Carniepunk, a new, carnival-themed anthology of urban fantasy awesome, is available now from a bookstore near you! (If there is not a bookstore near you, I recommend Borderlands Books, which does mail order and has hairless cats.) Featuring stories from me, Rachel Caine, Jennifer Estep, Allison Pang, and many more, this is an exploration of the carnival by a bunch of people who have actually been to the carnival at least once in their lives.

Yes. I know. That's a lousy sale line. But not everyone knows how to put together a Ferris wheel, okay? And people did their research, and on the whole, the stories are solid, fun reads, and the book is beautifully designed. My story, "Daughter of the Midway, the Mermaid, and the Open, Lonely Sea," requires no knowledge of my pre-existing universes, and gives you a sneak peek at one of the mermaid species to be found in the InCryptid setting (we'll be seeing more of them in an upcoming Fran and Johnny story, "We Both Go Down Together").

Here are some review bits:

"'Daughter of the Midway, the Mermaid, and the Open, Lonely Sea" by Seanan McGuire is a haunting story about, you guessed it, mermaids. It’s about growing up, family secrets, and relationships between mothers and daughters. It has an ending that, while not what I’d exactly call happy, hits you hard and lingers for a very long time." —Dear Author.

"...this story is about a mermaid growing up in the carnival. And in fitting with my theory above, the writing is strong. Very strong. Not even the depressing nature of the full circle concept of her journey could bring me to pull away from it." —Wicked Little Pixie.

I really, really loved several of the stories in this anthology, and none of them made me want to throw the book across the room. I file it under "anthology I would recommend even if I wasn't in it," which is my benchmark for a really good collection. So step right up. I haven't jawed you false. Put your money down, take your ticket, and find out what's behind the painted curtain.

I promise that it's worth your while.

So from time to time, I get involved with Kickstarter anthologies. You've probably noticed this by now; it's a reasonably harmless pastime, after all, and one which can result in lots of lovely fiction (since being an anthology automatically means you rate a space on the rolling list, and once you're on the rolling list, you actually get written). This time is no different. Presenting...

Clockwork Universe: Steampunk vs. Aliens, a Kickstarter of men, machines, and unspeakable horrors from beyond the veil of stars.

The premise is simple: aliens arrive on the Planet Earth for their scheduled invasion, and find themselves confronted with a fully-functional steampunk society (which really was not a part of the original plan). Fourteen authors of various backgrounds and who work in diverse genres, will be presenting their own viewpoints on this titanic bout. My own story, "Lady Antheia's Guide to Horticultural Warfare," is planned and plotted and ready to explode into riotous overgrowth. There's only one thing missing, and that's you, dear readers. Our alien war machines need blood, and—I mean, our Kickstarter needs backers if we're going to reach the lofty goal that allows all these thrilling tales to be composed and put out into the world.

So check out our Kickstarter. Consider the Lady Antheia, and how much she'd like the opportunity to meet you. Consider my last alien invasion story, "Dying With Her Cheer Pants On," and ask yourself, just how ridiculous is Seanan willing to get for the cause?

There's only one way to find out.

I have been asked to create an open thread for discussion of "How Green This Land, How Blue This Sea." As it has been out for a week now (gasp! so soon!), this seems reasonable to me. So here you go: here is an open thread.

THERE WILL BE SPOILERS.

Seriously. If anyone comments here at all, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. So please don't read and then yell at me because you encountered spoilers. You were warned. (I will not reply to every comment; I call partial comment amnesty. But I may well join some of the discussion, or answer questions or whatnot.) I will be DELETING all comments containing spoilers which have been left on other posts. No one gets to spoil people here without a label.

You can also start a discussion at my website forums, with less need to be concerned that I will see everything you say! In case you wanted, you know, discussion free of authorial influence, since I always wind up getting involved in these things.

Have fun, and try not to bleed on the carpet.

It's here! It's here! The fifth episode of Indexing is now live!

Sometimes stories deviate from their predictable paths, turning darker than anyone ever expected them to be. Sloane Winters is still struggling to keep her own narrative difficulties hidden, and Henry Marchen is dealing with a team that doesn't seem to work together the way it used to. All this comes to a head in "Cruel Sister" as a Cinderella story gone awry threatens to reveal the narrative to the world...with deadly consequences.

This post serves as both your reminder and discussion thread.

Once upon a time...

It's July, and you know what that means: a new Newsflesh novella! This year's release is "How Green This Land, How Blue This Sea," in which Mahir Gowda travels to Australia and tries to come to terms with the fact that people are people everywhere in the world.

If you've been missing the world of Feed, and have $2.99 to spare, this is the adventure for you! (I know, I know, "if you have three bucks, this is awesome" isn't the best marketing slogan in the world, but it's what I can come up with before eight o'clock in the morning. Work with me.)

Mahir! Air travel! Zombie kangaroos! This novella has everything, and it should have you. Available now in the US and Canada, July 17th in the United Kingdom.

Newsflesh novella, yay!

I am absolutely delighted to announce that "Jammed," the second in my accidental series of "Antimony Price does roller derby" short stories, will be appearing in the anthology Games Creatures Play, edited by Toni Kelner and Charlaine Harris, scheduled for release on April 1st, 2014.

Nope. Not an April Fool's Day joke. Genuine Antimony goodness will be yours!

Here is an Amazon link for perusal of the book as a whole (although the title of my story is listed incorrectly, so give it all a grain of salt). It can even be pre-ordered now, to beat the rush!

I'm super-excited about this. I love Toni and Charlaine, and I love Antimony, and I love roller derby. Everybody wins!

Now strap on your skates and get ready for adventure.

Thanks to the efforts of my covers-and-conversion squad (Tara and Will), I have a new InCryptid short available on my website.

