As much as I haven’t been writing on my own novel, I’ve at least been doing a bunch of reading. YA books like Rick Riordan’s The Red Pyramid, Lilli Thal’s Mimus (just to get into the whole jester thing again), and some of Cherie Priest’s mysteries.
And then I found out about Clementine.
Another Clockwork Century novel, this goes into more depth about Captain Croggon from Boneshaker, and involves a spy who is too well-known to be a spy anymore. I find out it was published last year, so I go merrily to Amazon thinking I’ll just pick myself up a copy and– WHY is it $58!?!? How is that possible? I understand completely that it’s not out in paperback yet, but WOW!
Not being able to resist the mystery of it all (which means that I naturally have to solve said mystery), I do a little research. And I do mean little. Because Cherie Priest keeps her blog seriously up to date. (Unlike some of us that I won’t mention…) And she’s on it. Like nine months ago on it. Which means that I am completely out of the loop. But in all fairness, I didn’t even know about Cherie Priest nine months ago.
Anyway, after I’ve Googled the whole business and read the blog entry about it and find out that it was a limited printing and a bunch of them were signed (because she works for the small publishing company that published the book in the first place), I discover that eventually there will be a paperback version “next year.” (So soon, right? Aren’t we close to “next year?”)
What really made me laugh is that the Kindle version is only $5. Which would be fine, but this is one of those books that I want to have a real copy of. And I don’t mind paperback at all. But then there’s the real problem. I do really want to read the book!
Behold, the beauty of the Multnomah County Library. The magical place where you can ask for a book, they put it on the shelf for you with your name on it and everything, and you get to take it home and keep it (sometimes for over a year… Yes, yes, I know. I really should return that copy of Catherine de Medici, Renaissance Queen of France, but I swear I’m going to read it very soon).
So in the matter of a few days, there was joy that there was another Clockwork Century book, then despair over the price, then joy again once the library comes through for me.
I love happy endings. And the blog and writing may suffer still while I sit down and read.