Laurie R. King Virtual Book Club discussion

Decided to start an announcements thread for things that are kind of....well, announcement-y. This probably would have been a good thread to have when I posted that link to the giveaway of Pirate King paperbacks last week, for example.

So yeah, here we go. A place for announcements.

And to start the announcements off... Here's a link to the crossword puzzle challenge that's kicking off the lead-up to the Garment of Shadows release (also linked in the Newsletter from LRK that went out last week): http://www.laurierking.com/books/mary...

Solve the puzzle and email in your solution by Friday, August 17th and you've got a chance to win a hardback copy of Garment of Shadows.

Actually, according to the site itself, the winner gets an actual hardback rather than a ARC.

Woops! Thanks for that catch!

I got chatting with a Tantor rep on a thread over in the Audiobooks group and he (or she) asked what sort of free things people might be interested in and I said I like classics and mysteries. So they let me pick out a Sherlock Holmes book to offer as a freebie.

I know several people have read some of the novels and the first collection of stories recently (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes), so I went with the second collection of stories, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. The Moriarty stories are in this collection for those who want more Canon on him.

http://www.tantor.com/BookDetail.asp?...

Hey All! Laurie is doing a Q&A group to promote the upcoming release (September 4th in the US!) of Garment of Shadows. She'll be answering all your questions from September 4th to the 11th.

So head over to the Group Page and join the inquisition!

Cripes, I seriously flubbed the html coding for that member broadcast. Sorry guys! At least the linked text works =P

I didn't see the is anywhere, but apologies if it's been posted before.

I just saw that Radio 4 is currently broadcasting a dramatisation of "The Beekeeper's Apprentice" with James Fox and Monica Dolan. The first 4 episodes are currently available on iPlayer:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/...

but the first episode expires on 27 April 2013.

Enjoy!

I can't seem to find BBC on my local radio so I listened to the first program on my computer. My long ago introduction to The Beekeeper's Apprentice was on rented cassettes. So I always hear Jenny Sterlin's voicing even if I reread on paper. I can't imagine Mary Russell ever sounding as little girlish as on the BBC rendition. Holmes may have sounded as snobbish. :)

Thanks for the note, Beth!

I think Laurie maybe posted about it on her blog, but we hadn't mentioned it here yet!

Interview with Laurie about (a) Garment of Shadows, (b) Russell and Holmes in general, (c) her plans for the next book in the series, and (d) Touchstone and its sequels now available for free at New Books in Historical Fiction, part of the New Books Network: http://newbooksinhistoricalfiction.co....

It was a great pleasure talking with her, so I hope you will all go and listen to the results!

And if you would like to leave comments, one place to do so is at my blog post about the interview: http://blog.cplesley.com/2013/05/moro....

C.P. wrote: "Interview with Laurie about (a) Garment of Shadows, (b) Russell and Holmes in general, (c) her plans for the next book in the series, and (d) Touchstone and its sequels now available for free at Ne..."

How cool, C.P. I look forward to listening to this.

Heads up! Random House is doing a Goodreads Giveaway for ARCs of The Bones of Paris: A Novel of Suspense! The giveaway doesn't open until August 1st so you can't enter yet, but I thought I'd post a link now to get you guys thinking about it =)

Laurie will be sending reminders in her next newsletter and I'll post again when it opens, so don't worry about forgetting and missing it. We won't let that happen ;-)

http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...-

Thanks Erin! Will keep my eye on that.

Heads up! Laurie is doing a giveaway on her blog this week for copies of Touchstone, the prequel to her upcoming release, The Bones of Paris: A Novel of Suspense. Make a comment on the blog to enter to win!

Erin wrote: "Heads up! Laurie is doing a giveaway on her blog this week for copies of Touchstone, the prequel to her upcoming release, The Bones of Paris: A Novel of Suspense. Make a comment on the blog to en..."

Thanks!! I don't own Touchstone yet, and I really should - it's one of my favorites! I suppose if I don't win I'll have to buy one and have her sign it when she's here in Portland this fall. :)

Just a reminder, the giveaway for Bones of Paris is up now. Open until Thursday, August 15th!

http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...

Erin wrote: "Just a reminder, the giveaway for Bones of Paris is up now. Open until Thursday, August 15th!

http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho..."

