So it's the holidays; I have multiple books due, and I'm blocking out my time for 2013 in regards to conventions, short story commitments, and taking time to breathe; my cats still need to be snuggled occasionally so that they'll keep letting me get out of bed. So I am offering this fervent plea to the universe:

Please, please, before you ask me questions, either here or via my website contact form, go to my website (www.seananmcguire.com) and check the Bibliography and/or FAQ pages.

Need to know when something is being published, if something is being published in the next few months, or whether something has already been published? There's a Bibliography for that (http://seananmcguire.com/other.php). It's updated with works up for four months out.

Have a question about a possible typo or error, or where I'm going to be, or who Jane is in "Wicked Girls"? There are multiple FAQs, specializing in different types of question. Please check to see whether I have already provided an answer before asking.

I love talking to people, I love answering comments, but when I've already answered the same question thirty times, I just get frustrated and tired.

Please.

...with a traveling show.

I am pleased to announce that my story, "Daughter of the Midway, the Mermaid, and the Open, Lonely Sea," will be appearing in the anthology Carniepunk. It will be available in July 2013.

This is a book with a great lineup of authors, including my dearly beloved Rachel Caine, without whom I would probably drink less in San Diego, and Nicole Peeler, who writes for the same publishing house I do (Orbit), yet whom I have managed never to meet. So this should be a lot of fun!

My story is about the Campbell Family Carnival (and if that name seems familiar to you, well, there's probably a reason for that). It's about mermaids, and memories, and knowing where you belong, even if you don't know how you got there. I love it quite a lot. I can't wait for you to have the opportunity to read it.

Whee!

Because I'd like to have my bedroom back someday, I'm going to kick off a second ARC giveaway for Midnight Blue-Light Special. This one will be open until Monday, and is one of the ones that requires actual effort (sorry about that). This time, we're going visual! Make icons, do a photo manip, draw a picture, grab some friends and pose, whatever makes you happy. The rules:

1. The image must relate directly in some way to one of my available works. Meaning that both Velveteen and the Rose Marshall stories are eligible. Stage a hitchhiking ghost! Draw a bunny superhero! Or stick with InCryptid, or Toby, and have a blast!

2. LOLcats are also eligible.

3. Once your submission is prepared, link or post it on this entry. Feel free to explain what's going on.

4. That's all.

The winner will be chosen Monday, December 17th, via random number generator.