I love comics.

I have loved comics since I was very small, paging through the issues that belonged to older friends of the family (IE, the teenage and pre-teen children of my mother's friends). I was always brutally careful, and fully aware that failure to take care would result in losing my comic privileges. I essentially grew up at Flying Colors, my local comic book store. The owner, Joe, has seen me go from skinny little girl to adult woman in one-week increments, framed by trips to the quarter box and the graphic novel shelves. The idea that comics weren't for girls never occurred to me, and he's part of the reason why. I wish everyone had a local comic guy like Joe Field.

I want to write for comics. That, too, has been true since I was very small. When I first started working with my agent, Diana Fox, she asked me what I wanted out of my career. She was probably expecting "a million dollars" or something else improbable. What she got was "I want to write the X-Men." So yeah, I've been trying to find a way to start writing for comics for a while now.

I found it.

I am proud, thrilled, and terrified to announce that I have signed on with Thrillbent.com to script a new ongoing series titled The Best Thing. We don't have an artist or a release date yet, but I am so, so excited about this concept and this world, and I am going to smash things so hard. The Best Thing is to magical girl titles as Velveteen vs. is to superhero teams, and I am really hoping it lives up to its name.

I'm gonna write a comic book.

It's gonna be the best thing.

Tip jar results.

All things have been totaled (at long last), and the results of the latest tip jar are in, coming to a princely $1,187. I am still awed and amazed by the generosity of my readers. You've allowed me to prioritize finishing three InCryptid stories over the next three months:

"IM"
"Oh Pretty Bird"
"Bury Me In Satin"

These will be going up around the start of June, July, and August, respectively; "IM" focuses on Artie, while "Oh Pretty Bird" and "Bury Me In Satin" are both from the Johnny and Fran era. (That era is sadly coming to a close very soon: there are only three stories remaining to be written. I'm going to miss her. The first of those stories, "Snakes and Ladders," has also been prioritized.)

Upcoming appearances.

The book release party for Sparrow Hill Road will be taking place at Borderlands Books on Saturday, May 10th, starting at 5:00pm. There will be cupcakes! I'm actually planning to do a reading! Truly, it is a time of wonders. If you're unable to attend, remember that Borderlands takes orders both via the Internet and over the phone, and would be happy to hook you up with a signed and personalized book.

(If you're not attending and are planning to have me sign a book for you, please, please contact the store before the event date. I realized recently that some of y'all may not realize that I actually live an hour's drive from San Francisco, which means that—now that I don't have a day job—I can't just nip in to sign a few things before I head home. I don't want you to have to wait for your books because you called after I had already left the city!)

Cats.

They are. So mad.

Seriously, you have not seen anger like the anger of cats who are being left on the regular because their human needs to travel. I've managed to have at least a week at home every month so far this year, but they're pissed off, and I can't blame them. Poor babies. Also, it's summer, and if there's one thing Maine Coons hate, it's the coming of the summer. (Lilly and Lizzy don't mind as much. Ah, the joy of not being longhairs.)

More to come soon, and happy May!

...moaning white sheets and werewolves a'howling, scaring themselves with their sounds.

This is the shape of my 2014, with travel dates and everything. Beautiful travel dates. Hope to see you in the months to come! I was going to hold off on this until after Tuesday, but then there were some fun changes (remember, these are as much for me as they are for you).

Publications

Sparrow Hill Road, May 6.
"Knit a Sweater Out of Sky," May 13 (Dead But Not Forgotten, audio).
"Stingers and Strangers," May 13 (Dead Man's Hand).
"IM," June 2 (website).
"Each to Each," June 3 (Women Destroy Science Fiction).
"Lady Antheia's Guide to Horticultural Warfare," July 1 (Clockwork Universe).
"Oh Pretty Bird," July 1 (website).
"Bury Me In Satin," August 5 (website).
The Winter Long, September 2.
"Snakes and Ladders," October 14 (website).
"The Fixed Stars," November 4 (Shattered Shields).
Symbiont, November 25.

"The Happiest Place...," February 2015 (Wastelands 2).
Pocket Apocalypse, March 3, 2015.

"No Sooner Met," unknown.
"Driving Jenny Home," unknown.
"Rolling in the Deep," unknown.
"In Skeleton Leaves," unknown.
"Opening Band," unknown.
"There is No Room For Sorrow in the Kingdom of the Cold," unknown.

Conventions/Appearances/Travel

Sparrow Hill Road release party, May 10, Borderlands Books, San Francisco CA.
Phoenix Comic-Con, June 5-8, Phoenix AZ.
4th Street Fantasy, June 20-22, Minneapolis MN.
San Diego International Comic-Con, July 23-27, San Diego CA.
Loncon 3 (Worldcon 2014), August 14-17, London England.
Disneyland Paris, August 18-21, Paris France.
Shamrokon (Eurocon 2014), August 22-24, Dublin Ireland.
Filk Continental, October 3-5, Hamburg Germany.
Windycon, November 14-16, Chicago IL.

Eastercon: Dysprosium, April 3-5 2015, London England.
Westercon 68, July 2-5 2015, San Diego CA.

No fixed deadline/being written/unsold:

The Best Thing
"The Star of New Mexico"
"White as a Raven's Wing"
"Turn the Year Around"
"Decay"
"Fiber"
"Carry Me Home"
"Pixie Season"
"These Antique Fables"
"All the Pretty Little Horses"
Echo
Chaos Choreography
Chimera

Again, to clarify some recent confusion: some things, especially novel-length things, may appear more than once, on both the "publication date" and "being written" lists. This is because the "being written" list is an aggregate, which also includes "no fixed deadline" (IE, being written on spec or for the website) and "unsold" (IE, being written because I can). So new books will appear there for a long time before they vanish, since books take a long time to write, but may also have pub dates listed higher up.

Look at that list. It's so shiny!