The lovely and talented Allison Pang: Unicorn Hunter is welcoming her debut book into the world today! Hooray! Happy bookday, Allison!

A Brush of Darkness [Amazon]|[Mysterious Galaxy] is a fun, flirty, fabulously bizarre addition to the urban fantasy world. Forget vampires, werewolves, and zombies. Bring on the succubi, incubi, and teacup unicorns!

I was actually asked to blurb this book, which means I read it months ago, and explains a bit of my enthusiasm. My blurb:

"Weird, wild, and ultimately wonderful, A Brush of Darkness is a joy from start to finish, with a completely unique mythology that's as fun to figure out as it is to read. I can't wait to see what happens next—and I want my own enchanted iPod!"

Both these statements remain true. I can't wait to see what happens next. And I want my own enchanted iPod.

I'm just saying.

Okay, folks, it's time for the official reminder that the deadline is fast approaching to gain the right to nominate for the 2011 Hugo Awards and John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. This means that if you have an interest in shaping this year's final Hugo and Campbell ballot, you need to fulfill the requirements like, super-soon. And what are those requirements? Simple:

To be entitled to submit a nomination ballot you must join Renovation as a Supporting, Attending, or Young Adult member by January 31, 2011, or have been a Supporting or Attending member of Aussiecon 4, the 2010 Worldcon. Nomination ballots must be received by Saturday, March 26, 2011, 23:59 PDT. Translation: If you didn't go to Aussiecon 4, you need to be a Supporting, Attending, or Young Adult member of Renovation before the end of this month. You have six days left. I'm just saying.

Since I'm basically cribbing from the official announcement anyway, here's the next chunk:

"After the finalists are announced, all Supporting, Attending, and Young Adult members of Renovation (including all members who join prior to the closing date of the final ballot) will be invited to submit ballots to select the Hugo winners. Renovation members will also be eligible to nominate for the 2012 Hugo Awards to be hosted next year by Chicon 7, the 70th Worldcon, in Chicago, Illinois."

See? Two nominating periods for the price of one!

More seriously, every year, I see people complaining about how the Hugos don't represent "their" idea of the best science fiction and fantasy out there. Well, this is your opportunity to put your money where your mouth is, and shape the year to come. You have six days to decide.

And now, the official:

More information about the Hugo Awards, including details about how to submit a nominating ballot, is available from http://www.renovationsf.org/hugo-intro.php.

For additional information, contact hugoawards@renovationsf.org.

For world domination tips, press one now.

Point the first: the winner of our random drawing "picture of your pet with one of my books" contest is...the_liz666! Please contact me via my website contact link within the next twenty-four hours to claim your prize. If you don't, I will choose another winner. Also, can I just say, I am SO VERY GLAD this was an explicitly random number-based contest? If I had to choose from the awesome, awesome entries, my head would have exploded. There was Perry the Platypus! And cats! And videos! And fish! AND A FRIKKIN' TIGER! I have the best fans in the whole world.

Point the second: I recently received some old ARCs from my publisher, found during one of the rare but vital "let's clean all the things" sessions. Is anyone out there doing cool art projects with books right now? I have two copies of A Local Habitation and three of An Artificial Night, and I'd love to see them turned into something awesome. Let me know if you have any ideas about where these books could go. (Donating them to a women's shelter doesn't work very well, because they're ARCs; they don't stand up well to repeat reading. Turning them into art, on the other hand, is both awesome and forever. Everybody wins!)

Point the third: I need to do a few more contests, naturally, before finished copies of Late Eclipses start showing up. Does anybody have any cool suggestions? And no, "Just give it to me" doesn't could, and may get you swatted at.