As is the tradition around here, I present the set list for my latest concert appearance (Wayward Coffeehouse, December 2009). The set list includes annotation and lyric links, because otherwise, it's not so helpful.

The Wayward list, with arrangement notes, was as follows:

1. "Counting Crows." (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony Fabris, guitar; Betsy Tinney, cello.)
2. "Mama Said." (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Betsy, cello.)
3. "Take Advantage (of Me)." (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Betsy, cello.)
4. "Carnival Glass." (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Betsy, cello.)
5. "Paper Moon." (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Betsy, cello.)
6. "Dorothy." (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Betsy, cello.)
7. "Evil Laugh." (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Betsy, cello.)
8. "Still Catch the Tide." (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Betsy, cello.) Talis Kimberley cover.

There was a break here. During the break, I read from chapter four of A Local Habitation. It seemed to go over well. Yay!

9. "In the Foam." (Seanan, vocals.)
10. "Fox Hunt." (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Betsy, cello.)
11. "Oh, Michelle." (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Betsy, cello.)
12. "Dear Gina." (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Betsy, cello.)
13. "Tanglewood Tree." (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Betsy, cello.) Dave Carter cover.
14. "Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves." (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Betsy, cello.)

Encore: "Archetype Cafe." (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Betsy, cello.) Talis Kimberley cover.

These are some of my favorite people to perform with, and we were performing in a venue that's warm and welcoming in every possible way. The only thing that could have made this show any better would have been adding an Amy (the experience of hearing her play with Betsy was one that I won't get over with any time soon), and maybe a wading pool filled with autumn mix and lizards. I'm a fan of both autumn mix and lizards.

As always: "Take Advantage of Me," "Paper Moon," "Dorothy," and "Evil Laugh" are on Stars Fall Home (studio). "Oh, Michelle" and "Dear Gina" are on Red Roses and Dead Things. A distressing number of the other songs in the set will be on Wicked Girls (good luck guessing which ones).

Closing with "Wicked Girls" followed by "Archetype Cafe" was just...it was amazing. Vixy and I finished "Wicked Girls" hand-in-hand, and I basically wanted to either conquer the world or go home and hug for approximately a thousand years. It was a beautiful night, and it was made all the more amazing by the people who were there.

Sometimes I feel so blessed.

First off, huge, huge thanks to everyone who came to the show at the Wayward Coffeehouse. We'd been somewhat concerned that we wouldn't be able to drum up an audience, it being Boxing Day and all, so imagine our delight when we wound up playing to an essentially full house! (If you couldn't attended, snowcoma has posted a lovely and detailed review.) A good time was had by all.

If you're curious about what kinds of things we performed, all three of my albums are currently available through CD Baby, as is Thirteen, the first album by Vixy and Tony. Or you could take a gander at The First Rule of Flying: Songs From The Black II. This is the latest collection of music from The Signal, an awesome Firefly-themed podcast, and includes songs by all of the people previously named. Plus it's free, which makes it an awesome taster.

In literary news, Lurv ala Mode has named Rosemary and Rue as an Honorable Mention for Best Read of the Year. This is a review site run by a reviewer I have come to very much respect, and I'm delighted to be on the list. Maybe next year, I can make it to one of the named slots!

I'll post another review roundup soon. For now, I leave you with the knowledge that 2009 is almost over, and the world hasn't ended yet. Oh, and I made a metric fuck-ton of rosemary shortbread last night. I rule.

Happy winter!

If you're in the Seattle area, come to the Wayward Coffeehouse tonight at eight for HEAPING PILES OF AWESOME.

Dude, I dressed Mel like Captain Tightpants for you people. That counts for something, right? And our set list is made of win. And what Betsy does on "Mama Said" will break your heart.

See you there.

There has once again been a massive influx of people, due to the fact that Alice is adorable—welcome, massive influx of people; it's nice to meet you, although I realize half of you will leave again as you realize that this isn't the all-kitten-doing-weird-stuff, all-the-time channel, and that's fine—I have decided to once again do the abbreviated "here are ten things you might want to know" version of the periodic welcome post. So here it is. Ta-da! (As a footnote, Alice is aware of your worship, and was puffy all over my face at 2AM last night.)

***

1. My name is Seanan McGuire; I'm an author, musician, poet, cartoonist, and amiable nutcase, presently living in Northern California, planning to relocate to Washington at some point in the next few years. I am a very chatty person, whether you're talking literally "we're in the same place" chattiness, or more abstract "someone has left Seanan alone with a keyboard, run for the hills" chattiness. This does not, paradoxically, make me terribly good about keeping up with email or answering comments in anything that resembles a reasonable fashion. We all have our flaws. Luckily for my agent's sanity, I am very good about making my deadlines.

2. My name is pronounced "SHAWN-in", although a great many people elect to pronounce it "SHAWN-anne" instead. Either is fine with me. I went to an event where we all got name tags once, and the person making the name tags was a "SHAWN-anne" person, who proceeded to label me as "Shawn Anne McGuire". I choose to believe that Shawn Anne is my alter-ego from a universe where, instead of becoming an author, I chose to become a country superstar. She wears a great many rhinestones, because they're sparkly, and she can get away with it. Just don't call me "See-an-an" and we'll be fine.

