Burnout Availability

I am aware that Burnout is currently showing up as "out of stock" at the major online print bookstores. Please be patient; it is not out of print. There has been a database error (I'm not sure where, but suspect with the distributors) that is causing it to show up this way. We are actively troubleshooting the problem. Meanwhile, copies may still be purchased directly from the publisher, at Twilight Times Books. To my knowledge, e-book availability has not been affected.

LibertyCon in Chattanooga

Just got back yesterday from a weekend in Chattanooga, speaking at LibertyCon.

LC is a smaller con, but run every bit as well as one of the bigger cons, and at least as much fun. This is partly because "Uncle Timmy" Bolgeo and clan, he of the "Hump Day" newsletter, are in charge of the con. They are bright as new pennies and possessed of a sense of humor that my husband is one of the few I know can match. They're also incredibly flexible and have loyal attendees and loyal regular guest panelists. So when 3 of their important panelists had to cancel at the last minute (one quite literally), it didn't faze them. They jumped right in and rearranged topics and panelist combos (and several of us volunteered to fill in the gaps) and I don't think fans knew the difference.

Some of my more memorable panels included: a discussion on "So you want to be an astronaut?" which garnered a good many questions, as you might expect. "Small and Electronic Publishing," with Sara Harvey, whom I met several cons ago, lol. We were able to adequately explain to many would-be authors how the publishing business works, what distinguishes the print process from the electronic process, and what delineates a large and a small publisher.

Later on, Sara and I were re-teamed for "The Harvey and Osborn Hour." Sara and I get along well although we're two very different people, and we both have similar senses of humor, along with the adventures to go with it. (This often proves useful as a writer, as we have experiences we can draw from in our work!) Topics ranged from how my now-husband almost didn't survive to marry me, having nearly expired at my own hand ("Miss Stephanie, in the Green Room, with the lead pipe!" as Sara put it!) to Sara's intense dislike of geese, especially Andalusian geese. (Think four feet tall, with big bumped bills that bite hard, smart, easily irritated, and very determined.)

THEN they teamed Sara and me with NASA scientist (and former grad school pal) Les Johnson for "Sex In Space." Now that sounds like a recipe for ribald hilarity, and it had its moments, because we all have wacky senses of humor. (Les blushes really well too. And of course we made him sit between us.) But in all seriousness, we had a very good scientific discussion. After all, for long duration space flights (to other planets) or even generation starships, we really need to understand how the genders interact and how pregnancy might progress. It does a generation ship no good to arrive at its destination filled with humans who can no longer survive in a gravitational environment.

So we discussed not only some of the early animal experiments on embryonic development in microgravity (of which I was familiar from my days as a payload flight controller for Shuttle), but also the psychological studies from Mir, which Les had dug up. Sara contributed some cool notions (as well as humor) from her background as a romance and horror/romance writer. A very...interesting...time was had by all.

Saturday night Les moderated a group session (meaning some of us were experts, but the whole room participated) called "Mad Scientists." We got down and dirty with some controversial topics like whether or not Project Constellation (back to the moon, on to Mars) should be cut from NASA's budget, science and education, etc. It started at 11pm and ran until 2am! Then us "experts" wound up breaking into moderators of our own smaller groups. I finally got into bed about 3am.

Burnout book sales went well, about which I am pleased. I also wound up acquiring a literary agent who is helping me hawk a new ms I have. I got some interest on it from a publisher at the con as well. I was interviewed for a podcast which will air in a few weeks (see my website for information as it becomes available). I met Ben Bova (WAY COOL!) and got to talk to him some. And I finally found a hardcover compendium of the entire (long out of print) Lensman series by E.E. "Doc" Smith, that I could afford!

I came home absolutely exhausted but deliriously happy.

Listen to My Latest Podcast!

We were considerably delayed in the live broadcast by severe thunderstorms in the host's location, but we went on with the interview when E.W. got his power back, and BTR recorded a fun interview, which can be heard in it's entirety here:

Interview With The Mortal Vampire, Part II - Stephanie Osborn RETURNS!

We had a great time, chatting not only about my latest news (The Y Factor going best-seller, syndicated reviews appearing in the New York Times, upcoming appearances), but also the slate of books I have under way. We also discussed book writing styles and techniques, how to overcome writer's block, and whether or not you want to be around me during a tornado warning!

Stop by and listen!

Steph's 411

So, what's been happening with me lately? I've been staying REALLY busy.

1) I've been working with Travis "Doc" Taylor on a new book called Extraction Point! Hopefully it will become the first of a series, if all goes well. Got my half of the rough draft finished and sent to him about a week ago.

2) I've been working with Darrell Bain on the 3rd book in the Cresperian series. We have the outline and character names pretty much down. He's started on the first part of it and will send it to me soon. We'll go back and forth on it.

