So we survived another iteration of the Traveling Circus and Snake-Handling Show (always a risky proposition, what with all those snakes), and now it's time to get back to normal, everyday life. Naturally, for me, this means "now it's time to start packing for Michigan." Because nothing says "restful" like jetting straight off to another convention, right? Right?!

Ahem. A few snapshot statuses, for the interested and alert:

"Wicked Girls" shirts.
Yes! They have arrived! Well...mostly. It turns out the shirt shop was out of certain size/style combinations, so my order was short about fifty shirts, which will be coming along later. How are we finding out which size/style combinations are missing? By trying to pack orders and being unable to find the associated shirts. Naturally. So shipping is being a little bit odd at the moment, and I'm filling as many complete orders as I possibly can. Feel free to email the merchandise address (the Gmail.com account that contacted you for shipping and payment) if you have questions about your specific order, or need to update your address in any way.

Ashes of Honor progress.
I now have approximately 86,000 words written on Ashes of Honor, which means I'm on target to finish my first, deeply flawed draft of the book by the end of October. At which point, the flensing will begin. The flensing has already begun, on a localized level, but the deep flense requires a wider audience. I'm actually pretty happy with the shape of this book. I finally got to bring back a lot of the cast from A Local Habitation, some questions are getting answered, and Toby eats Pop-Tarts. Life is good.

Discount Armageddon approaches.
According to my planner countdown, Discount Armageddon will be released in one hundred and fifty-five days. But, you know. No pressure or anything. I am deeply excited and deeply terrified, and getting ready to rearrange things on my website to make the InCryptid section easier to find and navigate. This means the Field Guide will also be going totally live. You, too, can live in fear of the Apraxis Wasps.

Zombies.
Are love.

Albino banana slug.
ALBINO BANANA SLUG!!!!!! He's like vanilla soft serve with eyes, and I want to love him forever, even though this picture was taken a year ago and so he's probably been eaten by an owl by now. (I know slugs are hermaphrodites. I don't care. I want to name this particular slug "Geoff," and have grand adventures with him. He is my beloved squishy friend.)

HAIL FROGLORD!
This Questionable Content strip speaks to the depths of my soul.

And that's me. What's new with you?

First, the oddity. My friend Jeri Smith-Ready wrote a song to accompany her truly awesome ghosts-and-true love YA novel, Shade. Then she said "I am not a professional lyricist," and let me take a whack at adjusting her lyrical scansion to make it more like a Top 40 alt-rock hit. And then she posted the result, which is basically awesome. Her characters, her world, her words, my helpful hand. I'm like bacon: a little bit goes a long, long way.

Next, the reviews. Tif of Tif Talks Books has posted a review of Feed, and says, "Grant's novel combines a number of realistic elements to the zombie apocalypse, which immediately drew me in. I was pulling for my fellow bloggers, trying to figure out the mystery, but loving the paranormal aspects along the way. The Masons are likeable. The plot was addictive. And, this reader simply could not Feed on the story fast enough!" Hee. Works for me.

Kristi of Books, Yarn, Ink, and Other Pursuits has posted a truly lovely review of One Salt Sea, and says, "I thought that it would be difficult to top Late Eclipses, but I should have known better. This book builds upon everything that Toby has been through the past stories and keeps leading her down the path of change. This is definitely a pivotal book, as relationships with many characters begin, end, and transform. McGuire's ability to make Toby strong and vulnerable shines in One Salt Sea, and her continued relationship with children, her own and others, show the parallels to Toby's own views on her relationships with her mother, her foster families, and the one she is creating around her."

Awesome.

Alisa at The Book Bundle also posted a review of One Salt Sea. It's a great review, but there are no simple pull quotes; you should just give it a read.

Dawn at Absolute Forest of Words has posted a nice Deadline review, and says, "I read Deadline and while not quite the same feel, it's still an amazing book." Warning: the review contains necessary spoilers for Feed.

Finally, for right now, Tia at Tia's Book Musings, has posted a review of Feed. She didn't like the book as much of some of the reviewers, but she has some solid points, and hey, it kept her entertained. Sometimes, that's all a girl can ask for.

More later!

Words: 16,844.
Total words: 88,802.
Reason for stopping: the book just broke three hundred pages; I need sleep.
Music: mostly Great Big Sea and random country.
The cats: Lilly, in a loaf on the bed; Maine Coons, unknown.

I can look at what I just wrote and already start to say "this paragraph is repetitious, this scene is too long, this scene is too short, fix it fix fix it." But because I have dealt with my internal editor for years now, I am putting that little voice aside and moving on, moving toward a point where I can apply that urge to the entire manuscript. And that time is getting closer every day. I'm shaving days off my estimated time of completion with every session like tonight's, which went over 800 words past where it "needed" to go (and even that "need" is currently 2,000 words ahead of my estimate chart, because I got a lot of work done over the weekend).

This is all good. I do my best work, structure-wise, when I'm moving so fast that I'm tripping over my own feet. Also, and this is a big, big also, this level of completion means that I'm getting the space I need to work on some other projects, and that's a good thing. I'm at my sanest when I'm skipping between worlds every night, spending Mondays with Toby, Tuesdays with the Price family, and Wednesdays with someone else altogether. Soon, the world will go back to normal.

And I can't wait.