3. I write: urban fantasy, horror, young adult, supernatural romance, and straight chick-lit romance. I occasionally threaten to write medical thrillers, but everyone knows that's just so I'd have an excuse to take more epidemiology courses. I love me a good plague. I believe that editing is a full-contact sport, complete with penalty boxes, illegal checking, and team pennants. My editing team is the Fighting Pumpkins. We're going all the way to the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS this year, bay-bee!

4. I find it useful to keep a record of the status of my various projects, both because it warms the little Type-A cockles of my heart, and because it helps people who need to know what's going on know, well, what's going on. So you'll see word counts and editing updates go rolling by if you stick around, as well as more generalized complaining about the behavior of fictional people. I am told this is entertaining. I am also told that this is possibly a sign of madness. I don't know.

5. I currently publish both as myself, and as my own evil twin, Mira Grant. My first book under my own name, Rosemary and Rue [Amazon]|[Mysterious Galaxy], came out from DAW in September 2009. The sequel, A Local Habitation [Amazon]|[Mysterious Galaxy], is coming out in March 2010, also from DAW. Mira's first book, Feed [Amazon]|[Mysterious Galaxy], will be out from Orbit in May 2010. I don't get very much sleep.

6. I am a musician! More specifically, I'm a filk musician. If you know filk, this statement makes total sense. If you don't know filk, think "the folk music of the science fiction and fantasy community"—or you can check out the music FAQ on my website. I have three CDs available: Pretty Little Dead Girl, Stars Fall Home, and Red Roses and Dead Things. I'm currently recording a fourth CD, Wicked Girls, which will be out sometime in 2010. I write mostly original material, and don't spend much time in ParodyLand. It just doesn't work out for me.

7. Things I find absolutely enthralling: giant squid. Plush dinosaurs. Siamese and Maine Coon cats. Zombies. The plague. Pandemic flu. Horror movies of all quality levels. Horror television. Science Fictional Channel Original Movies. Shopping for used books. Halloween. Marvel comics. Candy corn. Carnivorous plants. Pumpkin cake. Stephen King. The Black Death. Pandemic disease of all types. Learning how to say horrifying things in American Sign Language. Diet Dr Pepper.

8. Things I find absolutely horrifying: slugs. Big spiders dropping down from the ceiling and landing on me because ew. Bell peppers. Rice. Movies that consist largely of car chases and do not contain a satisfying amount of carnage. Animal cruelty. People who go hiking on mountain trails in Northern California and freak out over a little rattlesnake. Most sitcoms. A large percentage of modern advertising. Diet Chocolate Cherry Dr Pepper.

9. I am owned by two cats: a classic bluepoint Siamese named Lillian Kane Moskowitz Munster McGuire, and a blue classic tabby and white Maine Coon named Alice Price-Healy Little Liddel Abernathy McGuire. Yes, I call them that, usually when they've been naughty. The rest of the time, they're respectively "Lilly" or "Lil," and either "Alice" or "Ally." I'm planning to get a Sphynx, eventually, when the time comes to expand to having a third cat.

10. I frequently claim to be either a Disney Halloweentown princess or Marilyn Munster. These claims are more accurate than most people realize. Although I wasn't animated in Pasadena.

***

Welcome!

1. We're over a month out from the publication of Rosemary and Rue [Amazon]|[Mysterious Galaxy], and the book still seems to be going over generally well. It's selling briskly, it's received a lot of positive press, and people look excited about book two. This makes me happy, as I, like all authors, am highly neurotic. (Remember, urban fantasy novels set in San Francisco make the perfect gift for any occasion! Buy two, they're small!)

2. The cover for A Local Habitation [Amazon]|[Mysterious Galaxy] is now up on Amazon, displaying my awesome new front cover blurb from the lovely Ms. Charlaine Harris herself. Yes! She likes my book! I am basically on top of the world right now.

3. Since it gets asked with fair regularity these days: no, "Wicked Girls Saving Themselves" has not been recorded on any of my three currently available albums. It's the title song on Wicked Girls, which is going to be released in late 2010. I don't have a full finalized track list for the album yet, but it's definitely going to include "The Ghost of Lilly Kane," "Writing Again" (by Brian Gunderson of We're About 9), "The True Story Here," and "Counting Crows," among others. The theme for this album is, essentially, the strength to rise above your story.

4. All three of my currently extant albums remain available through CDBaby.com, but I can't promise how long that's going to be the case. My stock assessments are always a bit questionable, given my tendency to discover CDs under the bed, but I'm going to say that there are between 150 and 180 copies of Stars Fall Home remaining, and I'm not currently intending to reprint the album. Pretty Little Dead Girl is in slightly better shape, being the live album and hence a slower seller, but I still wouldn't malinger forever on placing an order, or that order may not be place-able.

5. The cats are reacting to my current illness by behaving like this is Kitty Christmas, and basically running the Blue Cat 500 all around the house. They know I can't do anything to stop them. Remind me again that I actually like my cats? Because I am so not getting that right now.