3) I'm editing on a manuscript of my own, trying to tighten it up and get it ready to submit to a publisher. :) I love science fiction mysteries.

4) I'm getting ready to start on the sequel to Burnout.

5) I did a podcast this past Wednesday, which can be heard at Red River Writers Live.

6) The Florence AL Public Library invited me to participate in their celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. So yesterday I gave a talk about my career in the space program and did a book signing, which went quite well.

7) My publisher and I also managed to convince Barnes-Noble to make a couple of edits to their store book database. This will, hopefully, result in my books being carried on bookshelves very very soon.

Upcoming events:

1) I'll be appearing on The Mortal Vampire podcast at 7pmCDT on Tuesday, July 7th, for Part II of my interview! You can listen in, and even participate, here.

2) I'll be at LibertyCon science fiction convention in Chattanooga TN the weekend of 10-12 July! That looks like being GREAT fun.

3) On Saturday, 18 July at 7pmCDT the North Alabama Science Fiction Association will host me at the Renasant Bank off Airport Road in Huntsville AL for a talk and booksigning.

4) At noonCDT on Wednesday, July 29, I'll be participating in another Red River Writers Live podcast (link TBD; keep an eye on my website for details) introducing the authors of Red River Writers Live.

5) At the kind invitation of H. David Blalock, I've joined a booksigning tour group called Imagicopter. I won't be at the inaugural booksigning due to a conflict, but plan to attend as many of the tour stops as possible!

6) The Huntsville Public Library - Main Branch has invited me for a talk and booksigning on Saturday, the 22nd of August at 2pmCDT.

And that's only through the summer, guys! I'm staying pretty busy and I'm happier than the proverbial clam about it (although why clams should be happier than other critters, I don't know...)! Keep an eye open; I may be coming through your area sometime soon!

Hypericon/DeepSouthCon Update

I guess the first thing to say is that it was not quite as large a con as I'd expected, especially for a DSC. It was maybe a third to half the size of MidSouthCon or Chattacon, and that being a DSC. Nashville fandom has evidently shrunk since I was last involved in it. Having said that, they are enthusiastic in their fandom, and they put on a good con.

I stayed offsite this year, and I think next year if they want me back, I may get a room in the hotel. There was a TON of road construction occurring all around the area on the interstates and that was just a pain in the nether regions. Especially at 12:30am on a Saturday morning when the interstate suddenly turns into a one-lane parking lot and you've had one drink 3 hours before, followed by several bottles of water, and didn't make a restroom break before hitting the road. NOT fun. My half-hour commute to the folks' house turned into an hour and fifteen minutes. O_o

I made some good connections:

I met H. David Blalock, who is organizing a southeastern writers' booksigning tour, and wants me involved. He even bought me a drink, which was very nice of him. I spent some time explaining the world of e-books to him, and he was excited to discover that as a writer much of the process of creating an e-book is transparent to him.

I am not sure what city the bid was from because they went by their organization's acronym name (note, guys, let us KNOW where you're FROM!), but I got the attention of a WorldCon bid group, and they had me sign their banner right alongside people like David Weber, Timothy Zahn, and Mike Resnick. I think they were interested in having me if they win the bid.

Dallas got the DSC 2011 bid, and they seemed interested in a rocket scientist/writer as a guest, too.

I talked to people in charge of programming for DragonCon in Atlanta, and with the NASFiC 2010 Raleigh bid. Both of them talked to me straight about getting in there and getting attention. I was told I'm a "triple threat": 1) a writer, 2) a rocket scientist, 3) a woman. And intelligent, literate, and well-spoken, to boot. So I am a potential guest at both cons.

I talked with several media arts types about the possibility of creating what appears to be the next big thing in book promos: book trailers. Just like movie trailers, but for books. Gonna see what hubby Darrell can do first, then I have a friend who's dying to get into the business and is a pretty good short filmmaker.

My old friend (and husband Darrell's older friend) Bob Embler, who runs the famous (or infamous, as the case may be! ;-) OutsideCon invited me to come this year (September) and be their Author GoH. It involves camping of one sort or another though, and while I have camped (in the Oregon Cascade Range near Bend - no bugs) Darrell isn't into it at all. So I'm not sure yet what's gonna happen there.

I had fans tracking me down at the con. There was also a writeup in one of the Nashville papers, in which the writer indicated that my panels were among the ones he was most looking forward to. My panels (2, plus a booksigning, but no book reading though I'd requested one) were well attended, with the one I helmed alone filling the room. One guy actually swiped one of my book posters at the end of the con and requested I sign it, which I did. It was only going to get thrown away anyway.

In general it was a successful con, I'd say. I'm happy with it, anyway. :-)