Totally can't wait to read this!

For anyone who isn't on the LRK newsletter mailing list: Laurie is doing a fun Pinterest contest to promote The Bones of Paris. Start up your own "Bones of Paris" pinterest board and fill it with pictures that remind you of things from the excerpts and promo video, then email in a link to your board. Laurie will pick her favorites after the September 6th deadline.

Grand prize is an ipad mini loaded with all of Laurie's books!

Details are on her site here: http://www.laurierking.com/books/stan...

So...anyone else playing? =D

Saw this on Facebook from LRK; cross-posting for those who may have missed it!

"In case you missed the newsletter this week, I have a few ARCs of The Bones of Paris that I’m giving away. If you email me a note by midnight Pacific time tonight, we’ll do a drawing and send these babies to new homes. That’s [email protected].
(And if you don’t want to miss future drawings, you might sign up for the News, at LaurieRKing.com.)"

Laurie was kind enough to recognize the 7th anniversary month of the Letters of Mary Yahoo group in her blog post this morning.

http://www.laurierking.com/letters-of...

The post has a link to the Letters of Mary home page where you can apply for membership. I hope to see you over there.

--Alice

I saw that. If only they were not on Yahoo, I would join in a second....

C.P. wrote: "I saw that. If only they were not on Yahoo, I would join in a second...."

I'm not in LOM (for the same reason I'm not on Facebook - too great a lure for timewasting) but I belong to a few other Yahoo groups and in fact moderate one, so I have to ask: What's the problem with Yahoo?

I think if you use it often, Yahoo is not a problem. The problem comes if you try to leave. Yahoo prefers to put your account in stasis, but while in stasis, hackers can take it over and use it to spam or phish your friends. After several of my coworkers had that happen, I tried to delete mine, which I had set up solely to join a Yahoo group. Before Yahoo would delete it, it required me to reactivate the account, then request deletion, which they promised to process six months later. Whether they actually did, I can't tell, because the only way to find out would be to try logging in, hence reactivating the account....

So I am in no hurry to join another Yahoo group, even one devoted to Mary Russell—otherwise a guaranteed draw!

C.P. wrote: "I think if you use it often, Yahoo is not a problem. The problem comes if you try to leave. Yahoo prefers to put your account in stasis, but while in stasis, hackers can take it over and use it to ..."

Yikes!

Yeah, Yahoo has terrible email security, from what I've heard. Though, I would think that setting up an account solely for using Yahoo groups would mean you don't have too many people in your contacts list to be spammed (just other Yahoo groups members, anyway).

Erin wrote: "Yeah, Yahoo has terrible email security, from what I've heard. Though, I would think that setting up an account solely for using Yahoo groups would mean you don't have too many people in your cont..."

That is what I did. It works well and is no hassle at all for me. Also, I just can't get enough of Holmes and Russell, so the extra email account is well worth it and the community is a lot of fun!

For anyone who has read (or wants to!) the urban fantasy short story that Laurie mentioned in her latest blog post, I just added it in to the Goodreads system here:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Oh, and poking around Amazon while uploading that short story, I just discovered that Laurie has published her academic theses (which many of us are quite familiar with since the subjects have popped into some of her fiction as well).

Here's the link for those interested: http://www.amazon.com/My-Thesis-Being...

Thanks for posting the link to "My Thesis Being", downloaded it.

Judith wrote: "Thanks for posting the link to "My Thesis Being", downloaded it."

I actually added that one in to Goodreads yesterday too, if you want to add it to your shelves =)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

I have a sad announcement for the LRK Book Club. Some of you may already know that Pat Floyd who was a strong, vibrant voice in this group, passed away September 18th. I received a letter from her sister today along with the program from her memorial service. I know she will be greatly missed by many. Here is the link to her obituary for any who are interested: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/tenn...

Karen wrote: "I have a sad announcement for the LRK Book Club. Some of you may already know that Pat Floyd who was a strong, vibrant voice in this group, passed away September 18th. I received a letter from her ..."

So sorry to hear. Pat will be missed!

Karen wrote: "I have a sad announcement for the LRK Book Club. Some of you may already know that Pat Floyd who was a strong, vibrant voice in this group, passed away September 18th. I received a letter from her ..."

