Back from New Mexico and updates

Forgive the lack of blogging recently. There are a bunch of topics I’d like to talk about, but I’ve been swamped with travel and writing. Not to mention I’ve got to get a book out the door and another one completely edited before I head out on book tour in October. So here are some quick updates.

The Albuquerque signing went great. It was a good crowd, I got there early and stayed late, talked for a while about secret projects I’m probably not supposed to, and signed a bunch of books. People drove all the way from southern Colorado, Tucson Arizona, and El Paso Texas to be there. I was in Albuquerque for my wife’s family reunion. I tacked on this book signing at short notice, so I’d like to thank the Cottonwoods Corner B&N for throwing it together so quickly.

Okay, update time.

My next novel Son of the Black Sword releases in October. Early reviews on it are great. Epic fantasy is new territory for me, so fingers crossed that it does well. Which reminds me, I need to write a blog post about the importance of preorders or buying during release week for the author’s stat boost. ๐Ÿ™‚

Right now I’m working on the third and final Dead Six novel with Mike Kupari. It should be done by the end of summer. Approximate release date, unknown. Our working title for years has been Project Blue, but that won’t be the final title. I’m really enjoying this one.

Then I will be doing the final edits on the John Ringo’s Monster Hunter International universe novel, Grunge. (Which is awesome by the way). John has written more, and if you follow him on Facebook, he’s put out lots of snippets. So this is my universe, but takes place in the 1980s before the events of the main series starts.

I just got done judging the final stories for the 2nd annual Baen Fantasy Short Story contest. Again, we had a ton of entries, and the ten finalists were all good and very different. “Fantasy” is a really broad category. The judges picked, debated, and we have our winners. They are being contacted this week.

People keep asking me if there are more MHI novels. Yes. In the near future, in addition to the Ringo spin off series, I’ve got another Owen novel in the works, and another collaboration set in the current timeline. After that there are still several more planned.

Oh, and don’t forget, we’ve got the MHI anthology coming out in 2017 too, edited by me and Bryan Thomas Schmidt. It is filled with big name authors, who will be playing in the MHI universe. I believe our final count was 6 or 7 NYT bestsellers in there. I’m really excited for this one.

Because of popular demand, we are going to be doing another run of MHI challenge coins soon. However, I don’t know if we’re going to be doing it on Kickstarter or just taking orders for a month on the blog and then producing them. Kickstarter is great (we sold over $100,000 worth of merch last time) but between them and the processing, they take 10%. That’s great if it is the kind of project where being on Kickstarter attracts more new people, but this is a pretty weirdly specific type of item, so I don’t know if KS really directed that much extra traffic our way.

Either way, more coins, coming soon. To keep the collector value up on the original run, these are all new. Because the PUFF tag is the one that is in the most demand, we have made a “probationary PUFF exemption tag” and the new version is bronze instead of silver.

Okay, miscellaneous other news. No details yet, but there will be a new Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent, project. Details to follow. I’ve got a couple of really cool things I can’t announce yet. NDAs or waiting on contract details.

I think I’m about done red shirting all the people who donated to charity last time, so I’ll be picking another charity and gathering people’s names to have you cameo in books. The last Monster Hunter Nation charity redshirting was a huge success.

Updates given, now back to work!

Sad Puppies Update: Don't forget to vote
I'm signing in Albuquerque this weekend

67 thoughts on “Back from New Mexico and updates”

  1. Sweet, more coins. I’m in for a complete set, and will definitely pre-order early on to get them. Put the pre-order link up on the site and I’ll order today. Heck, I may get 2 sets for display purposes. OK, I may need 3 since I’ve got my daughter hooked…

  2. “Epic fantasy is new territory for me, so fingers crossed that it does well.”

    SotBS will do fine. I believe in you!

    “I need to write a blog post about the importance of preorders or buying during release week for the authorโ€™s stat boost. :)”

    Yes, please. Can’t speak for anyone else, but I’ll take all the publishing industry advice I can get.

  3. Larry,

    Do you know if Baen notified or will be notifying the ten finalists for the Baen Fantasy Short Story Contest? Also, will Baen be posting the names of the ten finalists?

    Thanks!

        1. I wonder if Gen Con in Indianapolis knows about the Orlando con? The last convention that legally should have been called Gen Con in Florida was a “Gen Con South” satellite convention that TSR had in Jacksonville over 30 years ago.

          1. they have gencon in Orlando every year. there is also megacon minicon and spookie empire to round out the big ones there are some smaller ones also.

  4. Don’t suppose you have some distant relations or a sudden urge to surf and shoot on Oahu Hawaii so that we too can get some Larry Love? ; )

    1. Speaking of which: If you liked “Dead Six,” check out Larry’s current Book Club selection on the right sidebar. I ended up buying all four of Peter Nealan’s “American Praetorians” books, which read like a cross between Dead Six and Matt Bracken. Highly recommended.