This one was...difficult to write. Those of you who know the family history may have noticed that the child born between "Married in Green" and "Sweet Poison Wine," Daniel Healy, was never mentioned by any of the modern members of the Price family. That's because he only lived three years. Losing him set the stage for a lot of what went wrong from there. That didn't make it a pleasant tale to tell. So consider this your trigger warning: the story opens with his funeral.

You can download "The First Fall," and earlier free stories, here:

http://seananmcguire.com/icshorts.php

Please download and read locally, for the sake of my server.

This post will also serve as the discussion post, if anyone wants to talk about the story once they're done. Thanks again to everyone for reading. This is the second story prioritized on my word count list by the recent tip jar, with two more to go!

I have appeared in two limited edition books from Subterranean Press: A Fantasy Medley 2, which featured my Tybalt-centric novella, "Rat-Catcher," and When Will You Rise?: Stories to End the World, which features "Countdown" and "Apocalypse Scenario #683: The Box." ("Apocalypse Scenario" is not set in the Newsflesh universe, by the way; it's part of my mad science triptych, along with "The Tolling of Pavlov's Bells" and "Laughter at the Academy.")

A Fantasy Medley 2 is now out of print. Very, very out of print. "The signed edition is selling for upwards of a thousand dollars on Amazon" out of print. I do not have copies for sale. I don't generally sell author's copies of anything, because I am not a store, but in this case especially, I didn't receive enough copies to do anything like that. There is no ebook edition, and right now, because I am still under contract for the physical book, I don't have the option to post the story as a free download. Eventually, it will either be reprinted or posted to my short fiction page, depending on how things go, but for the moment, I just don't have the authority. (Most short fiction contracts come with an "exclusivity" clause which guarantees an author won't sell the same thing to thirty markets at once.)

There are some copies of the basic, non-signed edition of A Fantasy Medley 2 currently available on Amazon, starting at about $15. If you're really, really desperate to read "Rat-Catcher" without buying from Amazon, you might want to consider getting a supporting membership to this year's Worldcon. Yes, $60 for one novella is a lot, but you don't just get one novella: you get the entire Hugo Voter's Packet, which is way awesome and packed with goodness.

When Will You Rise?: Stories to End the World is not out of print...yet. But it is a limited edition of 1,000 copies, and I know that a lot of those have been sold. You can find details on the book here. It's a really gorgeous piece of work, with incredible illustrations throughout. And, speaking candidly...I really enjoyed doing this book, and I'd love it if the sales supported Subterranean doing another. So I'm very much in favor of people buying copies for their very own. Both stories included in When Will You Rise? are available through the Orbit Short Fiction Program, so you won't have the same issues getting your hands on them (at least for right now), but this is currently your only option for seeing those stories in physical form.

Hope this clears things up a bit!

(The Velveteen vs. books are also limited printings, although in this case, the publisher has the option to print more if the first print run sells out. So it's not as much of an immediate concern, although naturally, I think everyone should own these books in their own homes, to avoid them somehow magically ending up in mine.)

ETA: Updated some availability notes, as Amazon once again has the basic A Fantasy Medley 2 available for order. Hooray!

And the winners are...


joecoustic

and

fr2day!

Please email me via my website contact form with your mailing information within the next twenty-four hours. If I do not hear from you inside of that time, a new winner or winners will be chosen.

Thank you all for playing, and see you next giveaway!

I was looking at my room the other day, and I thought "Gosh, there sure are a lot of books in here." And then I was looking at my blog, and I thought "Gosh, it sure has been a while since I did a silly giveaway." Combine item #1 with item #2 and hey-presto! It's time to give shit away!!!

Specifically, it's time to give away two copies of Oz Reimagined, the anthology of Oz-inspired fiction assembled by John Joseph Adams and Douglas Cohen, featuring my short story, "Emeralds to Emeralds, Dust to Dust." This is a lovely book, with some amazing and very different take on the wonderful Land of Oz.

The rules:

1. Comment on this post.
2. In your comment, indicate whether you are US or international.
2a. If international, indicate that you are willing to pay postage (since I still can't).
3. That's all.

I'll be selecting two winners on Friday, May 10th, thus allowing me to mail the books before I leave for Disney World. As always, you'll have twenty-four hours to respond to my "you've won" post before I select a new winner. So check back Friday, and...

...GAME ON!

...meet me down where the river runs red.

I am over the moon to finally be able to announce that "Stingers and Strangers," an original Jonathan Healy and Frances Brown short story, will be appearing in the upcoming Weird West anthology, Dead Man's Hand. To quote the official press release:

"'The weird western is the forefather of steampunk, with a history that includes Stephen King's Dark Tower and Card's Alvin Maker,' editor John Joseph Adams explains. 'But where steampunk is Victorian, weird westerns are darker, grittier, so the protagonist might be gunned down in a duel, killed by a vampire, or confronted by aliens on the streets of a dusty frontier town.'"

"Stingers and Strangers" fits between "No Place Like Home" and "Married In Green." When Johnny and Fran head to Colorado to investigate reports of dead and missing miners, they're in for a whole pile of trouble. It's an engagement not to be taken lightly.

For more information about the anthology, including a full table of contents (Elizabeth Bear! Kelley Armstrong! Ken Liu!), check out the official press release, located here:

http://www.johnjosephadams.com/blog/2013/04/10/new-anthology-dead-mans-hand/

Dead Man's Hand will be released in May of 2014. I'm so excited!

Thanks to the efforts of my covers-and-conversion squad (Tara and Will), I have a new InCryptid short for your reading pleasure—and it's the longest one yet. "Sweet Poison Wine" is the story of Jonathan and Fran's honeymoon, which goes precisely as smoothly as you'd expect, given that it's the two of them.

You can download this, and earlier free stories, here:

http://seananmcguire.com/icshorts.php

Please download and read locally, for the sake of my server.

This post will also serve as the discussion post, if anyone wants to talk about the story once they're done. Thanks again to everyone for reading, and for those of you who were able to chip in to the recent tip jar. The prizes begin to flow!

