Thursday, June 29, 2006

RIP Jim Baen

On a visit to Baen's Bar this evening, I learned that Jim Baen has passed away, as a result of a terrible stroke he suffered earlier this month.

Mr. Baen, the founder of Baen Books, was a visionary on so many levels. He had quite the eye for talent and he made a little publisher grow into a highly respected science fiction/fantasy press. So many of the Baen books have found their way onto my electronic and physical bookshelves.

Yes...electronic shelves as well. Back in '99 there were only a few electronic publishers in town. I'd been aware of Dreams Unlimited (now defunct) NCP and Hard Shell Word Factory, but I had always hoped for more...

Then, I discovered Baen's "Webscriptions", where electronic versions of their paper books were made for sale, in a grouping of 4 a month for the bargain price of 10.00. 10.00 for *FOUR* books (This was later raised to five books)? I was so excited! I could purchase the books, download them in html, rtf, Palm or Rocket format. I had just purchased my first PDA, a Handspring Visor model, and the fact that they had the Palm format made loading the books onto my machine a one click operation.

The books I bought the first month were Change Of Command, Rules Of Engagement, and Once a Hero by Elizabeth Moon and Minds, Machines and Evolution by James P. Hogan. By the second and third months, books from SF/Fantasy greats like David Weber,S.M. Stirling, Eric Flint, Losi McMaster Bujold, Roberta Gellis, and Mercedes Lackey resided on my PDA and computer.

I had always been a casual science fiction and fantasy fan, but the ease of reading these ebooks helped my interest grow.

I'd often take advantage of the gradual release of Webscription books. Baen released parts of each book a couple of months before the book's release, so someone who had sbscribed to the month's books could have 2/3 or so read before the book released.

Then, the Baen free library became active. Here was a place where the publisher was releasing FREE coopies of books, in the hopes that it would entice the reader to purchase an entire series. And it seems to have worked!

More recently, Baen created electronic ARCs for purchase. Releasing months before the actual book released, these EARCs were for sale for a predetermined time. They're a great way for die-hards to read an unproofed copy of the book.

They also enclosed CD roms in first edition hardcovers of some of their books. These Cd roms contained Baen Ebooks and were, for many, their first introduction to electronic books.

Just this month, Baen's Universe, a short story magazine debuted. This electronic magazine features stories from a "who's who" of the greats of science fiction and fantasy as well as many new authors.

I may have found a love for science fiction and fantasy without Baen and I may have found my way into electronic publishing without discovering Baen and devouring the Webscription books...who can tell? But I do know that Baen Books helped nurture my love of ebooks, of science fiction and fantasy among many other things, and for that, I offer my deepest thanks to Jim Baen.

Author David Drake has a eulogy to Mr. Baen up on his website. It is definitely worth the read. It can be found here.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

"As The Paw Swats" A feline soap opera

When we last chatted on June 5, I mentioned the fact that a neighborhood cat (Baxter) had caught the eye of two of my cats (Moonlight and Nala). Now, dear readers, the situation has gotten even more thorny.

Goose has again caught the eye of our one male (well still SEMI-male) cat Cinders . Goose and Cinders were a serious item before he left her for Nala.

Cinders and Nala have had a long-time flirtation/cuddle relationship and he seems quite jealous that she and Baxter are flirting now.

Baby Moonlight (picture to come) seems overjoyed that she has Baxter all to herself...for now...but Baxter may be cruelly cast aside for a possum who has made our deck his new hang out. Moonlight is just fascinated with him!

Stay tuned for more As The Paw Swats!

Monday, June 26, 2006

Anyone got an ark??

I was planning on relaxing this weekend after a month of serious medical worries were finally resolved positively on Friday.

Instead, I wondered if I should start building an ark. The rain has been falling...and falling. We've gotten almost 10 inches of rain in the last 4 days. 6+ poured down in the last 12 hours or so.

We're okay here, for the moment, but we lost traction on the road home twice yesterday. When we left home for a quick trip to the grocery store, it was raining moderately. Twenty minutes later, the neighborhood creek had overflowed and covered the roadway with about a foot of water. Eeek! The visibility was so terrible that we didn't even see it until we were going through it.

DC is a mess...some metro stops have been closed,Amtrak has stopper service, the Beltway was closed overnight after a mudslide. Yep, a *mudslide*! And we're expecting more torrential rains this evening...actually for the entire week!

I've never been happier to work at home! Unfortunately, Mark is doing a one-day business trip today, so I sure hope he gets to NYC and back without any problems!

Sunday, June 25, 2006

June TBR

Finished the June TBR earlier this week.

Title:Dead As a Doornail

Author:Charlaine Harris

Year published:2005

Why did you get this book? This was recommended to me by two or three people in the past, but when my book club read the first in the series, my interest solidified and I've read all the books in this series in the last month

Do you like the cover? Not particularly. Her covers are bright but they don't grab me.

Did you enjoy the book? Yes, I did. It was my favorite of the series so far! I really like the way she keeps adding to her world, and the shape-shifter/Were storyline grabbed me even more than the vampires have in past books.

Was the author new to you and would you read something by this author again? I'd certainly heard of her, but before this month, I hadn't read any of her books. I read the first five books in this series back to back.

Are you keeping it or passing it on? It has already been passed on.

Catching up again

Life has been...frenetic...these last couple of weeks, both in good and ominous ways. As of Friday, the ominous is behind me, thank God! Its been a very rough road, but against the odds, everything IS okay!

Breaking up all the serious stuff were some fantastic evenings out with both old friends and new. It is amazing what a shared experience will do to bond people.

Otheriwse, the month has been filled with botched haircolor, a few concerts, a lot of work, and some great reading.

It is raining like CRAZY here!! It has been raining on and off (mostly on) since Thursday night. The cats (and the possum that hangs out on our deck) have been fascinated!

I actually finished the TBR challenge a bit early and will post about my book in a few minutes.

Monday, June 05, 2006

Soap opera in my house!

Well, more accurately on my deck! A very friendly neighborhood cat has been coming over to visit and sun himself recently, and he's caught the eye of both Moonlight and Nala.

Picture this scene, which happens multiple times a day.

Baxter, a gorgeous ginger cat with almost clear green eyes comes up and stares in the window. Moonlight must sense or smell him because even if she's in another part of the house asleep, she awakens, leaps up, and gallops to the window, where she scratches the glass madly. He head-butts the window affectionately. Nala investigates and rubs against the window. He head-butts her. Both of my cats glare daggers at each other. Baxter backs off a few paces and suns himself, satisfied that both of my cats have seen and appreciated him. As they begin playfully wrestling, he watches, a little smug cat smile on his face.

It is QUITE amusing, LOL!