I got the call today from the shirt shop: my "Wicked Girls" shirts are finally finished, and I can pick them up today. (Well, technically, Ryan and Mia can pick them up on their way down the coast from Portland. Details are for wimps.) Since the Traveling Circus and Snake-Handling Show is at my house this weekend, and I'm in Michigan for Conclave next weekend, the mass mailing will not be commencing for at least ten days.

Which brings us to this post.

I realize that some people bought shirts as birthday presents, as holiday presents, or for other time-sensitive reasons. I'd really like to be able to get shirts out to those people as quickly as possible, despite the horror that is mailing out of order. So here's how this is going to work.

If you have an active need to receive your shirt sooner, rather than later, please reply to this post with the name on your order, and the reason that you need to get your shirt(s) at the front of the line. I can prioritize no more than fifty shirts in this manner, so: if I receive more than fifty requests for priority mailing, nobody gets it. Fifty requests is "I can do this," fifty-one is "oh, hell no." So please consider carefully before responding. At the same time, if you have a really legitimate reason to need early shipping, please let me know.

(PS: "I have an eight year old and she really really wants this before Halloween" is a legitimate reason, and one that has been emailed to me already. So just make sure I know what your circumstances are, and hopefully, you can be accommodated.)

In addition, please let me know, again including the name on your order, if you're going to be at Conclave or OVFF. I will be able to do hand-delivery at both conventions.

Shirts!

Too busy to brain. Here, have some bits and pieces.

Wicked Girls T-shirts.
My mother is on her way to Carmichael, California to pick these up right now. So assuming that there hasn't been some horrifying and unforeseen printing error (which seems unlikely, as we had very clear graphics, and a very clear work order), I will be starting to mail these out this week. I'll post again once I'm absolutely certain that everything is good. I will also announce when and where hand-delivery will be available, for those of you who don't want to wait for the mail, but will be in the same place as me in the weeks to come.

CD statuses.
When CD Baby runs out of Pretty Little Dead Girl, that's it, it's gone. I have twelve copies left; five are going into my vault, and the other seven will be going to the book release party and my October conventions. I will definitely be reprinting Wicked Girls, but it may need to wait until early 2012, since there's a whole process involved in doing something like this. I am also considering reprinting Stars Fall Home, with certain changes/enhancements (new cover, to match better with Wicked Girls, maybe a new track). I'll keep you posted.

Conclave, October 9th to 11th.
I'll be posting about this at more length once I make it through the weekend alive, but next week, I am the Literary Guest at Conclave, in Romulus, Michigan. It's going to be a big party, with me teaming up with Wild Mercy (including Amy McNally) to set the stage on fire, as well as bunches and bunches of exciting panels, fabulous events, and general good times. If you're in the Michigan area, this should definitely be on your radar.

Mailing things.
If you're expecting me to mail you something, and I haven't mailed you something, and you're wondering if the post office may have eaten your something, it didn't. Everything has been insane, and I am way, way behind on my mailing of things. I am sincerely hoping that the shirts will fix this, since it's going to mean taking van-loads of crap to the post office, and that usually inspires more stuff to go into the mail.

Why aren't you watching this?
Man, the new season of Fringe is so good that I want to take it home to meet my parents. If you're not caught up, or if you dropped the show in season one before it got good (which many people did, I know), you should totally give it a go. I could not love this show more if it was dipped in chocolate and rolled in candy corn.

...okay, maybe that's going a little far. Om nom nom.

Candy corn.
In my belly.

The Pirates of Emerson!
If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, you should be aware that the Pirates of Emerson haunted house park is re-opening tomorrow night for its annual Halloween bash. There are six haunted houses included in general admission, and there's a corn maze, and ghost pirates and and and. It's like someone made a sweet, refreshing oasis for my soul, and then kindly dropped it within easy driving distance. Best of all, general admission is only $20. Not suitable for easily scared children, adults, or house pets. Hugely recommended for everybody else.

Anything else?
Be...excellent to one another.

And PARTY ON, DUDES!

I am so crazy excited about my new book, and my new series. I mean, of course, Discount Armageddon, the book that kicks off the InCryptid series. Well. Excited and scared. But things like this help with the fear a little bit. You wanna see something really pretty?

Go ahead. Take a peek.

( Cut-tagged for the protection of your friends' list, which really doesn't need something this huge suddenly showing up without warning. But trust me, you should totally click.Collapse )