Okay, so first off: the tip jar is closed. Any money that is randomly sent to me after this date does not go into the tip jar total. So please wait until the next time I do this, to make sure that you get the story to go with your silver, okay!

Second off, thank you to absolutely everyone who donated, thought about donating, or couldn't donate. You are all awesome.

Thirdly, the total:

$2,312

...um. I'd sort of been hoping for four hundred, but that felt greedy. So...wow. Thank you all so much, and now let's tell the people at home what they've won!

"Sweet Poison Wine" (the followup to "Married In Green") is finished, and Tara is designing the cover now. As soon as that's done, I'll send the files off for ebook conversion, and we'll be ready to post.

"The First Fall" has been added to the schedule, tentatively with a June completion. Could be sooner, as I knock other things out of the way, shouldn't be later, since Half-Off Ragnarok is due on May 1st.

"Loch and Key" has finally stabilized as a consequence of my mapping out "The First Fall," and will be going on the paid fiction list as soon as I clear "The First Fall" and can see the schedule again.

"Blocked" has been added to the schedule, tentatively with a February completion, to keep y'all from going into Antimony withdrawal.

Thank you all again, so, so much. You are amazing.

As mentioned in this post, I have been running a "tip jar" all week for the short fiction that I give away on my website. I'll be closing the tip jar tonight, so this is the last call.

A few answers to things people have asked me:

1. No, I am not holding anything finished hostage. This is just a way of moving things up onto the "paid work" list, which gets them finished and posted faster.

1b. ...on the other hand, I will still be pacing stories. So I'm not going to post a new short the day after a book comes out, just for the sake of my own sanity. That's why I'm not promising hard delivery dates.

2. Yes, you can "tip" me any time, but it won't go into the "tip jar total," which is what I'm basing my schedule off of. You can also wait until I decide to do this again (probably in six months or so).

3. Yes, this particular tip jar is for InCryptid stories only. If I open a jar for another series, it will be clearly marked as such.

3b. No, you can't tell me what series to take tips for next.

If you had been meaning to tip, or wanted to tip before the jar closed tonight, you can PayPal to delirium@xocolatl.com. I promise that is really my account, despite the weirdness of the email address and spelling.

Thanks to everyone who's donated so far, and I will post both a total collected and a "what I am committing to" after the tip jar closes.

I am now taking "tip jar" donations to fund the next InCryptid story or stories. To tip, please PayPal to...

delirium@xocolatl.com

I will leave the tip jar open until Friday, when I will close it and post a total for what was collected.

If I get $200, I will prioritize finishing and posting "Sweet Poison Wine," aka, "the honeymoon story."
If I get $300 or more, I will add "The First Fall" to the inchworm list, which means it gets scheduled and everything.

"Sweet Poison Wine" will be posted this year even if no one tips me a penny; I'm not holding anything finished hostage, just trying to justify shuffling things around.

Thank you!

The 2013 Hugo Awards ballot has been announced, and is as follows:

Best Novel.

2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit)
Blackout by Mira Grant (Orbit)
Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)
Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas by John Scalzi (Tor)
Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed (DAW)

Best Novella.

After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall by Nancy Kress (Tachyon Publications)
The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson (Tachyon Publications)
On a Red Station, Drifting by Aliette de Bodard (Immersion Press)
San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats by Mira Grant (Orbit)
The Stars Do Not Lie by Jay Lake (Asimov’s, Oct-Nov 2012)

Best Novelette.

“The Boy Who Cast No Shadow” by Thomas Olde Heuvelt (Postscripts: Unfit For Eden, PS Publications)
“Fade To White” by Catherynne M. Valente (Clarkesworld, August 2012)
“The Girl-Thing Who Went Out for Sushi” by Pat Cadigan (Edge of Infinity, Solaris)
“In Sea-Salt Tears” by Seanan McGuire (Self-published)
“Rat-Catcher” by Seanan McGuire (A Fantasy Medley 2, Subterranean)

Best Short Story.

“Immersion” by Aliette de Bodard (Clarkesworld, June 2012)
“Mantis Wives” by Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld, August 2012)
“Mono no Aware” by Ken Liu (The Future is Japanese, VIZ Media LLC)

Note: category has 3 nominees due to a 5% requirement under Section 3.8.5 of the WSFS constitution.

Best Related Work.

The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature Edited by Edward James & Farah Mendlesohn (Cambridge UP)
Chicks Dig Comics: A Celebration of Comic Books by the Women Who Love Them Edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Sigrid Ellis (Mad Norwegian Press)
Chicks Unravel Time: Women Journey Through Every Season of Doctor Who Edited by Deborah Stanish & L.M. Myles (Mad Norwegian Press)
I Have an Idea for a Book... The Bibliography of Martin H. Greenberg Compiled by Martin H. Greenberg, edited by John Helfers (The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box)
Writing Excuses Season Seven by Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler and Jordan Sanderson

Best Graphic Story.

Grandville Bête Noire written and illustrated by Bryan Talbot (Dark Horse Comics, Jonathan Cape)
Locke & Key Volume 5: Clockworks written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez (IDW)
Saga, Volume One written by Brian K. Vaughn, illustrated by Fiona Staples (Image Comics)
Schlock Mercenary: Random Access Memorabilia by Howard Tayler, colors by Travis Walton (Hypernode Media)
Saucer Country, Volume 1: Run written by Paul Cornell, illustrated by Ryan Kelly, Jimmy Broxton and Goran Sudžuka (Vertigo)

Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form).

The Avengers
The Cabin in the Woods
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
The Hunger Games
Looper

Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form).

Doctor Who: “The Angels Take Manhattan”
Doctor Who: “Asylum of the Daleks”
Doctor Who: “The Snowmen”
Fringe: “Letters of Transit"
Game of Thrones :“Blackwater”

Best Editor (Short Form).

