In early 2018, the writing team of Lee and Miller "threw away" the first 70,000 words of a Liaden novel. They weren't bad words; merely, they weren't the right words. The book that rose from the ashes of this failed draft, Accepting the Lance, was published by Baen Books. Some of the 70,000 words of failed draft found their way into that novel, but about 44,000—didn't. They were still perfectly good words; strung together, they presented an interesting story, and an amusing look at what not to do when writing a direct sequel in a long-running-series. Lee and Miller decided to make these words available to their readers. The Wrong Lance, as the failed draft was titled, was originally posted at splinteruniverse.com and at Lee and Miller's Patreon page patreon/leeandmiller. The chapters have now been removed, and compiled into this volume. The Wrong Lance is a non-canon Liaden story. This means that nothing that is reported in its pages actually happened in the Liaden Universe®. For an accurate report of what did happen at Surebleak during the TerraTrade Survey, please consult Accepting the Lance, by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. The Wrong Lance is exactly that, and is presented for your amusement only.
Authors
Sharon Lee has been married to her first husband for more than half her lifetime; she is a friend to cats, a member of the National Carousel Association, and oversees the dubious investment schemes of an improbable number of stuffed animals. Despite having been born in a year of the dragon, Sharon is an introvert. She lives in Maine because she likes it there. In fact, she likes it so much that she has written five novels set in Maine; contemporary fantasy trilogy Carousel Tides, Carousel Sun, Carousel Seas, and mysteries Barnburner and Gunshy. With the aforementioned first husband, Steve Miller, Sharon has written twenty novels of science fiction and fantasy—many of them set in the Liaden Universe® — and numerous short stories. She has occasionally been an advertising copywriter, a reporter, photographer, book reviewer, and secretary. She was for three years Executive Director of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc., and was subsequently elected vice president and then president of that organization.
Steve was the founding curator of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County's Albin O. Kuhn Library's Science Fiction Research Collection and a former Nebula juror. Steve enjoys music, plays tournament chess, and collects cat whiskers. Steve Miller and his wife, Sharon Lee, live in the rolling hills of Central Maine with two insistent muses in the form of cats and a large cast of characters. The husband-and-wife team's collaborative work in science fiction and fantasy include seventeen novels and numerous short stories in their award-winning Liaden Universe®. In addition to their collaborative work, Steve has seen short stories, nonfiction, and reviews published under his name, while Sharon has seen published short stories, newspaper pieces, and two mystery novels.