      (Thanks for the tip, Larry. Even if you’re bad for my bank account and my Citibank card. ๐Ÿ˜› )

  5. http://campaigncoins.com/ – Spotted this link about a month ago, thought about how nifty that was. Might be worth discussing also doing ELOE swag, Hun swag, ELOE Minion member coins…

    …Oooh, hang on, they’re in Australia! Niftyness!!!!

    (Also yes, take my money I want a Puff exemption tag. I’d love to see more stuff in the swag store…)

  6. Thank you, thank you, thank you for coming to Albuquerque! I’m still geeking out. You are the nicest, kindest, bestest International Lord of Hate (TM) EVER! Your Q&A sessions (before and after the signings), your willingness to sign just about anything (except checks ๐Ÿ˜‰ ), generously taking pictures with everyone and anyone that asked, and the general fun and camaraderie you displayed boosted my respect for you even higher than it was before (which was pretty high). I hope your wife’s family has lots more events in this area.

  7. My son picked up a copy of ‘Son of the Black Sword’ at the Baen roadshow when we went to ConGregate. Now the little dirtball won’t let me read it. What happened to all those years of buying him food and guns and sneakers. This younger generation, what can you say.

  8. Hugely excited for, well, ALL of these things. Currently amassing cash to throw in your direction. Seriously impeding my ability to buy slick new hardware (although I did get my hands on a Korth PRS, so not really complaining). But seriously, more challenge coins and more great books will be purchased immediately.

  9. Have you read the short stories nominated for Hugos? Have you even bothered? Do you agree with 100% of the rest of the world that they are trash? As in ACTUAL trash, with not a single redeeming feature?

    Why the sudden silence? I thought you’re all about losing your mind when trash is nominated? We need you to save the Hugos, you, our valiant — and in no way corrupt — again, absolutely NOT corrupt … and also not a liar, and not a thief, and not a hypocritical lying bigot either — caped crusader.

    1. Well that was incredibly stupid.

      Did I read them? Yep. I read all the ones I nominated before I nominated them too.

      Have I bothered? See above. Duh, moron.

      Do I agree with 100% of the rest of the world? On that one I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that you are really fucking bad at math and stats.

      That last line of your first paragraph isn’t even actually a question.

      Why the sudden silence? Well, after writing a couple dozen blog posts roughly the size of a book, I got tired of repeating myself to idiots who had already ignored everything I’d already said, and since a few hundred other people had taken up the fight, I got on with my life. Other than a handful of reminders and updates, that’s been the same for a couple of months now. So if that struck you as “sudden” I can only assume that you are really, really dim.

      I’m not trying to save the Hugos. I think you mistook me for Brad. He is the idealistic one. I was trying to expose the bias, and show the world the inevitable, predictable, slanderous backlash. I’d say that worked out pretty well.

      As for that last bit, you really suck at this. But it does demonstrate why I’ve not bothered to write anything new on this topic. It doesn’t matter what I do or say, because idiots are just going to toss out a bunch of word salad narrative, that I’ve already responded to before. My side is motivated and getting involved as it is. So I can either explain myself for the 100th time to yet another nobody douchebag on the internet, or I can keep writing books and getting paid. Yep… That’s a super hard decision.

      1. And at the end of this round, it’s Larry Correia: 5,969; Douchebag: -2. Keep up the great work, Larry! (Writing, that is. Not arguing with douchebags.)

      2. Larry
        It may not be profitable but it sure is entertaining when you give another of these the back of your hand ๐Ÿ™‚

    2. What a seagull. Everybody here having fun and you fly by and shit on the conversation.
      Whatever the hell stupid delusion you are operating under has no bearing whatsoever on anything going on in this topic. Next time I see you i’m feeding you 2 alka seltzers.

      1. Never heard the seagull metaphor before, but it’s fabulous. Original or borrowed? And do mind if I steal it?

    3.         I guess this is a new usage of the word “trash”, one I have not previously encountered.

    4. Have you seen the sun in months? Have you even bothered to take a shower? Do you agree with 100% of the rest of the world that your is life trash? I mean ACTUAL trash, with not a single redeeming feature?

      Why the sudden outrage? I thought you were all about advancing and nominating SJW approved works? We need you to save the Hugos and you are instead wasting your time here on Larry’s blog, you our valiant — and in no way a pathetic loser — again, absolutely NOT a pathetic loser who rages in their parent’s basement about things that happened 3 months ago…. and also not a bed wetter, and also not a whiny baby, and not someone who writes incomprehensible run-on sentences either —- diapered crusader.