John Joseph Adams
Neil Clarke
Stanley Schmidt
Jonathan Strahan
Sheila Williams

Best Editor (Long Form).

Lou Anders
Sheila Gilbert
Liz Gorinsky
Patrick Nielsen Hayden
Toni Weisskopf

Best Professional Artist.

Vincent Chong
Julie Dillon
Dan Dos Santos
Chris McGrath
John Picacio

Best Semiprozine.

Apex Magazine edited by Lynne M. Thomas, Jason Sizemore and Michael Damian Thomas
Beneath Ceaseless Skies edited by Scott H. Andrews
Clarkesworld edited by Neil Clarke, Jason Heller, Sean Wallace and Kate Baker
Lightspeed edited by John Joseph Adams and Stefan Rudnicki
Strange Horizons edited by Niall Harrison, Jed Hartman, Brit Mandelo, An Owomoyela, Julia Rios, Abigail Nussbaum, Sonya Taaffe, Dave Nagdeman and Rebecca Cross

Best Fanzine.

Banana Wings edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer
The Drink Tank edited by Chris Garcia and James Bacon
Elitist Book Reviews edited by Steven Diamond
Journey Planet edited by James Bacon, Chris Garcia, Emma J. King, Helen J. Montgomery and Pete Young
SF Signal edited by John DeNardo, JP Frantz, and Patrick Hester

Best Fancast.

The Coode Street Podcast, Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe
Galactic Suburbia Podcast, Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce, Tansy Rayner Roberts (Presenters) and Andrew Finch (Producer)
SF Signal Podcast, Patrick Hester, John DeNardo, and JP Frantz
SF Squeecast, Elizabeth Bear, Paul Cornell, Seanan McGuire, Lynne M. Thomas, Catherynne M. Valente (Presenters) and David McHone-Chase (Technical Producer)
StarShipSofa, Tony C. Smith

Best Fan Writer.

James Bacon
Christopher J Garcia
Mark Oshiro
Tansy Rayner Roberts
Steven H Silver

Best Fan Artist.

Galen Dara
Brad W. Foster
Spring Schoenhuth
Maurine Starkey
Steve Stiles

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.

Award for the best new professional science fiction or fantasy writer of 2011 or 2012, sponsored by Dell Magazines (not a Hugo Award).

Zen Cho
Max Gladstone
Mur Lafferty
Stina Leicht
Chuck Wendig

Those of you with keen eyes may have noticed my name a time or two. So here are my firsts for this year:

First woman to appear on the ballot four times in fiction categories alone.
First person to appear on the ballot five times in a single year.
First person to appear on the ballot with a purely self-published work ("In Sea-Salt Tears," Best Novelette nominee).

Here are some other fun facts: this is the first time Sheila Gilbert, my editor at DAW, or Chris McGrath, who is responsible for the October Daye covers (as well as many, many more) have appeared on the Hugo ballot. As of this year's ballot, every novella or novel-length work in the Newsflesh series has appeared on the Hugo ballot. I have essays in two of the works in Best Related Work. Urban fantasy in any form rarely makes award ballots, and I have two October Daye-universe novellas on this ballot.

Fringe is on the ballot for the first time ever this year. So is Mark Oshiro of Mark Reads, which is just amazing. The whole ballot is amazing.

I have eaten nothing but ice cream today. I have cried a lot.

I am grateful and honored and terrified and fragile and amazed, because this ballot represents the best of 2012 in a very concrete way. I see so many works there that blew my mind, and I look forward to experiencing the rest.

Thank you so much. I will try very hard not to let you down.

I am pleased to announce that my story, "Red as Snow," will be appearing in the December issue of Fiction River, subtitled Hex in the City. Need more details on Fiction River? Look no further than this link. But, you know. I'm going to give more details anyway, because I'm that kind of girl.

This is a monthly anthology series, each issue focusing on a different theme. December is the month of urban fantasy, but they've covered an amazing range of subjects already, and I'm incredibly excited to see where they're going to go from here.

"Red as Snow" is an Istas-narrated story, which is a first for me. It's also the first story set in the InCryptid universe but not centering on any member of the Price-Healy family. Instead, it's about Istas, and Ryan, and parasols, and pizza. And carnage, of course. You can't have waheela without carnage.

This is a new chapter in the expansion of the greater InCryptid universe, and I couldn't be more excited about it. December 2013! Mark your calendars, and prepare for impact.

Yay!

It's time to go back to Jonathan Healy and Frances Brown, as they settle down into their lives in Buckley Township, Michigan, and get ready to face what lies ahead. The next step? Marriage, of course, assuming they can make it to the altar...

A new Jonathan and Fran story, "Married in Green," has been posted on the InCryptid short fiction page. It is once again available in ePub, MOBI, and PDF formats, and is free for download. Please download, rather than trying to read locally! We do not want to swamp my server.

All cover graphics are by Tara O'Shea (be sure to admire the awesome cover she did for "Bad Dream Girl," which is new to the page). All electronic conversion thus far has been done by scifantasy. As both of them are awesome, we applaud them now.

Enjoy the adventure!

This post will also serve as the open thread, so expect spoilers in the comments.

Title: Velveteen vs. The Epilogue.
Summary: Now what?

Thank you all so much for reading these. And thanks to Landley, for sponsoring today's final installment in the adventures of a superheroine named Velma Martinez, who did so much more than she ever thought she could.

( The cathedral room of the Crystal Glitter Unicorn Cloud Castle was quiet...Collapse )

It's Oz day! It's Oz day! Oz Reimagined is available now from a bookstore or online retailer near you. I am over the moon, because Oz is the fairyland of my childhood, Oz is where I always wanted to wake up (when I didn't want to go to Gallifrey; my real ideal would have been a pair of silver slippers and a trip to the University of Gallifrey to become the first rainbow-riding Time Lady), and now I am a part of Oz. And that's genuinely amazing.

