Mindy Klasky has been talking about "author branding" lately. Is it a bad thing that my brand is "slightly maniacal but easily distracted Disney Halloweentown Princess on a never-ending quest to dominate your puny planet"? I mean, it doesn't fit very easily on a T-shirt...

Anyway, today is a day for awesome news that is awesome. Those of you who follow dianafox will have already seen the first part of this: the Newsflesh trilogy (Feed, Deadline, Blackout) has sold to Egmont in Germany. Egmont is also the German publisher of the Toby Daye books. Because of this (and some questionable black marks on Mira's legal record, but that's beside the point), they'll be publishing the Newsflesh trilogy under the name "Seanan McGuire." I like being confusing!

Meanwhile, rights to the first three Toby books (Rosemary and Rue, A Local Habitation, and An Artificial Night) have sold to Azbooka in Russia. Vixy is very excited, because she actually speaks Russian, and will thus be able to read my books in a whole new language. I'm very excited because dude, Russia.

Soon, my conquest of your world will be complete, and my collection of foreign language editions will require its own shelf.

Yay!

First off, here is the RSVP link for tomorrow's Bitten By Books event (http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=2043). I'll be answering questions and carrying on conversation all the live-long day, and you can get extra points in the exciting site giveaway by confirming that you'll be there!

Now, on to the reviews for today. The Writing Spectacle came by Rosemary and Rue [Amazon]|[Mysterious Galaxy] the funny way: it was an Amazon recommendation, selected to receive free shipping on the order as a whole. Hee! She loved it (yay), and says "Needless to say, I inhaled the book yesterday - to the exclusion of everything else. I loved McGuire's writing style..." Also: "Worth every penny." Plus, she has the best blog disclaimer ever.

Reality Bypass Books gives Toby four out of five paws, and actually took the book to DisneyWorld! Now that's love. The reviewer says "It was a fast read and while there were a few moments where I wanted to slap Toby around, mostly I understood why she was doing what she was doing and I feel like the information pertaining to the mystery was well paced. There are many of the secondary characters who I'm really hoping to see again in future books, as I feel like they have strong stories to tell and Toby is made stronger by having them there for the most part. Connor I want to slap to sleep, but maybe that's just me." (Sadly, no, it's not just you...)

Virginia at Bitten By Books has posted a review, and says "I have been eagerly awaiting the sequel of Rosemary and Rue since I first read it. The October Daye saga is enthralling, and I find myself unable to put the book down once I start it." Also "Ms. McGuire will take that storyline in future books in the series. Seanan McGuire has a compelling writing style that leaves the reader anticipating more. I know I thoroughly enjoyed A Local Habitation and will sit on my hands, impatiently waiting for the next book in the October Daye series." Um, yay much? Total yay.

Finally (for the moment), Alex at Book Banter has reviewed A Local Habitation, and says "A Local Habitation is a great sequel to Rosemary and Rue, ratcheting up the action and fear as Toby once again finds herself fighting for her life, while readers learn more of the complexities of this world that Seanan McGuire had created. The good news is, after finishing A Local Habitation, as readers attempt to catch their breaths, they won’t have to wait long, with An Artificial Night due out in September."

(Footnote: I don't edit review quotes, as a general rule, because that's not nice, but in that last quote, I corrected the spelling of my name and the title of book three. Just to be totally open, here!)

It's a good, good day.