As I've mentioned before, I qualify for the Campbell Award this year, and I'd really like to win the tiara, because receiving a tiara in Australia, the Land of Poison and Flame, would be basically a defining moment in my Halloweentown Disney Princess existence. (Receiving a tiara is always awesome. Receiving a tiara in Australia proves that I've been asleep for the past three years.) Some of my friends have made Campbell Awareness posts, spreading the love and letting it be known that I'm eligible. Specifically...

catvalente posted to give me her endorsement, and also link to my comic strip about why I want a tiara (because let's face it, it's eye-catching). talkstowolves posted a long, bullet-pointed endorsement (with, again, the comic strip). Both pointed out that urban fantasy is rarely represented on these ballots, so...let's change the world!

Meanwhile, theferrett (who is also eligible for the Campbell this year and next year) posted about reading Rosemary and Rue, and the difficulties of my specific literary style. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

On to the reviews and interviews and whatnot! First up, Larissa, of Larrissa's Life, conducted an interview with, well, me which went up today. Learn about some of my favorite things, and enter to win an autographed copy of A Local Habitation. Fun for the whole family! Larissa also posted a review of Rosemary and Rue. She says "The plot of this book was great, fast paced and riveting. I could not stop reading for a second and was almost blind sighted by who the villain really was." She adds, "I absolutely recommend this book to any UF lover out there." Go, read, enjoy, and enter to win!

janicu has posted a lengthy review of A Local Habitation, and says "I liked this one better than the first book. I love the heroine and the pacing of the story seems just right." More, "I highly recommend this series if you like Ilona Andrews, Patricia Briggs or Ann Aguirre. The author writes complete installments but threads each book with hints as to the ongoing drama of Toby's life,and anticipating what could happen next is delicious. This is actually a series that I hope won't end at three books." You and me both!

Robin at Romance Reviews Today has reviewed A Local Habitation. Robin says "A Local Habitation is the second novel in this series, so some history is alluded to, but this does not affect the reading of this novel. It is a gripping mystery in a very well constructed otherworld. October is a great character, as are the supporting characters. There are some interesting romantic moments both expressed and constrained between Toby and three of the male characters, but business comes first. Quentin is a seemingly normal teenager caught in events out of his depth." Also "A Local Habitation is a wonderful urban fantasy readers will love." Well, they seem to so far...

s00j doesn't do many book reviews, but she decided to review A Local Habitation, because she is lovely. Sooj says "There's no doubt in my mind after reading this second October Daye novel that our heroine is made of sterner stuff (mostly coffee, if we are in fact what we eat) than me, and I do not envy her. Toby's pretty good at her job, but she can't stop people dying. Not even her friends, not even her superiors among the immortal Fae. If you thought she was strong in book one, Rosemary and Rue, you're not gonna believe all the crap she has to go through to make it to the end of A Local Habitation in one piece." She also says "If you couldn't put the first book down, make sure you set an alarm for a dinner break once you open this one. You'll need it. Once the action starts, it just gets weirder (and darker; we're not messing around here), and it doesn't waste any time. The only way in which A Local Habitation will do you wrong is that it will end, and it'll end in a pretty merciless way. But I find that, as with Rosemary and Rue, it's more than worth the ride." Yay!

Don D'Ammassa included A Local Habitation in his recent short reviews, and says "Like the first in the series, this rises above the limitations of its format. It would be a shame if this got lost in the crowd of similarly conceived though far less well executed novels."

And on that sweet, delightful note, I'm gonna end this post. Cheers!

With A Local Habitation [Amazon]|[Mysterious Galaxy] now on shelves, I can breathe a little easier and worry a little less about getting my Advance Reader Copies out into the world. Well...for that book, anyway, since I'm still in the midst of pre-release madness for Feed [Amazon], and there are thus still ARCs worth their weight in kittens kicking around my house. (And right about when those ARCs go away, the ARCs for An Artificial Night should be showing up. I would complain, but it's so damn awesome that it's sort of difficult.) I have been awash in ARCs for months. And, because I am me, I have been thinking a lot about them. Here are some of those thoughts.

1. ARCs have a purpose. ARCs exist for one reason, and for one reason only: To drum up advance publicity for books. They're sent to reviewers. They're sent to people who might be able to provide cover blurbs, either for the book in question or for the sequel. They're sent to authors for distribution to bloggers, people who win contests, and their moms. Note that the purpose of ARCs is not "to become collectibles" or "to be sold to people who just can't wait for the next one." This is why people are somewhat protective of them, and why their numbers decrease with each volume in a series. By book eight, odds are good that people are already as excited as they're going to get.

2. Authors are not being bad people when they refuse to give you an ARC. My friend Anton just put out a new book, Dead Matter. He did not give me an ARC, even though I love the series. Why? Because he had a limited number, and he knew that I'd both buy and talk about the book anyway. To put things, briefly, in totally mercinary terms, he had nothing to gain by spending a very limited resource on someone whose goodwill he already had. When I have infinite cake, it's cake for everybody, but when I only have three slices...

3. Yes, authors get upset when people sell ARCs. As stated up in item one, the point of the ARC is to get early reviews, early buzz, and early attention. It is not, sadly, to pay for cat food. Not for my cats, not for my publisher's cats, and not for anybody else's cats. They represent money spent, not money made. Someone who buys an ARC and doesn't buy the real book is taking money away from the publisher, and hence, money away from the author. More, if the ARCs are sold unreviewed, they didn't even accomplish their purpose before they were cast out into the cold, lost forever. Poor ARCs.

(As a footnote, and this is getting a little personal, but there you go: If I send someone an ARC, and then that ARC appears on eBay without a review having appeared first, that person is so never getting another ARC from me. Casting ARCs into the cold makes me sad.)

4. Once the book is out, concern and compassion for the ARC goes way, way down. Mia makes jewelry from my ARCs. Other people do other interesting things with ARCs. Some of them are awesome. Some of them are confusing. One way or the other, I don't care, because again, once the book is out, the ARC loses most of its mystery. I'd still rather not see them flooding the resale market, but there aren't enough of them to make a huge difference...once the book is out.

5. ARCs are delicate. Part of why I get annoyed when I see people selling ARCs for large amounts of money is that ARCs are fragile. I have one ARC of Rosemary and Rue that got turned into a continuity reference after Alice sort of chewed on it a little, and it's basically dissolving after fewer than four reads. So they make great collectables, and great review copies, but as things to keep? Well, only if you like to do your reading in loose-leaf form...

Thinking is hard. Let's have strawberry ice cream.