6. Paging silvertwi. I do not yet have a mailing address for you. You have forty-eight hours to supply me with same, or your prize will go to somebody else.

And now we must rinse.

As has become the tradition around here, I present the set list for my latest concert (Montreal WorldCon, 2009). Complete with annotation and lyric links. Because I'm kind like that.

The WorldCon set list, with arrangement notes, was as follows:

1. "Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves." (Seanan, vocals; Dave Weingart, guitar.)
2. "Carnival Glass." (Seanan, vocals; Dave, guitar.)
3. "Missing Part." (Seanan, vocals; Dave, guitar.)
4. "Mama Said." (Seanan, vocals; Dave, guitar.)
5. "This Is My Town." (Seanan, vocals; Dave, guitar.)
6. "The Black Death." (Seanan, epidemiology; Dave, guitar.)
7. "Last Call." (Seanan, vocals; Dave, guitar.)
12. "My Story Is Not Done." (Seanan, vocals; Dave, guitar.)

This was a very stripped-back set: just me and a guitarist that I don't perform with very often. Dave was a superstar, and really busted his ass (and his fingertips) dealing with my crazy-train idea of "reasonable" musical arrangements. "Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves" was chorded by Kristoph Klover. "Carnival Glass" was chorded by Debbie Gates. "Missing Part," "Mama Said," "This Is My Town," "Last Call," and "My Story Is Not Done" were chorded by Paul Kwinn. "The Black Death" was chorded by Paul Kwinn, and adjusted by Jeff Bohnhoff.

As always: "This Is My Town" is on Stars Fall Home (studio) and Pretty Little Dead Girl (live). "The Black Death" is on Red Roses and Dead Things.

"Wicked Girls" was originally going to be the closing number, but I was asked to shift it forward by some folks who had a panel conflict but really wanted to hear it done live. I try to be agreeable, when I can. The modified bridge for WorldCon was...

"Mandy's a pirate, and Vixy's run off with the fairies,
While Sheila keeps careful account of the treasure she buries...
Michelle poses riddles and Marsha plays tricks,
While Judith calls music from wires and sticks,
And the rules that we live by are simple and clear:
Be wicked and lovely, and don't live in fear."

All told, it was a good show, and I was only slightly intimidated by the fact that what seemed like half of DAW was in the audience.

If you like things which are free, you should consider dropping by this urban fantasy book giveaway and tossing your name into the ring. There are two prize packages, one of which contains an autographed ARC of Rosemary and Rue. (Since I couldn't personalize the book without knowing who it was going to go to, I drew a pumpkin instead. All hail the orange Sharpie, which makes such things possible.) The contest is open through August 13th, at which point the winners will be chosen.

(When you sign up, you have to indicate which prize package you'd like to win. I promise that I won't make sad faces at you if you choose Prize Pack A. The number of people already choosing Prize Pack B continues to delight me.)

If you like things which are not free, I just want to remind you that today is the last day to order Red Roses and Dead Things through my website. I'll be setting it up with CDBaby tomorrow, and the order form will be coming down. There will be a six to ten day delay before the album becomes available again. I doubt this is breaking anybody's heart, but I believe that a vague disclaimer is nobody's friend.

Whee!

So here's the thing.

I have three albums currently available. You can read about all three of them on my website's albums page. I'm very fond of all three. They each have their strengths and weaknesses, they each represent something different in my musical growth, and they each make me happy. Right now, only Red Roses and Dead Things is available through my website; the other two are available through CDBaby.com.

As of August 1st, Red Roses and Dead Things will be transitioning to CDBaby.com, and will no longer be available through my website.

There are a lot of reasons for this, and most of them have to do with time. I just don't have the time to monitor the order database, and people keep trying to order the other two albums, which requires even more time to unsnarl. So everything's being out-sourced, as part of an effort to save my sanity. Why am I announcing this? Well, because I'd rather not flood CDBaby right off the bat, thus forcing me to do still more mailing. So:

If you have been waiting to order Red Roses and Dead Things, now would be a good time. I commit to shipping all paid, pending orders during the first week of August, after which I will be contacting any unpaid pending orders, directing them to CDBaby, and deleting them from the system. The ordering system will then go down until we have to take pre-orders again.

So there's the thing. If you want to order Red Roses and Dead Things, now is a good time; it will be unavailable for the first week of August, while the transition is going on. Thank you for understanding.

So the "Wicked Girls" party game—in which I let people suggest fictional girls, and wrote them apocryphal verses to the tune of "Wicked Girls"—is finally finished. I didn't write every request, but wow did I write a lot of them! You can view all the verses by clicking the link to the post; the girls involved, with source material, were...

( Click here, 'cause it's longer than I thought it was.Collapse )

...that's a lot more than I thought it was. Um. Wow. Anyway, done now; thanks to everyone who played, whether I met your request or not.

...and they'll call us such names, and we really won't care:

talkstowolves has made "Wicked Girls" icons with some of my favorite wicked girls. She's even written a lovely treatise on the source of the phrase "wicked girls saving ourselves," from Mia's original pendant, to her request for a song (during one of my crazy party game phases), to the song itself. It's a glorious evolution, and it makes me ecstatically happy to watch it.