There are fifteen stories in this book; all are available to buy as Kindle singles, which is an interesting experiment that I've never been involved with before. According to Amazon's webpage for my story, "Emeralds to Emeralds, Dust to Dust," some of them may also be available for Amazon Prime members to borrow for free. I haven't read the full anthology yet, but I trust a lot of these authors, and I have faith that it will pass my "must contain three stories worth keeping on my shelves" benchmark.

Now I just want to address something that I've seen crop up in several reviews, because I seriously and genuinely do not want anyone buying this book under false pretenses: this is not an Oz sequel. This is not an homage filled with loving continuations of the canonical Oz. These are stories reimagining Oz, much like Syfy's Tin Man, or the fantastical ongoing comic, Namesake. They are not for children. The book even says so on the cover. Picking this up because you want a children's book will do you a disservice, and may cause you to have Vegemite issues with some otherwise fine pieces of writing.

My story is an urban fantasy. Dorothy has grown up and is living with Polychrome, in a committed lesbian relationship. Is this because I wanted to stain someone else's childhood? No. It's because when I was a little girl, I genuinely believed that Dorothy and Ozma were going to be married someday, and could support that claim with examples from the text. Maybe I was projecting, but that was the memory I went back to when it came time to write my story: my earnest belief that Dorothy was, well, a "friend of Dorothy," and would never marry a man, whether she grew up or no. People get hurt in my story. People die. And I am not the only one who approached the kind of themes in my Oz story that I approach in my day-to-day writing.

Please, pick up this book if it sounds interesting. I'm incredibly excited about it, and I hope you'll love it, just like I hope that the general "you" will love everything I write. But don't pick it up for your ten-year-old and then look astonished when they ask you to explain something you'd been hoping to put off until later.

Oz!

Title: Velveteen vs. Everyone, Part II.
Summary: The time for patience is over. Now is the time for war. Not everyone is going to walk away, but a point comes when it is no longer safe to care.

( The fall of Dead Ringer was initially unremarked...Collapse )

Greetings, people of Earth.

I will be appearing today at Borderlands Books in San Francisco at three p.m., where I, along with John Joseph Adams, will be explaining the world domination plans as described in The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination. (We do not believe in confusing titles here in the lab. Confusing titles mean melted minions, and that's a waste of resources.)

I understand that you may have other things to do, but I implore you to attend the event, or to contact the bookstore to order signed books, as we will look kindly upon those who support the anthology, and given the size of my vegetable hybrid army, "looking kindly" may save your city from being used as an incubation hive.

From my heart and from my hands, why don't people understand that I just need to subjugate them all to my will?

Still waiting for her shiny new Australia,
Seanan.

Title: Velveteen vs. Everyone, Part I.
Summary: The time for patience is over. Now is the time for war. Not everyone is going to walk away, but a point comes when it is no longer safe to care.

( The appearance of the Phantom Doll in the evening sky caught the world's attention in an instant...Collapse )

WEIRD SCIENCE!

(Duh dum bum bum da dum.)

Or, really, MAD SCIENCE, because that is where my heart of hearts makes its forever home. The new anthology, The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination, is hitting shelves now, and includes my short story, "Laughter at the Academy: A Study in the Development of Schizotypal Creative Genius Personality Disorder (SCGPD)." Fans of my music will recognize the basic plot of the story as matching that of my Pegasus Award-winning song, "What A Woman's For." Yes. It is a story based on a song about using womanly wiles to cause perfectly reasonable researchers to embrace grave-robbing and storm-chasing as a means of advancing their careers. My mother is so proud.

Anyway, it's a fantastic book that I'm going to talk about a bit more in a little while, and I'm happy as hell to be a part of it. And if you're in the Bay Area, this weekend will bring you the opportunity to see the editor, John Joseph Adams, appearing with yours truly at San Francisco's own Borderlands Books. The event begins at 3:00 pm, and will undoubtedly be a rocking good time. It's always a rocking good time when John and I get together.

The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination is available now at a bookstore or internet retailer near you. Published by Tor Books, you can get it in either hardcover ($25.99) or trade paperback ($14.99), and honestly, it's worth it at either price point.

Hope to see you Saturday!

Having been sick even unto death on January 15th, this is the first current projects post of the new year. Whoops. I'd say I was sorry, but again, sick even unto death; the coughing and throwing up and passing out sort of obviate my natural desire to apologize for everything under the sun.

Anyway, this is the post in which I tell you what I'm working on, and you finally understand why I don't have time for tea. To quote myself, being too harried to say something new: "These posts are labeled with the month and year, in case somebody eventually gets the crazy urge to timeline my work cycles (it'll probably be me). Behold the proof that I don't actually sleep; I just whimper and keep writing."

Please note that all books currently in print are off the list, as are those that have been turned in but not yet printed (Midnight Blue-Light Special, Parasite). The cut-tag is here to stay, because no matter what I do, it seems like this list just keeps on getting longer. But that's okay, because at least it means I'm never actively bored. I have horror movies and terrible things from the swamp to keep me company.

Not everything on this list has been sold. I will not discuss the sale status of anything which has not been publicly announced. If you can't remember whether I've announced something, check the relevant tag. Please don't ask why project X is no longer on the list.

( What's Seanan working on now? Click to find out!Collapse )

Title: Velveteen Presents Jackie Frost vs. Four Conversations and a Funeral
Summary: And now for something completely different. Velveteen’s health is failing. Jackie Frost knows why. But can she take the necessary steps to end it?

( The surface of the mirror was cold enough that Jackie actually felt it, a short, sharp burst of almost painful chill before she emerged into the warm, peppermint-scented snow of the North Pole...Collapse )

I have been asked to create an open thread for discussion of "Rat-Catcher." So here you go: here is an open thread.

THERE WILL BE SPOILERS.

