You know the difference between living and surviving is?

I didn’t until this month began. Wow. Just… wow.

I’ve been working so much lately that I haven’t had a chance to really focus all of my energy and attention on Kraken Mare. Okay, let’s be honest here: I haven’t had a chance to focus any energy on it. Waking up at 0230 AM to be at work by 0330 and then working until 200 PM really, really blows. It saps energy, especially if you’re a morning person who considers “early” to be 0700 AM, and finding the energy after work to write is damn near impossible. You just want to sit down and veg.

I got the sequel to Superposition in the mail yesterday. Supersymmetry, by David Walton, looks to be a very interesting read. I love getting Advance Reader Copies from publishers. Makes me feel like I’m a boss or something. Unfortunately, they look weird on my bookshelves, so most of them are stacked atop one another. But anyways… considering how much I enjoyed the first book in the series, I don’t think I’ll be disappointed with this one. I should be able to crack it open next week.

I also picked up books 4,5 and 6 of David Weber’s Safehold series. So far it’s been interesting, but right off the bat in book 4 — A Mighty Fortress  — I was inundated with a David Weberesque “staff meeting” scene. It’s his one flaw. He has to recap and reintroduce characters in a staff meeting type of environment, where political realties and events from previous books are rehashed in a debrief or meeting type of scene. I kid you not. Look at his various series. Prince Roger, Honor Harrington, Safehold… all “bring the reader up to speed” via what I call a “staff meeting.” It’s amusing if you’re looking for it, and it’s part of my David Weber Drinking Game I play when reading his work.

*Let’s just say that A Rising Thunder damn near gave me alcohol poisoning*

*No, I’m not showing the rules yet. I’m still determining points value with various friends*

The Hugo packets are out. In it, you’ll find both Murder World: Kaiju Dawn and Hill 142. I decided that I wanted people to enjoy both works and to be able to use those in their voting (to be honest, I think a lot of people have already decided, one way or the other, but whatever… I like to see people reading). I haven’t looked in my packet yet (see above) but I’m looking forward to it. I already own all of the books from the Best Novel category, so most of my attention will be focused on the shorter works I hadn’t read yet.

Oh, and for those of you who want to good military SF, The Hand of God by Eric Brown and myself is currently on sale for only $0.99. That’s less than a cup of crappy coffee costs these days, and it can be downloaded straight to your mobile, Kindle or computer. Give it a try.