What's especially glorious is that she really gets the song, and the fact that all the girls with actual verses—not the girls in the bridge, of whom she is one, making her sweet word-wine for all of us; the verse girls, the ones who failed—are there as cautionary tales. Dorothy, Alice, Wendy, Jane...they didn't save themselves. To be a girl in a verse is, by definition, to have failed at the goal we're setting ourselves. We remember their names because we have to honor our fallen, but they're the patron saint priestesses of all the lost girls who got found, and they didn't break the chains that bound them.

The rest of us, the Deborahs and the Mias, and the Mandys and the Kaias, and all the other bridge-girls who've taken their turns (and will in the future), we're the ones who still have a chance to be determined. We're going to get out.

Just watch.

I was just on YouTube (I admit, watching videos from the current season of So You Think You Can Dance, because I am a weak blonde in some ways), and did the fairly random "let's see if any of my key words pops up on this site." And, well, some of my words did.

So here is the video recording of "Wicked Girls," as performed at DucKon 2009 (this particular performance will also be on the official DVD being released by the convention, although probably not this specific video). Featuring SJ Tucker on the djembe and backing vocals infinitely more amazing than I realized until I watched the playback; Vixy on lead vocals; me on lead vocals (I'm the blonde one in the middle); Tony Fabris on guitar; and Amy McNally on the invisible violin, as she is totally blocked by Tony. There's some clipping, especially on the louder parts of the song, but overall, I'm stunned by how well it went.

See:



This specific stream's version of "Still Catch the Tide" (by Talis Kimberley) is also gorgeous.

1. I have mailed the first three "delivery by post office" chapbooks. They're going to, respectively, California, New Hampshire, and...Australia. Sometimes the distance my work has managed to travel genuinely astonishes me. (I'm still giggling over how fast the chapbooks went away once I posted them. Zoom!)

2. I have mailed a restock of Stars Fall Home off to the nice people at CDBaby. (My first two CDs—Pretty Little Dead Girl and Stars Fall Home—are now distributed entirely by People Who Are Not Me. This is for the sake of my sanity, as well as for the sake of the folks at my local post office. You can still order Red Roses and Dead Things through my website, but that isn't going to last for long.)

3. As part of my "do all your damn mailing already" campaign, I'm going to be mailing any pending CD orders on Monday, when I mail the prizes for the LOLtest (voting is still open through tomorrow, so please vote). I currently have three CDs in "confirmed and good to ship" status. If you've ordered and have never received a "payment confirmed" email, please ping me so we can try to fix it. If you haven't ordered, now is basically the perfect time to do it and be semi-guaranteed quick delivery of your CD. (I say "semi" because I'm the Rain King, not the Mail Queen.)

4. In other news, Piglet mailed me candy corn. Piglet is now my new best friend.

It's good to be the Princess of Halloween.

As has become the tradition around here, I present the set list for my latest concert. Complete with annotation and lyric links. Because I'm kind like that.

The DucKon set list, with arrangement notes, was as follows:

1. "I Am." (Seanan, lead vocals; Tony Fabris, guitar.)
2. "Counting Crows." (Seanan, lead vocals; Michelle 'Vixy' Dockrey, backing vocals; Tony, guitar; Amy McNally, electric fiddle.)
3. "Fox Hunt." (Seanan, lead vocals; Vixy, backing vocals; Tony, guitar; Amy, acoustic fiddle.)
4. "Mama Said." (Seanan, lead vocals; Vixy, backing vocals; Tony, guitar; Amy, acoustic fiddle.)
5. "Take Advantage (of Me)." (Seanan, lead vocals; Vixy, backing vocals; Tony, guitar.)
6. "In This Sea." (Seanan, Vixy, lead vocals; Tony, guitar; Amy, fiddle.)
7. "Oh, Michelle." (Seanan, lead vocals; Vixy, backing vocals; Tony, guitar; Amy, fiddle; Brooke Lunderville, BANJO!)
8. "What A Woman's For." (Seanan, Vixy, Amy, lead vocals; Tony, guitar.)
9. "The Black Death." (Seanan, epidemiology; Vixy, Amy, lab assistants; Tony, guitar.)
10. "Dear Gina." (Seanan, lead vocals; Vixy, backing vocals; Tony, guitar.)
11. "Carnival Glass." (Seanan, lead vocals; Vixy, backing vocals; Tony, guitar; Amy, fiddle.)
12. "Evil Laugh." (Seanan, lead vocals; Vixy, Amy, primordial ooohs; Tony, guitar; Brooke, banjo.)
13. "Tanglewood Tree." (Seanan, Vixy, lead vocals; Tony, guitar; Amy, fiddle.)
14. "Sycamore Tree." (Seanan, Vixy, Tony, lead vocals; Tony, guitar.)
15. "Wicked Girls." (Seanan, Vixy, lead vocals; SJ Tucker, backing vocals; Tony, guitar; Amy, acoustic fiddle; SJ Tucker, djembe.)

Fortunately, we'd prepared an encore. So I also give you...

16. "Still Catch the Tide." (Seanan, lead vocals; Vixy, backing vocals; Tony, guitar; Amy, acoustic fiddle; SJ Tucker, djembe.)

