Lance Charnes's Blog - Posts Tagged "south"

Today in the Wombat Burrow…South’s version of the United States in 2032 raises a question: how could wages have collapsed so far in twenty years that most working people are part of the “working poor”? It so happens that our economy has been working feverishly on accomplishing this, and a couple modern-day news items show us the current state-of-play.

Read the post at http://www.wombatgroup.com/south/part....

In case you’ve been wondering (a) why the Burrow has been so quiet lately, and (b) what’s happening with South, you’re in luck: the answer is the same for both questions.

I’m on final approach with editing South. It’s made its way through the beta-reader python. I’ve sorted out the often wildly-varying comments, incorporated the edits that seem to work the best, and I’m on my way through the last pre-press readthrough. This is also the point where (as happened with Doha 12) I start to wonder who’s going to want to read this thing. That part, we’ll find out soon.

Want to know how it reads? I’ve put up an excerpt on South's page.

I’ve also been harrying my wizard cover artist, Damon at Damonza.com, with my art direction of his cover concepts. I’m down to two, which I’ve included here. Leave a comment to let me know if you have any preference for either, and, perhaps, why.


Launch still appears possible for the beginning of November. Stay tuned for further developments.

Once again, the real world moves faster than the world of South. Yesterday, California’s Governor Jerry Brown signed a law that allows the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles to start experimenting with electronic license plates. South Carolina and New Jersey have similar bills in progress.

You're probably already thinking up all the ways this can go bad. So did I.

Needless to say, e-plates will now show up in South's version of 2032 America.

Read the full post at
http://www.wombatgroup.com/south/e-pl...

South has a final cover at last, courtesy of wizard cover artist Damonza.

The next step is to get the trade paperback version set up, and to create a fully functional e-book, including in-line definitions for all the unfamiliar terms the characters use.

Release date is still scheduled for between 1-15 November. Stay tuned for further developments.

My near-future thriller South is now available.

You can read it on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and in trade paperback through (so far) Amazon and Barnes & Noble. iTunes and more paperback choices are on their way.

Read an excerpt here on Goodreads. Enjoy.

South is featured on Criminal Element! And it's a great review, too.

South is a compelling futuristic thriller, as convincing a cautionary novel as Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale was in its day (and arguably still is)...I really got the feeling, reading this, that these were real people forced to live in terrible times, and I was only too happy to cheer them on—or cry over their tragedies—as the novel raced to its conclusion.

Check it out here.

Doha 12 has broken out of the Internet and is now available in the real world.

Both Doha 12 and South are available on the Espresso bookmaking machine. These machines are essentially large, high-quality printers that can produce a trade paperback in a few minutes. You go to the store, order your book, and by the time you finish your coffee, your book is ready.

Most of the Espresso outlets are university bookstores, but Doha 12 and South are also listed at places like Powell’s Books in Portland (my favorite bookstore), The Tattered Cover in Denver (one of my favorite bookstores), Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C., and Flintridge Bookstore in La Canada.

Also, Doha 12 has hit the shelves in a number of libraries across the country. The ones I know about:

• Anaheim, CA
• Burbank, CA
• Cypress, CA
• Garden Grove, CA
• Laguna Niguel, CA
• Orange, CA
• Philadelphia, PA
• Placentia, CA
• Washington, D.C.
• Westminster, CA

The library market is tough; many systems will only buy from Baker & Taylor, which tends to buy only from the Big 5 publishers. However, many libraries will buy titles if their patrons request them, so don’t be shy: if you want to check out a paper copy, please let your local librarian know.

News from the Future will be an irregular feature showcasing news stories from the world of my near-future thriller South , in the America of 2032. Most will be inspired by present-day happenings.

Today's item: the Dallas Cowboys all-skybox stadium opens.

Michael Brookes, author of The Cult of Me , Faust 2.0 and three other horror/SF novels, has featured the first two chapters of South on his blog. Pay him a visit and see what else he's up to over there.

Many thanks to Michael!

What’s next after you get Google Glass, drive a hydrogen-powered, self-driving car, wear out your first 3D printer, and turn over part of your garage to drone storage? That’s right: your own personal DNA sequencer.

South Tech Today: get the scoop here - http://www.wombatgroup.com/south/sout...