Free Shadows and Shades (Adventures in the Liaden Universe®) by Sharon Lee, Steve Miller Page B

readers. In 1995 those readers requested—via an internet mailing list—something Liaden to tide them over. Steve's experience in chapbook publishing came to the fore and thus he began SRM Publisher. Two Tales of Korval was SRM's first book and its first print run was expected to be 60—but ended up at 200. Those rapidly sold out, as well, and now Two Tales is the SRM Publishing stable's best seller, with over 4500 copies in print.
      As readers continued to ask for more short works, SRM brought out other chapbooks, including a reissue of pre-Liaden fantasy The Naming of Kinzel. Eventually Absolute Magnitude magazine got into the act with Liaden Universe® short stories. Editor Warren Lapine accepted the novelette "Balance of Trade" for issue 11 of Absolute Magnitude, snapped up "A Choice of Weapons" for issue number 12 and then took the very popular novella "Changeling" for issue 14. These stories were collected into the fifth and sixth Liaden Universe® chapbooks from SRM. In 2002 the Liaden short story Veil of the Dancer appeared in Absolute Magnitude and Sweet Waters appeared in the premier issue of the new UK magazine, 3SF.
      After a stint as Web Libriarian at a dot.com, SRM Publisher grew to be Steve's "day job"—in part because SRM Publisher took over the original Sharon Lee and Steve Miller "Authors of the Liaden Universe" website, expanding it to include an online catalog page as well as a list of congruent authors.
      As SRM Publisher grew, Michael Capobianco, then President of SFWA—Science Fiction Writers of America—asked Sharon to become the organization's first Executive Director, a full time position she held for more than three years. With contracts for Liaden Universe® novels set through 2005, Sharon gave up that job last year, running for and winning the SFWA Vice Presidency, which she assumed July 1st of 2001, and then running for and winning the SFWA Presidency, a post she assumed in July 2002.
      As fulltime writers Sharon and Steve frequently attend science fiction conventions and signings around the US and Canada. In the last few years they've been guests or participants at libraries, conventions and science fictional events in Schenectady, Chicago, San Jose, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Roanoke, Boston, Burlington, Bangor, and Fredericton (New Brunswick), Kansas City, San Jose, Baltimore, with upcoming travels to Minneapolis and Toronto, and a return to Baltimore as Guests of Honor for BaltiCon, an annual regional science fiction convention in May, 2003.