Almost all arrangements were done in that bizarre, organic, 'how does this sound?' sort of way, but it's important to note that the chords for "I Am," "Counting Crows," "Fox Hunt," "Mama Said," "Take Advantage," "Oh, Michelle," "The Black Death" and "Dear Gina" were originally worked out by Paul Kwinn, before being tinkered with by Tony Fabris and Jeff Bohnhoff (depending on the song). "In This Sea" and "Wicked Girls" were chorded by Kristoph Klover. "Evil Laugh" was chorded by Tony Fabris.

"Tanglewood Tree" was written by Dave Carter. "Still Catch the Tide" was written by Talis Kimberley.

As always: "I Am" is on Pretty Little Dead Girl. "Take Advantage (of Me)," "In This Sea," "Evil Laugh," and "Still Catch the Tide" are on Stars Fall Home. "Sycamore Tree" is on Stars Fall Home (studio) and Pretty Little Dead Girl (live). "Oh, Michelle," "What A Woman's For," "The Black Death," and "Dear Gina" are on Red Roses and Dead Things.

"Tanglewood Tree" appears on Tanglewood Tree, by Dave and Tracy, and on Abesailing for Beginners, by Playing Rapunzel.

It was a good show.

So you may be wondering what my schedule is this weekend at DucKon. Or you may not be. Whatever. I'm going to tell you anyway.

FRIDAY.

7:00 PM: Opening Ceremonies. Rumor is now indicating that I may a) wear a corset, b) sing, and c) do the Time Warp. Rumor is seriously leading an interesting life.
8:00 PM: Whose Line Is It Anyway? The classic improv game goes convention crazy! With Tom Smith, Gretchen Roper, and others. Music provided by Toybox.
10:00 PM: Sing A Song of Dead Things. Themed filk with corpses in. I will be your lovely, loony moderator. I will also be half-asleep. Bring a poking stick.

SATURDAY.

10:00 AM: Plagues Past, Present, and Future. LET'S GET READY TO RABIES!
12:00 PM: The Business of Writing. With Diana Fox and Shannon Butcher.
3:00 PM: Vixy & Tony Concert.
5:00 PM: Seanan McGuire, Undead in Concert! Featuring Vixy and Tony, Amy McNally, and probably others. It's going to be awesome.
8:00 PM: Urban Fantasy. With Jim Butcher and Jody Lyn Nye. Because I'm always at my most-coherent post-concert. I should have time to change, at least.

SUNDAY.

11:00 AM: Reading. Reading what? Who knows! Please, please, let me know if I have something you're just dying to hear, or it's likely to be another random assortment of my short fiction.
12:00 PM: The Award-Winners Concert. If you want to hear some real, live Pegasus Award winners and nominees, this is where you should be.
1:00 PM: X-Men Comics. For those of you who aren't aware, Jean Grey is still dead, and I totally approve.
3:00 PM: Closing Ceremonies.

I will have copies of all three of my albums at the convention, available for sale and signing, as well as the complete remaining run of my second limited-edition poetry chapbook. Which will not be re-issued, because dude, Beckett had to hand-sew the entire run of books, and I know when not to press my luck.

See you there!

Hey, folks, are you planning to attend DucKon, aka, "Seanan and company rock it down in Illinois"? Were you wishing for a little slice of awesome to have and to hold forever and evermore? Well, it seems that I may be able to help you out with that.

Please visit the DucKon Filk Fund Page for details about the concert recordings which are currently available through the DucKon store. These are currently Schrodinger's recordings, as we're asking you to order something that doesn't exist yet. In an attempt to make this not so surreal, I'm offering a little sweetness: if you place your order before June 8th, and if you comment here to confirm that you have done so, on the 8th, I will select one commenter to choose a song from a special list*. This song will be guaranteed a place in the concert, barring rain of frogs or other amphibious mayhem.

(*By "special list" I mean "something we already know." I live in California. None of my partners in crime live in California. I enjoy Tony not beating me to death with an amplifier.)

Comments received after June 8th will be ignored. Comments going "oh, I know Bob ordered one" will be ignored. Demands that we play "Freebird" will be ignored.

Game on!

First, thank you to everyone who chimed in. I heard some versions of the legend that I'd never encountered before—including one from my own backyard!—and since the hitchhiking ghost is one of my favorite urban legends, this was awesome. Several people cited songs about hitchhiking ghosts, which I thought was even cooler, since I have what is essentially a song cycle about a hitchhiking ghost named Rose.

For the curious, and those who've always, let me tell you about Rose Marshall:

• "Pretty Little Dead Girl." This is the title song of my first album, Pretty Little Dead Girl, and appears on Stars Fall Home. I consider this the "urban legend" version of Rose's story, as well as the "filthy libel" version.


• "Graveyard Rose." The other side of Rose's legend. This is the one they tell in truck stops all across the country, at least inside my head.


• "Waxen Wings." She was a girl with hopes and dreams and prayers of her own, once upon a time. Things didn't turn out well. Things so often don't, for girls like Rose.