A great person has passed from this life; I never had the pleasure of meeting her in person but she became an important presence in my life. We had many private e-conversations over the years and she served me as a role model who I will miss immensely. Pat was intelligent, compassionate, witty, and strong; she was a rock and she was my friend. Tears are streaming down my face as I type these words for I have lost a companion spirit. The news of her passing is not a surprise to me but it strikes me hard nonetheless. The world is diminished with her gone to eternity, and I send my condolences to her family and friends. Go with God, Eunice Floyd, and requiescat in pacem, my friend.

Ah. My thoughts and prayers are with her family, she was SUCH a vibrant spirit on this board.

I forgot to say that I have Pat's sister's name and address and would be happy to share it with anyone who would like to send condolences to her. Please email or message me as I don't want to put it in a public forum.

John - I feel just the same. I did have the privilege of meeting Pat and her depth of compassion and loving spirit was truly remarkable. The world feels a bit emptier and colder without her.

Karen wrote: "I have a sad announcement for the LRK Book Club. Some of you may already know that Pat Floyd who was a strong, vibrant voice in this group, passed away September 18th. I received a letter from her ..."

I had several e-exchanges with her, and thought she was a wonderfully sensitive and intellectually curious individual - a real pleasure to "talk" to. I will miss her.

As John said, this doesn't come as a surprise, but it makes me really sad anyway. I'll miss your thoughtful comments, Pat =(

Oh I am so sad. I loved Pat's commentaries and will miss her greatly. We were lucky to have her for a while.

I just found out about this via FB and Laurie's blog. I knew Pat was on there in age and not very well, but this is still a sad thing. I wish I had known her better, but am very happy I met her even that once in "real life." heck, life here is pretty durn real. I greatly value all of you, my online friends!

First of all, apologies to those who bought an earlier version of the Thesis project on Kindle. We had it up so we could see if it was working, but didn't realize that 1) they don't notify you when it goes live and 2) when you remove it, the process can take 12 hours. So for those of you quick off the mark, you got a pretty unreadable copy, and I'm sorry. If you want me to refund it, let me know and I'll send you a buck. Otherwise, you can try again and maybe find a few words that make sense on the screen…
Just Kindle so far. It's at:
http://www.amazon.com/My-Thesis-Being...

Laurie wrote: "First of all, apologies to those who bought an earlier version of the Thesis project on Kindle. We had it up so we could see if it was working, but didn't realize that 1) they don't notify you whe..."

I'm pretty sure there is a way to make a new edition automatically download onto people's Kindles if they have the option on, or go to their Kindle Manager to download new version. There should be some information on the KDP.

I am one of the people who needs an updated version. Sorry to be an idiot, Sabrina, but what is the KDP?

Lenore wrote: "I am one of the people who needs an updated version. Sorry to be an idiot, Sabrina, but what is the KDP?"

It is short for Kindle Direct Publishing, which is what Amazon calls their service for authors to upload their book directly. I have to look into it more, but I believe the update is something the author has to nudge Amazon to do initially. Then the readers can go to Manage Kindle, and click on the 'check for book updates' button. I need to look into it more myself.

Oh, yes, it is very easy to notify customers of changes to a book. The author just contacts KDP and lists the details of changes. If it's big enough then they will send all the customers who bought it a notification that there is a new version of the book available for download.

I'll see if we can do this...

Hi everyone,
Just wanted to let you all know that Laurie was interviewed on the Fiction School podcast. (I'm one of the hosts--she was so much fun to interview!) You can check out the episode here:

http://www.fictionschool.com/writing-...

Thank you, Baker!

John.

I've just read that Pat passed away. I don't know how I missed seeing this on FB or Laurie's blog. I will miss her wise and compassionate presence. RIP Pat.

Just to make sure everyone saw this, there's a contest with the prize of all the UK edition Russell hardbacks--the most recent post is here:
http://www.laurierking.com/reader-tal...

I look forward to seeing all the entries!
Laurie

Laurie wrote: "I'll see if we can do this..."

Laurie, are you going to do that Kindle Update of the Thesis book? I was one of the quick-off-the-mark purchasers, and I've been hoping to get it updated so I can read the second (feminine aspects of God) thesis.