Seriously. If anyone comments here at all, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. So please don't read and then yell at me because you encountered spoilers. You were warned. (I will not reply to every comment; I call partial comment amnesty. But I may well join some of the discussion, or answer questions or whatnot.) I will be DELETING all comments containing spoilers which have been left on other posts. No one gets to spoil people here without a label.

You can also start a discussion at my website forums, with less need to be concerned that I will see everything you say! In case you wanted, you know, discussion free of authorial influence, since I always wind up getting involved in these things.

Have fun, and try not to bleed on the carpet.

Title: Velveteen vs. Legal.
Summary: When The Super Patriots Inc. finally go too far in their ongoing war against Velveteen and her friends, will she be able to take it lying down? Or will this finally be the straw that breaks the plush camel’s back?

( Celia Morgan was accustomed, as Governor of Oregon, to dealing with people whose concept of 'patience' had been left behind somewhere between their homes and her office door...Collapse )

Title: Velveteen Presents Victory Anna vs. The Difficulties With Pan-Dimensional Courtship.
Summary: And now for something completely different, as a young science heroine strives to find True Love despite the many obstacles intended by the world to Thwart her.

( After two months of sharing her home, off and on, with the woman who might as well have been the love of her life...Collapse )

...and, you know, a whole lot of other characters. I am pleased to announce the Kickstarter for Glitter and Madness, an anthology about the "secret nightlife of the 20th century." Raves and roller derby, drugs and debauchery, nightclubs and naughtiness, it's all there, including a brand-new InCryptid novella, "Bad Dream Girl," about Antimony Price and her time with the Slasher Chicks roller derby team. (The other three teams in her league are the Concussion Stand, the Block Busters, and the Stunt Troubles. They're movie-themed. Can you tell I enjoyed myself?)

The Kickstarter is here, packed with lots of lovely goodies:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/johnklima/glitter-and-madness-the-speculative-nightclub-anth

But wait! There's more! One of the pledge levels gets you a copy of "Bad Dream Girl" as soon as the anthology funds, which means bam, in your inbox, more Price girl goodness. It's a $50 pledge, which isn't for everyone (obviously), but if this story would be enough to motivate you to pick up the anthology, or if the theme and list of AWESOME AUTHORS would be enough, take a look at the tiers, pick your poison, and help us turn the lights on at the club.

Because seriously, any anthology that gives me an excuse to introduce you properly to Antimony, who is quite possibly my favorite of the Price siblings, is a-okay by me.

Roller derby!

First up, the winner of last week's good faith drawing for a copy of A Fantasy Medley 2 is...

bookblather!

Usual rules apply: you have twenty-four hours to get me your mailing information, after which I will select another winner if necessary. Thanks to all who entered, and all who offered to pay postage. You guys are amazing.

I'm going to be opening a few drawings for copies of Midnight Blue-Light Special this week, and try to finish mailing everything that sort of fell a few days behind while I was sick even unto death. Thank you all for your patience, and for your ongoing awesomeness.

Title: Velveteen vs. The Fright Night Sorority House Massacre Sleepover Camp.
Summary: What happens when a former child superheroine, her allies, and a bunch of co-eds wind up locked in an improbably large Greek house with a masked serial killer and unreliable super powers?

( Loud crashing sounds from the kitchen obscured whatever the Princess said next, although judging by the movements of her mouth, it wasn't anything G-rated or appropriate for children...Collapse )

This worked well last time, so here we go: it's time for another good faith drawing, this time for a copy of A Fantasy Medley 2.

Look. Times are tough right now, and a lot of us don't have a huge amount of disposable income. I know a $25 hardcover isn't always in my budget, even when I really really want it. So that is what this drawing is for. If you want a copy but can't afford it, please comment to let me know you'd like to be entered. I will select a winner on Thursday morning.

I don't need to know why you can't afford the book; I just ask that you only enter if you genuinely can't find the dollars right now. That way, we make things a little more level for everybody.

Same region rules as last time: US welcome, non-US only if you can pay postage. And because this has come up before, if you're in the US and would like to volunteer to pay postage for a non-US resident, you can. For this drawing, comment on the main entry if you can pay non-US postage, and while that comment won't win, I will be able to go back to it if someone from outside the US does.

I will be doing a more open giveaway later this week, I just need to take things slow while I get my footing back after the flu that kicked my butt for the last nine days.

Game on!

Title: Velveteen vs. The Robot Armies of Dr. Walter Creelman, DDS.
Summary: The continuing adventures of a former child superheroine and her allies, who include Rainbow Brite's lesbian little sister, an escapee from a Rankin-Bass cartoon, and a deeply irritated Victorian gadgeteer with a raygun that used to be a toaster. No, really.

( Victoria Cogsworth managed not to slam the door to her borrowed bedroom behind her, although it was a near thing...Collapse )

My foot's giving me trouble again, which means I'm hopped up on painkillers and not the best judge of what does and does not make sense. To celebrate this legally altered state, here. Have a review roundup.

Well, this is sort of a review and sort of an ongoing game of verbal volleyball, but here: have the long-belated link to the Babel Clash I did with Devon Monk. I really miss the Borders Blog. It was a great community, and they rustled up some excellent postage. Plus they let me talk about the cold dead eyes of Care Bears.

Random Reads posted a review of Feed and Deadline, and says, "Grant constructs a very detailed and well researched world with wonderful, sympathetic characters. The action starts immediately and once it hooks you in, it doesn't let go. The pace is unrelenting, climaxing in a tragic denouement, with a scenario that I've never before seen an author attempt. I could not put this book down." Awesome.

Russ Allbery has posted a review of Feed, and says, " I utterly fell in love with this book; the world is a better place because it exists." Awwww. (The review also contains some absolutely fair criticisms, and I salute the reviewer for offering them.)

Blogcritics has posted a review of Deadline, and says, "Grant takes the political intrigue of Feed and ratchets it up to 11 to a stunning conclusion in Deadline." Victory!

