Here's the deal. I'm a science fiction writer whose novel, COUNTING HEADS, is about to come out (Nov. 05) from Tor. I would like to cast my book to the wind and let my publisher deal with its publicity. That's what they do, after all. My job is to be writing the next book, right?

But I couldn't get over the feeling that I need to participate in the promotion of this book. It is my first, and it's a long time coming. I wondered if there wasn't something I could do to give it a helpful shove into the world. Living the sort of hand-to-mouth existence that I do, I also wondered what I could afford to do.

Low and behold, I applied for a project grant to the Rasmuson Foundation, here in Alaska, and they went for it--to the tune of $5000. My project? To publicize my book. What could be cooler?

On top of that, Tor assigned me a terrific young publicist who is helping steer me in the right direction.

I don't know how much good my efforts will do. Don't know if this blog will make any difference or if anyone bothers to read it. I mean, a blog for heaven's sake. But I've been thinking about it a lot lately, and I figured I'd give it a shot. At least it'll force me to document this crazy process of becoming a first-time novelist, something I've been meaning to do forever but never got started.

In that light, I mean to be a minimalist here, and to let first drafts go live. If you are familiar with my fiction, you know that my prose tends to be dense and polished. I want to do the opposite here--quick sketches, first thoughts, no editing (other than a simple read through).

I have a lot of construction here to get this blog up and humming by the time I get to Glasgow. That's probably the launching point of my flogging efforts. Two weeks from now. What I'd like to do is post a new entry three or four times a week from now till the end of my book tour in late November or early December. While I'm actually on the road I hope to post every day. A posting should consist of a fresh (or classic) photo and a paragraph or three of text.

And here, if I can figure out how to do it, is the cover of my book.