'all too.

I haven't been posting much here, partly because I've been traveling a  lot and struggling a bit to keep up with work.  Looking over what I've  done, I did get about the same amount of writing done this year as I  normally do, but not nearly as much of it is finished and ready to go.

Writing

A big chunk of what I wrote this yea...

Question Answers

  Here's a couple of answers to questions from the last post:

one thing I was wondering about is the difference between daughter queens and sister queens

Daughter queens are usually young queens who haven't taken a consort yet, so are seen as having less responsibility/authority, though that varies a lot from court to court. Celadon is technically still a daughter queen in Opal Night but is given a lot of responsibility by Malachite. Once a queen takes a consor...

Update

Hey, everybody. I'm still hoping to get a Raksura snippet done at least for this month, but I've been pushed for time and really stressed recently and it's been hard to get anything done. I feel creatively "locked" if that makes sense. I've also fallen way behind on doing book recs for my other blog, and it's very frustrating for me. I want to thank everyone for your patience.  You guys are so great.

I do have two SF stories coming out, one short one in January and another later in the ye...

Happy Halloween

And apologies for not getting a story ready in time for today.  I had a deadline plus a lot of travel and just couldn't get anything together in time.  I still want to do Halloween-ish Raksura story though, so I'll try to get one together hopefully by next week.  

54. Stone and Malachite at Opal Night

I was going to write something angry, but I ended up writing this instead.

As the night deepened, the agitation in the court of Opal Night gradually subsided into quiet, and the mentors in the consorts' hall retreated to a nearby bower to sink into exhausted sleep. Stone was still wide awake, sitting near the hearth, listening to Moon breathe.  Moon was curled up with his head pressed against Stone's shin, holding onto Stone's ankle, still deeply unconscious....

Bunch of News

This Saturday, September 8, 2018, at 8:30 EST I’m going to be on an  online panel discussion with Kate Elliott and Jim C. Hines for The Pixel  Project. The topic will be: Trashing the Rape Trope: Writing about  Violence Against Women in Fantasy. 

Here’s more info about the project: 2018-09-08 13:17:17 +0000 UTC View Post

53. Malachite Returns to Opal Night, Part 4

First, thanks to everyone for your congrats and lovely posts! I'm still trying to believe it actually happened and I have a Hugo in my house!

***

Feather had never been in a room with that many consorts. They were in a hall near the colony's massive atrium, and she and Bright sat on a platform with an unused tea set, facing the young first consort called Umber and a much older consort called Sunshadow who had been the mate of Onyx' birthqueen, who had died a...

Murderbot Week

Just to let people know, the third novella in The Murderbot Diaries series, Rogue Protocol, came out on Tuesday.  Here's a post about it on my more regular journal: https://marthawells.dreamwidth.org/442647.html 

It's been a really busy month so far and I'll be at WorldCon in San Jose next week (my schedule: 2018-08-09 13:44:00 +0000 UTC View Post

52. Malachite Returns to Opal Night, part 3

Walking into Opal Night was like a dream. At some point Feather had forgotten, or given up, any idea of walking into a real colony again.  Yet here they were.

Since they hadn't been formally welcomed, the Arbora brought them in not through the main entrance, but to one of the colony tree's hidden doorways, concealed in the rocks below the tree's roots. She and Bright were led through a long rough passage that opened suddenly out into a massive atrium space in the heart ...

51. Malachite Returns to Opal Night Part 2

Feather wanted to pace, but the ground under the trees was too rocky. She couldn't see the colony from here, just the occasional party of warriors flying patrol. The view of the entrance was blocked by a stone ridge of rock, mostly covered by grass, vines, and small trees. Huge stone pillars stretched up from it at intervals, and it enclosed a broken mountain-tree. Feather could only see the dead half, standing up straight over the ridge and dominating the landscape, its dead bran...

Nebula Awards Acceptance Speech

I'm trying to link a video, and I'm not sure this will work or not.  It should be a video of my Nebula Award acceptance speech. :crosses fingers:

I'll also be posting another Raksura snippet towards the end of the month.

50. Malachite Returns to Opal Night

Feather was supposed to be asleep, but she was so exhausted she was just drowsing, too tired to really rest. Slumped against the gnarled roots of the tree her group was clustered under, they were all inert lumps, in their vulnerable groundling forms. Then Starlight, who was taking a shift as look-out, shook her awake. She said, "Warriors are back. Malachite wants you."

"Coming." Feather shoved herself upright, almost tripped on Chalk, and did fall over Bright. Starlight caug...