And now for something completely different: Reflections on Reading Romance has reviewed Home Improvement: Undead Edition, and says, of my story, "Despite the absence of my favorite, hottie Cait Sidhe king Tybalt, the story is a delight and a great example of McGuire’s style. Definitely recommend this one!" Also: "For me the Patricia Briggs, Melissa Marr, and Seanan McGuire stories were definite highlights of the collection and more than made the purchase worth the price." Win.

I am well-pleased.

Title: Velveteen vs. The Uncomfortable Conversation.
Summary: What happens when a former child superheroine finds herself back in the business, whether she likes it or not? And what happens to her allies?

( It was a beautiful Portland night, which meant that it wasn't raining, although it had been raining an hour earlier, and would probably be raining again in another hour...Collapse )

Title: Velveteen Presents Victory Anna vs. All These Stupid Parallel Worlds.
Summary: And now for something completely different! Join one Science Heroine in her Perilous Quest to find her way to Solid Ground through the power of Science, Steam, and Epona's Own Grace.

( Victoria Cogsworth walked down the stairs into her father's underground laboratory, stepping carefully to avoid any untoward puddles of unidentified slime that might be waiting to adhere themselves to her boots...Collapse )

So in the November post I mentioned that it was weird to be coming on Christmas and not planning for Disney World. Then I realized I could fix that, and so we're going to Disneyland for my birthday in January. (January 5th. I like birthdays.) PROBLEM SOLVED!

Anyway, this is the post in which I tell you what I'm working on, and you finally understand why I don't have time for tea. To quote myself, being too harried to say something new: "These posts are labeled with the month and year, in case somebody eventually gets the crazy urge to timeline my work cycles (it'll probably be me). Behold the proof that I don't actually sleep; I just whimper and keep writing."

Please note that all books currently in print are off the list, as are those that have been turned in but not yet printed (Midnight Blue-Light Special, Parasite). The cut-tag is here to stay, because no matter what I do, it seems like this list just keeps on getting longer. But that's okay, because at least it means I'm never actively bored. I have horror movies and terrible things from the swamp to keep me company.

Not everything on this list has been sold. I will not discuss the sale status of anything which has not been publicly announced. If you can't remember whether I've announced something, check the relevant tag. Please don't ask why project X is no longer on the list.

( What's Seanan working on now? Click to find out!Collapse )

My darlingest dearest Paul Cornell asked me to write a post about one of the twelve days of Christmas for his blog, and because he has a newborn son and thus gets to ask me for free content without being looked at sadly, I wrote a post about the hidden blackbirds that come on the fourth day. Four colly birds for all of you!

Jennifer Brozek had a lovely dream and I was in it and it was wonderful, and now you can see it in illustrated, murderous form. Happiness and joy.

This Etsy store has the best handmade catnip eyeballs in the world. There is no joy like watching a cat gleefully maul a giant human eye. NO JOY IN THIS WORLD. Plus we've sold out their stock like, twice since I discovered them. Let's do it again.

I have a Tumblr now. Tumblrs are cool. And while this won't be true for long, if you go there right now, you'll actually get a lovely graphic illustration of how many fucks I have left to give. Hint: not many.

In limited edition news, A Fantasy Medley 2 and When Will You Rise remain available from Subterranean Press, and Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots remains available from ISFIC Press. Velveteen is available in hardcover and ebook formats, the others are hardcover only.

Now, this is important: all three of the books listed above are limited edition, and the print runs are really small. So while they're available now, they won't be available forever. Please keep that in mind, because I will just look sad and shake my head if asked in six months whether I have any for sale. Also, you can get When Will You Rise and Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots signed and personalized for the holidays by contacting Borderlands Books.

And that's the news.

...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!

Whee!

Jill Bearup has posted a review of One Salt Sea, complete with recreation of the book's cover, and says, "One Salt Sea is gorgeous. Well-thought-out, sparklingly witty, and heartbreakingly sad all at once." Aw, yay.

Genre Reviews has posted a review of Deadline, and says, "There are a couple of plot twists that from a lesser writer would feel gimmicky, and with someone else I'd roll my eyes and whine about them. Coming from Grant, however, I have to believe she's building up to something, and I'm more than willing to let her do the convincing, because at this point she's earned that bit of reader trust." Readers who trust me make me happy. (Warning: review contains Feed spoilers.)

calico_reaction has posted a review of Deadline, and says, "Because at this point, she's more than earned my trust as a reader. I think most, if not all, of the major complaints (unless you just didn't like the characters) people had in Feed are addressed here, and they're addressed in such a way you know it's an organic part of the story, not just the author plugging in a bit to respond to critics of the first book." More trust! And more spoilers! I love calico_reaction's reviews; even when they aren't glowingly positive, they're honest and well-thought out, and very worth reading.

Publishers Weekly has reviewed A Fantasy Medley 2, and says, "Seanan McGuire’s “Rat-Catcher,” set hundreds of years before her October Daye books, is both charming and gut-wrenching. Tight ties to established settings are sacrificed for the sake of accessibility, resulting in four excellent stand-alone stories." Woo! Shipping soon!

Mandy Reviews has posted a review of Blackout, and says, "Grant will pull you through her world at break-neck speed, she demands you stay on the ball, use that grey matter (sorry, couldn't resist) and keep up with both the characters and the science." Mmmmm. I love reviews that talk about the science.

Erin at the Toasted Cheese Literary Journal has posted a review of Ashes of Honor, and says, "Toby's world gets richer and deeper with every book, a testament to McGuire's worldbuilding ability. I've never found a trip into Toby's San Francisco (and the pockets of Faerie that overlap it) disappointing, and I'm always looking forward to the next time I can return." Yay!

That's all for right now. Bit by bit, I will conquer this link file. BIT BY BIT.

...someday.

