Fiction Reading: An Appetite for Love

If you’re a Redmond resident, there’s an open mike at the Teen Center this Saturday. I’m hoping some of the students from the workshop I did there will show up to read pieces, so I’m going, and it should be a lively time.

Things to Look At

• Children’s drawings rendered realistically. Some of these are awesome, some just a little disturbing.
• I love night sky photos. Here’s some beautiful ones, plus a video talking about taking your own.
• This four minute video shows the creation of an absolutely lovely piece of art.

Writing Links

• Chuck Wendig provides 25 reasons your reader will keep reading. My favorite is “Characters About Whom We Give Not One Shit, But Many” because it’s very true for me. One of my favorite (literary, not spec-fic) books is E.H. Young’s sadly out of print Miss Mole because by the end we love the main character so much and want a happy life for her so very, very much.
• I’m very excited by the news of the Thurber House reopening its writer in residency program, because I’ve always wanted to apply for that. I adore Thurber. ADORE.
• Need a motivational tool? Here’s one that gives you kittens.

Just Because

• How cute is this? Baby dinosaurs!

Pimpage

• I had a byline in the November 14th Publishers Weekly, with a Q&A with YA author J.H. Trumble. Unfortunately, you must be a subscriber to see the piece. Still – that’s a credit on my publication list that makes me squee a bit.
• Got a new Kindle but don’t know what to read on it? Can five stars on Amazon be all that wrong? Try my collection, Eyes Like Sky and Coal and Moonlight.
• If you’re interested in taking my online workshop, details can be found here.

I’m currently working on: a travel piece for Northwest Travel, an essay for Clarkesworld, an article on SEO for the SFWA Bulletin, the last rewrite of the current novel, being better about blogging, and preparation for the online workshop.

I’m counting down the days till YOU SEXY THING comes out. It’s not my first published novel, but it’s my first one with a major publisher, Tor Macmillan, and it’s a book that I have enjoyed writing SO much! I just turned in book 2, have started book 3, and have notes for more along the way.

“Farscape meets the Great British Bake-off” is how they’ve been billing the book. If you’ve missed the hoopla so far, it’s the story of a band of former mercenaries who’ve opened a restaurant on a space station and are doing well, so well a critic may be about to bestow a coveted Nikkelin Orb on the restaurant. But then a mysterious package arrives, things start exploding, and they have to steal a ship to escape. But that ship’s intelligent, and it’s not so sure it wants to be stolen.

Some of the reviews so far:

• “A romp. If you’re the kind of person who likes Mass Effect, or enjoyed Valerie Valdes’s Chilling Effect and Prime Deceptions, or fell head-over-heels for Tim Pratt’s Axiom trilogy… then this book is definitely for you. This is a fast, zippy novel that hides some surprisingly substantial emotional heavy lifting under its hood…. Cozy-with-a-soupçon-of-suspense hoot-and-a-half.” “•Locus
• “Rambo (Tabat Quartet) launches a delightful, action-filled space jaunt, packed with engaging alien species, a bioship that learns emotions, and witty references.” – Library Journal
• “Fun, fantastic, and delicious”•I loved it!””•Ann Leckie, author of Ancillary Justice
• “Fun and action-packed…. This action-packed space opera is loads of fun.” “•BuzzFeed
• “If you like Mass Effect, or enjoyed Valerie Valdes’ Chilling Effect and Prime Deceptions, or Tim Pratt’s Axiom trilogy, Cat Rambo’s space opera romp You Sexy Thing was made for you. Captain Niko Larsen and some of her surviving company got out of the military of the Holy Hive Mind the only way they were allowed: by becoming artists. Their artistic calling is their restaurant, but it’s only one step along Niko’s grand plan that’s been thirty years in the making “” a grand plan that’s either interrupted or sped up when the station the restaurant is on blows up and the restaurant crew, plus an extra special guest, find themselves on a biological ship en route to pirate space. Fast, pulpy, explosive, and full of feeling, You Sexy Thing is an utter delight. I thoroughly recommend it.” -Liz Bourke

Please preorder if that sounds interesting! Here’s some links for doing so.

University Bookstore
Powell’s
Barnes and Noble
Amazon
Audible

Or request it from your local library! Most library systems have a webform for requesting books that you want to see them acquire. Here’s the information you might need for that:
ISBN-10 “ : “Ž 125026930X
ISBN-13 “ : “Ž 978-1250269300

I have some bookplates if you’d like to get a dedication and signature for your copy. Mail me a shot of the receipt, your mailing address, and how you’d like the dedication made out.