    5. I think we went through a process where we decided to challenge and expose a startling truth: that the most feted authors and bloggers in the old core of SFF, e.g. Nebulas, Hugos, either actively initiate or support racial incitement and incitement to hate men. We identified who those people were and what the ideology involved was and that was pretty much that. Other than endlessly documenting their continuing lying and incitement, we now know who to stay away from. Their institutions and magazines are crumbling from toxicity and self-destruction. They preach hatred and then beg for money on Patreon to fund that hate speech. There is nothing to be gained in continuing to fight obsessive and paranoid fanatics who feel they are engaged in a life and death struggle with more than half the world. They can have their sandbox and we’ll make sure they stay out of ours. I personally believe the Hugos more than deserved to be pranked but that there was little profit in doing so; they are just too far gone in their sense of righteousness or even oblivious to the fact their mad ideology even is an ideology. Many of the things these crusaders say I honestly never expected to hear outside a mental institution. You cannot talk to or reason with people like that. End of story. In passing I’d like to say I feel genuinely sorry for Lois Tilton at Locus who has to read and review the truly absurdly awful work these people produce. Depression and perversion seems to be the new New Wave. Requires Hate is making a stunning comeback and gathering more and more followers, so true to their nature, our crusaders have not only not learned a lesson they are doing their usual doubling down on their failure. Look for this woman in future Nebula and Hugo nominations; you’re more than welcome to her. I hope she becomes president of the SFWA. The difference between her crusade and ideology and the last 3 presidents is non-existent.

  10. Wow, with everything you’ve got going on it’s a wonder you have time for the little things. Like food and sleep.

  11. It was great to see you again, buddy. ๐Ÿ™‚ I gotta get up to Utah more often. I was doing a lot of traveling for a while, and then that all slowed way down. Oh well!

  12. I hate to nag you (I really do, though, as you can tell, I do the apology intro because I’m about to nag you ๐Ÿ™‚ Do you know if Baen is going to publish the finalists of the fantasy contest anywhere or if they’ll tell the finalists this week? Or do they just tell the winners they won and not the finalists? Because my research (internet stalking) has shown they didn’t post the finalists or tell the finalists last year.

    1. Alas, neither one of us made it this year. But congrats and well-wishes to all those who did. ๐Ÿ™‚

  13. It seems to me that most SF/F authors who have created unique worlds (Brooks, Eddings, Jordan, Martin,ect…) seem to be very guarded about them and refuse to allow others to write in that universe. Only exceptions I can think of off the top of my head are the Dragonlance novels not written by Weis/Hickman and Foundation’s Friends after Asimov died. Two questions:

    1. Is the impression I have accurate or are there more shared worlds than I am aware of?
    2. What made you decide to buck this trend and open your world up to others?

    Thanks!

    1. I’m not sure which is more common, but I can think of several more authors who have opened up their world to other creators. Off the top of my head:

      1) Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Darkover (which caused some problems when she was accused of plagiarizing the work of someone who submitted to a Darkover anthology, but that’s a whole other can of worms…)

      2) Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar (probably influence by the fact that some of her earliest works were in the above mentioned Darkover).

      3) Eric Flint’s 1632.

      4) David Weber’s Honorverse.

    2. Dragonlance began as an RPG campaign the authors helped develop and playtest for what was then known as TSR. That’s partially why so many other works came out. It was never their sandbox, even though they helped build the best castles. So to speak.

    3. It’s not really the same thing, but there were a bunch of stuff that came out way after REH set in the conan universe. I’m not sure any of these were up to snuff of his own writings, as I routinely ignore them all.

  14. Larry, it was a true pleasure meeting you in ABQ on Sat. It’s great to know you are as enthusiastic about writing as we all are to read your writing. Hopefully you still have some ARC’s hanging around, but hearing your plans for the future was enough to keep the home fires burning. Finished Hard Magic, onto Spellbound. What do you mean JIM Sullivan? WTF??

  15. I’m curious, do you find it more difficult to redshirt women than men? Just seems like in most types of stories, men are more likely to be cannon fodder.

    1. Check Monster Hunter Alpha. There are several notable female casualties in there from red shirting. ๐Ÿ™‚

  16. Ack! Another update with no mention of any Grimnior Chronicles universe additions. Excuse me while I (and my wife) go somewhere and sulk.

    1. There is going to be another trilogy set in the 1950s. I’ve posted about that a bunch of times. And Tokyo Raider is a preview of that series.

  17. I love the idea of inviting other authors to rumble in your sandlot.
    Reminds me of Nivens kzinti stories. I don’t know if any other writers have done that, but I’m not as prolific a reader as in my younger days.
    I’ve got the first three books in your MH series, but have only read the first two.
    I promised my brother I’d read the rough draft of his second book, so I need to do that before I continue on with the MH.

  18. More coins? Can’t wait to see what you’ve got planned this time.

    Just when I thought it was safe to spend money on other hobbies…

  19. Mr. Correia, are you going to DragonCon? I just got the ‘progress update’ booklet, and saw your name in it.

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