Saturday, November 5, 2011

"Clockworks" posted

I considered—on the advice of some friends—creating a Kindle version of "Clockworks," my "Old Man" prequel that came out in Asimov's this year. But you know what? I feel like I already got paid for it, and at this point, I'm just happy to have more people read it. Better here than on some bit-torrent site that scanned and chopped the Asimov's issue. In addition, making a "cover" for the thing seemed like too much of a hassle.

So: Here's "Clockworks," at your right, clickable as a PDF. Yeah, I turned off the widow and orphan control when formatting it; it was simpler than the other options.

Please let me know what you think. I'm curious as to how many people download it. Today I printed out a pretty-much-completed draft of the next story, the prequel "Unearthed." I've still got a fair bit of work to do on it, but I think those of you who enjoyed the other "Old Man" stories will enjoy this next one at least as much.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks for the download of Clockworks. I picked up the Asimov issue that contained "Taking the Old Man Down" and quite enjoyed it. (In fact, it was the only story in the issue I did enjoy).

Somehow I missed the release of Clockworks, so I was pleased to hear about this download. I'm looking forward to reading it.

William Preston said...

Joel,

Thanks for the kind note. I hope you enjoy "Clockworks."

Cheers,

Bill

John Rogers said...

Thanks for making this top-notch story available for free, Bill. I'll point as many friends to it as possible.

You know my position: Stitch on some good cover art and then Kindle away!

Just read your Zoetrope Award winner: "A Crisis for Mr. Lion."

When you think about though, wasn't it poor Felicity who had the real crisis?

;- )

Fantastic material, my friend.

Reads a bit like Bullwinkle-meets-Updike . . . .

William Preston said...

John,

Oh dear, do your sympathies really shift away from my long-suffering protagonist? Of course you know it's the male who suffers more in all things.

As for Bullwinkle-meets-Updike: It required more adultery. And bad puns.

William Preston said...

John,

Oh dear, do your sympathies really shift away from my long-suffering protagonist? Of course you know it's the male who suffers more in all things.

As for Bullwinkle-meets-Updike: It required more adultery. And bad puns.

Luke said...

Gents,

I miss the book club we had over at the Asimov's forum and am trying to start one up at F&SF. It appears our first selection will be Sturgeon's MORE THAN HUMAN. Your presence and intellectual discernment is humbly requested.

Sincerely,
Luke Jackson

William Preston said...

Thanks for the kind invite, Luke. Unfortunately, with the demands of my teaching--and the demands too of the fiction I need to revise--I don't have time to play. :-)

I'll come 'round again at some point. Cheers.