• "When I Drive." I've never been sure exactly how Rose died, except that she did it on the road, and she did it in a way that left her stranded. I think she was trying to get away.


• "Counting Crows." When you're eternally sixteen, and eternally trying to hitchhike your way to home, you sometimes get a little lost along the way.


• "Hanging Tree." Rose falls in love over and over, and they always grow up, and leave her. She's like a dead Peter Pan that way.


• "On Dead Man's Hill." But before they leave her, they love her, at least for a little while; at least until they outgrow her. Someday, maybe one of them will get her home.

I do love my pretty little dead girl. Which brings us to today's special bonus! You may remember that I've occasionally posted really awesome artwork done by the remarkable Amy Mebberson. Amy isn't currently taking private commissions, since she's busy doing art for the official Pixar comic books, but I am equipped with many, many secret hidden goodies. And today, I bring you...

( Let me tell you about Rose Marshall, the sweetest girl that you'd ever see...Collapse )

So as most of you hopefully know by now (or will be delighted to discover), I'm about to be the Music Guest of Honor at DucKon 18. The convention is legal this year! It can now vote, get drafted, and buy cigarettes for my mother. DucKon will be happening in Naperville, Illinois, from June 12th through June 14th, and you should totally come. Why? Well, it's gonna be awesome, for one thing. I'm updating my appearances page as details are confirmed, but here are the things I can promise you:

1. I will be there.
2. My fantastic agent, Diana Fox, will be there, as the Agent Guest of Honor. Meet my personal superhero!
3. Tara O'Shea, who does my website's graphic design, will be there.
4. My concert will be OFF THE SCALE in AWESOME. Why? Why do I say this egotistical thing?

Because the DucKon Filk Fund allows their Music Guest of Honor to invite a guest of their very own, to help them with their concert. And I, just like the girl on America's Next Top Model who chooses to share her prize with the people who can help her look amazing, have selected Vixy and Tony. Yeah. ME AND VIXY AND TONY, LIVE IN CONCERT, IN THE MIDWEST, FOR THE FIRST TIME!!!!

Oh, and did I mention that Amy "The Fiddler" McNally will be there, too?

So here are two requests from me, if you would be so kind. First, take a look at the DucKon Filk Fund website, and see if there's anything there that catches your eye. They have some pretty spiffy stuff for sale, and some of it is totally not available anywhere else. Tell your friends. Help replenish the fund after they have so generously and wonderfully allowed me to bring two of my favorite people (and favorite performers) along for the ride.

Secondly, if you would be interested in being able to purchase a DVD of my DucKon concert, please take this DucKon survey indicating your willingness to acquire such a thing. The Filk Fund is willing to set up a pre-order system if there's enough interest, and just to make things a little more tempting, if...

...there is sufficient interest that they make pre-orders available...
...you pre-order...
...you comment on a post I will set up for this very purpose, telling me you've pre-ordered...

...I will include your name in a random drawing. The winner of this drawing will be emailed with the list of songs that we have prepared to play together, and allowed to pick a song. That song WILL be in the set list. So not only do you get the DVD, you know for sure that your favorite will be on there.

Thank you buckets.

Ever have one of those nights that you just want to tell everyone about, usually following the recounting with 'but really, you had to be there'? I love those nights. They're the ones that live forever, gradually sloughing off anything that went wrong -- because there's always so little of it -- until they become perfect little bits of time that last inside you forever.

I had one of those recently.

The concert at Erosong was a sort of last-minute* addition to my Seattle holiday plans; they'd been planning to have Vixy and Tony, and as I happened to be in the area, I got drafted to come and help out, along with Betsy 'I play the cello like I expect the Devil to be moving on to a different stringed instrument any day now, and I plan to be ready' Tinney. Ah, serendipity. Sometimes it just decides that life needs to be awesome.

I'd never really had much opportunity to hang out with Betsy before we went to rehearse at her place, which is large, gorgeous, and filled with Maine Coons. (One of them, Alligator, is officially my new best friend. Sorry.) I now regret this lack in my life, because she's a smart, funny, positively amazing lady, and getting to know her definitely stands as one of the highlights of my trip. Along with, y'know, Voodoo Doughnut. So she's in good company. PS, adding spooky cello to 'Dear Gina' makes it a weapon of massively creepy destruction. Brrr.

There really isn't a linear accounting of the actual concert in my head, because there isn't room. Getting ready in the upstairs bathroom with Vixy and Betsy, the three of us becoming a unified flock of purple, black, and orange with feathers in our hair-o. Meeting Phil for the first time after knowing him for fourteen years (oh, you splendid satyr, you). The doleful spontaneous sing-along of 'Science-Fiction Double Feature' in the dining room. And the concert, oh, yes, the concert. Two sets, as follows:

First set:

'Girl That's Never Been.' (Dockrey)
'Thirteen.' (Dockrey/Fabris)
'Skullcrusher Mountain.' (Coulton)
'Tanglewood Tree.' (Carter)
'Apprentice.' (Dockrey/Fabris)
'Evil Laugh.' (McGuire)
'Ravens in the Library.' (Tucker)
'Burn It Down.' (Dockrey/Fabris)
'Mal's Song.' (Dockrey/Whedon)