Quickie Update

I have a Raksura snippet almost finished, and should be able to post it tomorrow!

State of Me

Here's a post on the State of Me on my regular blog: https://marthawells.dreamwidth.org/433368.html 

I'll also be working on a Raksura post for here, probably towards the end of the month.

49. The Hidden Colony Part 4

(This is part 4 of a story I've been writing on here very slowly. Part One is Number 23, and the other two parts should probably be in the later 20s or early 30s.)

(I also posted a non-spoilery excerpt from The Murderbot Diaries: Rogue Protocol on my other blog: https://marthawells.dreamwidth.org/431637.html )

The mentors had gathered to show off some of their fin...

Update

Hey, everybody, sorry I haven't updated before this.  I'm trying to get a snippet ready to hopefully post next week.  It's just been another busy month, plus I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis this week and have just started the medication. So I've just had a lot going on.

Anyway, snippet next week! 

Return to Dominaria

Return to Dominaria episode 4 is up: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/return-dominaria-episode-4-2018-04-04 

This one is more of a standalone story, introducing two new characters, so if you're unfamiliar with the world and looking for a place to start, you might check this one out.

Hugo Nominations!!!!

So it looks like I'm not imagining this whole thing and I really do have two Hugo nominations.

!!!!!!!!!!!

The Murderbot Diaries: All Systems Red is a finalist in Best Novella

AND

The Books of the Raksura is a finalist in Best Series

I have been absolutely out of my mind since I found out last Friday.  I got the emails early Friday morning, and ran downstairs to show my husband the Best Novella nomination before I realiz...

48. Ember and Stone at Emerald Twilight

Ember had known it would be strange to visit Emerald Twilight again, but he hadn't thought it would be this strange. 

The people he wanted to see, his warrior clutchmates, some of the younger consorts and daughter queens, and the warriors and Arbora he had been close to, would have to wait until this evening, after all the formal greeting was over with. For now he was supposed to sit in on the mountain-thorn's elegantly decorated and heavily protected consort hall, and ...

Dominaria Chapter 2

Chapter 2 of Return to Dominaria has been posted: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/return-dominaria-episode-2-2018-03-22

 It's a special treat that gets us back on schedule. The rest of the stories will be posted once a week on Wednesdays.

Dominaria

And the first story is live:

https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/return-dominaria-episode-1-2018-03-21 

I've been really excited and nervous about this, and grateful for the opportunity. Thanks so much to Nic Kelman, the rest of the worldbuilding and creative teams, and everybody at Wizards of the Coast!

Someone asked if ...

47. Traveling in the Reaches

Moon landed on the branch nearly blind, the driving wind and rain too heavy to see through. Balm landed beside him, her claws scraping on the wood as she overshot and nearly went off the side. Moon hissed in fear, but she clawed her way back up. Maybe I should have carried Stone, he thought, but there hadn't been any time. He tightened his hold on Chime's dead weight and followed Balm up the branch. 

They climbed long enough for him to think he might have lande...

Signed Copies of Books

It's early, but I wanted to start mentioning this now:  

On Saturday, May 12, at 4:30, I'll be doing a signing for The Murderbot Diaries: Artificial Condition at Murder by the Book in Houston, Texas. http://www.murderbooks.com/event/martha-wells 

If you can't be there, you can order the book (or any of my books that are still available) through the store and ask ...

Update

Here's some things that happened recently!

All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries has won an ALA/YALSA Alex Award: http://ala.unikron.com/2018/ 

The cover for The Murderbot Diaries: Exit Strategy has been posted and it's now up for preorder.  http://www.marthawells.com/murderbot4.htm 

And t...

FYI

I have a friend who could use some help, if anyone has any spare Patreon money:

https://www.patreon.com/fringe_element 

She also has a GoFundMe here:

https://www.gofundme.com/furballs2 

46. Consolation and First in the Reaches

"What did you learn?" Consolation asked. They were camped at the fringe of a forest, on the far edge of the plains. Kethel had caught up with them on their way out of the Reaches, chasing the fleeing progenitor and what was left of the Fell flights still following her. This was the first time Malachite and Pearl had allowed them to stop and rest, and the Raksuran warriors were keeping watch, so Consolation had let the whole flight gather to listen to Kethel.

Kethel had alrea...

Update

Hey, everybody.  Just letting you know I'm still here and planning to hopefully post a Raksura snippet before the end of the month. I've just still been super busy with a project that has a fairly tight deadline.

Is there any Raksura scenes you'd particularly like to see that I haven't done yet? Or alternate POVs of existing scenes?