Second set:

'Paper Moon.' (McGuire)
'Dear Gina.' (McGuire)
'Santa Baby.' (Javits/Springer, made famous by Eartha Kitt)
'Strange Messenger.' (Dockrey/Fabris)
'Companion.' (Dockrey/Fabris)
'Goddess.' (Tucker)
'Emerald Green.' (Dockrey/Fabris)
'Oh, Michelle Dockrey.' (My parody of 'David Duchovny' by Bree Sharp)
'Dorothy.' (McGuire)
'Wicked Girls.' (McGuire)

When we hit the bridge of 'Wicked Girls' -- the line 'the rules that we live by are simple and clear/Be wicked and lovely, and don't live in fear' -- and changed into a major key, the room literally SHOUTED its approval. Just this solid wall of 'YEAH.' I...we...it is a miracle I didn't trainwreck the song out of sheer amazement, I swear.

They demanded an encore. We gave them 'Alligator in the House,' by Betsy Tinney and SJ Tucker. The night was...

The night was...

It was perfect. You should have been there.

Hey, folks! Remember, I'm appearing live and in concert tonight in the Seattle area, performing as a part of the latest fantastic Vixy & Tony house concert!

Not only are Vixy and Tony incredible musicians, they are incredibly close and beloved friends of mine. Vixy was the first one I called when my trilogy sold to DAW Books. Vixy is the one I choose to shower in scorpions on a regular basis. And Tony is just a rock. A slightly crazy, zombie killing, flying monkey rock. I am honored, privileged, and delighted to be performing with them. I always am. If I wanted proof that my life is a wonderful thing, I'd only need to look to my friends.

More, we're going to be performing with Betsy Tinney, the cellist from Tricky Pixie, who adds a dimension of PURE AWESOME to every song that comes out of our mouths. I mean, rehearsal last night? Rehearsal last night was sort of like a preview glimpse of Wonderland. I have put my silver slippers on. I am ready to go home.

Maybe most importantly -- and you're going to be hearing more about this from me very soon -- all proceeds from tonight's show are being donated to help a dear, dear, wonderful friend with some major and unexpected medical bills. SJ Tucker was recently hospitalized, and, being a traveling musician in the modern United States, does not have medical insurance. Tonight's music is in her honor, tonight's magic is towards her healing, and tonight's money is towards her hospital costs. We want her well, and every little bit helps. Even if it's just clapping to show that you believe in fairies.

I hope I'll see you there. If not, well. I hope you'll clap a little anyway. Because I'm just a big sap that way.

Yesterday, I...

...did a lot of fussing about, did a lot of reasonably important (if not entirely time-sensitive) email inbox cleanup, did some work on The Brightest Fell, and finally, attended a multi-hour rehearsal to get ready for my Guest of Honor concert at Conflikt II, as well as the house concert that I'm going to be performing in tomorrow night. If you're even remotely local, and have been considering attending either event, I highly recommend it. If you've never seen me live before, here's a nice quote from one of the conventions I've been featured at:

"Seanan wraps together deep, poetic lyrics and complex melodies, a soaring voice, and an exhilarating hold-nothing-back performance style."

See? Isn't that sweet? The house concert is actually a Vixy & Tony gig to which I have kindly been invited, and we're going to be doing some awesome stuff. We finally hit 'Tanglewood Tree' (a Dave Carter cover) at exactly the right angle last night. When I have tears in my eyes at the end of a rehearsal, that's when you know that you're doin' it right. And the convention, of course, is going to be one of my usual 'but what if we threw a concert and everybody came extravaganzas. I'm even packing the prom dress. Just in case.

Today, I...

...got out of bed, sat down, and wrote the first song of 2009 ('My Story Is Not Done'). To quote the lyrics:

I was born into a fairy tale,
Cinderella's dust-bin daughter.
Seemed like I was meant to fail,
Turning wine back into water,

Mama's slippers shattered when
She turned around to run,
But I never thought that mattered and
My story is not done.

My brain, ladies and gentlemen. Studies are even now underway. That done, I wrote three poems, updated my 'Velveteen vs.' continuity guide, and processed some edits to The Brightest Fell, which I'll get back to just as soon as I finish this entry. Once Fishy wakes up (allowing me access to my suitcase), I'll be getting dressed and going out for lunch with the wonderful folks from Team Seattle. And tonight, of course, we're rehearsing one more time for tomorrow's concert, in a setting which I have been promised will provide both ice cream and kittens. My life, so hard.

Tomorrow, I...

...will be appearing in the house concert I've been nattering on about so much above. Because love means never having to listen to me talk about one thing for all that long.

Hope everything is awesome in the worlds of you -- what's going on?

Since I'm feeling better* today, I'm taking care of all those things which were permitted to slip over the past several days. Specifically...

* I've gone through and checked checks against orders in my ordering database, so that I could correctly mark off those people I don't need to harass into paying me. I'm a very polite harasser, really, but the major down-side of doing CDs the way I do -- IE, 'the pre-orders pay for the production costs' -- is that when people don't pay me, I have real trouble making the albums actually exist. In other news, I now have 212 pre-orders in the system. I feel special.

* I've reviewed the final mastered tracks for Red Roses and Dead Things, confirming that they are MADE OF AWESOME. I am, of course, hyper-critical of my own performances, but that's my nature, and everything I can be objective about on the album is fantastic. Michelle Dockrey, Maya Bohnhoff, and Tom Smith are all super-cool in their appearances, and Tony Fabris just blows me out of the water with his mournful Dave Davenport. I'm so glad this album is about to exist.

* I've also written the back page for the liner notes, which is sort of like the acknowledgments page in a book, only with a lot more references to James Gunn and his pressing need to call me. And yes, I will be sending him a copy of the album. He's on the extremely short 'freebie' list. (It consists of James Gunn, Stephen King, and Eric Kripke, for this album. Because I am a good little horror girl.)

* Since I like not being clubbed to death by The Agent for getting nothing done**, I've also been plugging away on The Brightest Fell. The goal du jour is hitting three hundred pages, and then breaking to hammer on The Mourning Edition for a little while. I find it hysterical -- and also annoying -- that I have, like, two books in my entire 'write this' list that start with the word 'the,' and I'm working on them both at once. Bah.

* Also, I keep stopping to poke at Facebook, and its addictive little clicky-clicky vampire game. You know you're hooked when you consider soliciting total strangers to join your clan. Again, bah.

More to come, after I find my desk under this pile o' crap.

(*Local values of 'better' include 'capable of moving around under own power without feeling the intense need to stop and yark up everything consumed in the past hour' and 'capable of stringing six coherent words together in a line.' We've lowered our standards, now up yours.)

(**My definition of 'getting nothing done' is a very specialized one. I know this thing.)

So I'm heading up to Seattle for the second half of December, partially to spend the holidays with Vixy and Tony (because who wouldn't want to spend the holidays with some of their bestest friends?), but mostly to rehearse for Conflikt II, which is going to be an absolute blast. For serious, my concert is going to include Vixy, Tony, Amy McNally, three-quarters of Puzzlebox -- I have KEYBOARDS and DRUMS and PAUL playing GUITAR!!!! I win at everything -- and and and. So that's going to rule.

But since they have me, they might as well exploit me, right? I enjoy being exploited. I am a grindhouse special, and I am ready to be your midnight movie. With all that in mind, I'm going to be joining them on January 3rd for a special house concert hosted by Erosong. For serious! Also for glee. There's gonna be thrills. There's gonna be chills. There may even be some mild mass hysteria, if we totally strut our stuff. ("What are you going to do?" "I'm gonna do the best I can.")

The concert is going to be happening in scenic Kenmore, Washington, and RSVPs are requested, for the sake of everybody's sanity. It's a potluck, which means there will be lots of yummy food, and there's no fixed admission cost, just a suggested donation. Check the event link for more details, and if you're at all local, I hope I'll see you there.

This past weekend, I attended the Ohio Valley Filk Festival, a three-day convention focusing on the filk music genre. ('Filk' is the music of science fiction and fantasy. Its precise definition has been debated for years, mostly by people with nothing better to do with their time. This includes me. It's a fun, fun argument.) Lots of fun, lots of friendship, and lots of time spent in the Columbus, Ohio Whole Foods Market. Mmmmm, pumpkin parfait.

The Pegasus Awards were created to recognize excellence in filking. Awards are given for individual songs -- two floating categories every year, as well as Best Filk Song and Best Classic Filk Song (a song more than ten years in age). Awards are also given for the Best Performer and Best Writer/Composer. In 2007, I won the Best Performer category in a tie vote with Dr. Mary Crowell (the nice lady in whose kitchen I am typing this entry). This year, I was up for Best Writer/Composer, and my song 'The Black Death' was up for Best Song of Tragedy.

I won Best Writer/Composer. According to those around me, it was one of those rare moments in which I could be seen struck speechless.

Ahem: SQUEE!

Other winners for this year include 'Black Davy's Ride' for Best Song of Tragedy, 'Close Your Eyes' for Best Song of Comedy, 'Archetype Cafe' for Best Classic Song, and 'Uplift' for Best Song. Truly awesome winners all. Best Performer was won by Vixy and Tony, which was neat, since they were sitting at my table. (To be honest, I find most anything good which happens to Vixy neat. I like it when good things happen to Vixy.)

But yes. I won. And I am...really quite over the moon about it.

Glee.

Periodically, I mention recording or doing musical projects or make excuses about my word counts. 'Sorry, couldn't finish that chapter, I was recording.' 'Oops, didn't process edits, I was recording.' Well, it being a sort of doleful Tuesday, and much of my weekend having been devoured by recording, I decided that I should provide an example of exactly what that means. So here you go, world:

'Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves.'

This is a very rough take, and I know that I pop the mic a few times (among other things). Basically, we recorded vocals and guitar on the same track to give people something to rehearse from, and Kristoph retreated to perform acts of strange alchemy resulting in a truly awesome guitar part being unleashed upon the world. At that point, I'll go back in and record a real vocal line, one sans unpleasant popping. But for now, that's the song, and I am glad of it.

Life is good.