Title: Velveteen vs. The Retroactive Continuity.
Summary: Sometimes the real danger of falling into an alternate timeline isn't the timeline itself. Sometimes it's trying to find your way home...

( Velveteen levered herself out of the impossibly warm snowbank, eyeing the red-clad figure in front of her with wary suspicion...Collapse )

The random number generator has spoken, and the random number generator has selected...

corbeau

Please use my website contact form to submit your contact information within the next twenty-four hours, or I will have to pick another winner.

Thanks to everyone who played, and watch for additional giveaways coming soon!

I have received my author's copies of When Will You Rise, and they are gorgeous. So it's time for one more giveaway. (Not saying this is definitely the last, just that it might be.) To enter...

1. Leave a comment on this entry.
2. Identify your country.
3. If you are international, state that you are willing to pay postage.

...and that's it! I'll select a winner Friday morning at 9am PST.

PLEASE NOTE: Because these are author's copies, they are signed, but are not numbered. So you will not be receiving one of the 1,000 "real" copies of the book.

Game on!

Title: Velveteen vs. The Alternate Timeline, Part II.
Summary: Into every superhero's life the occasional alternate timeline must fall. Whether she wants it to or not. Of course, then the question becomes...what if you like this new timeline better? Part I is here, if you need to refresh your memory.

( Waking was a long, slow process made more difficult by the fact that all Velveteen's muscles felt like they'd been scooped out and replaced with strips of wet cotton...Collapse )

I have just received confirmation that both When Will You Rise and Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots are now shipping! These books represent my first solo hardcovers, one under each of my names, and like so many good things, they are here for a limit time.

When Will You Rise: Stories to End the World is published by Subterranean Press, and is limited to 1,000 signed and numbered copies. This gorgeously illustrated collection contains "Countdown" and "Apocalypse Scenario #683: The Box." If you place an order within the next few days, it should reach you in time for the holidays. Oh, and did I mention that we got a starred review from Publishers Weekly? Because yeah. We totally did.

Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots is published by ISFIC Press, and is also limited to 1,000 copies. You can obtain signed copies directly from the publisher, or by contacting Borderlands Books. If you place an order within the next few days, it should reach you in time for the holidays. This volume contains the Velveteen stories through "Velveteen vs. The Blind Date," along with all-new supplemental material, an introduction by Jim Hines, and a valediction by Carrie Vaughn. I'm really happy with it.

So those are my new hardcovers, and they're beautiful, and I'm totally excited about them. Glee!

We're halfway through November, and I have to say, it's weird reaching this point in the year and not being in the process of getting ready to head for Disney World. Like, every morning I wake up going "is it Disney o'clock yet?", and then every morning I have to realize that Disney o'clock isn't coming back until May. Boo.

Anyway, this is the post in which I tell you what I'm working on, and you finally understand why I don't have time for tea. To quote myself, being too harried to say something new: "These posts are labeled with the month and year, in case somebody eventually gets the crazy urge to timeline my work cycles (it'll probably be me). Behold the proof that I don't actually sleep; I just whimper and keep writing."

Please note that all books currently in print are off the list, as are those that have been turned in but not yet printed (Midnight Blue-Light Special, Parasite). The cut-tag is here to stay, because no matter what I do, it seems like this list just keeps on getting longer. But that's okay, because at least it means I'm never actively bored. I have horror movies and terrible things from the swamp to keep me company.

Not everything on this list has been sold. I will not discuss the sale status of anything which has not been publicly announced. If you can't remember whether I've announced something, check the relevant tag. Please don't ask why project X is no longer on the list.

( What's Seanan working on now? Click to find out!Collapse )

I'll show them all!!!!

I am back from Chicago, and positively delighted to announce that the website for next year's hotly-anticipated Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination is now live for your viewing pleasure!

SEE! The table of contents!
READ! Story excerpts!
DEVOUR! Contributor interviews!
REMEMBER! To order your very own copy!

I know some people don't like buying anthologies for the sake of a single author; often, I am one of those people. But in this case, the ToC is incredible, the subject matter is delightful, and the anthologist is one of the best working in the business, which is a good indicator of quality. Check out the site, decide for yourself, and remember, when I inevitably conquer this puny planet, I will look kindly upon those with complete libraries.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I'm still recovering from Disneyland, which means I'm slow-moving and easily confused, sort of like the last dinosaur standing at the Cambrian border and going "Huh, I wonder if that comet wants to be friends with me." Here. Have some reviews. This is what my brain can handle.

Australian Speculative Fiction in Focus has posted a conversational review of the overall Newsflesh trilogy. This is a really nifty format for reviewing! I like it a lot, although it sort of prevents pull quotes. Spoilers abound, naturally, as they're discussing the series as a whole.

Geek Girls Rule has posted a review of Ashes of Honor, and says, "I enjoyed this book immensely. It was everything I want and expect from a Toby Daye novel: A fast read, an emotional roller coaster, with a fairly intricate plot." Spiffy! Also, she refers to "the Simon Torquill Traveling Show of Evil Bullshit." I would like tickets to this midway, please and thank you.

Kathy Takes On Books has posted a review of Ashes of Honor, and says, "McGuire is colorful and describes people, scenes, and battles beautifully. She does an incredible job of blending the supernatural wonders of the fae with the down home qualities of Toby and overlaying it all with very human values." I am colorful because I am secretly a Disney princess.

Jonathan Crowe has posted a review of the overall Newsflesh trilogy, and says, "The devil is in the details, which McGuire just nails: the testing and decontamination protocols, and how people's lives are distorted and diminished by them. The books say quite a bit about fear and security theatre that is certainly applicable to contemporary events, but McGuire isn't beating you about the head with an agenda here. The books' focus is first and foremost on the characters, their cares and their wants, and McGuire imbues them with life and affection, and she makes you care about them." Spoilers abound.

Calico Reaction has posted a review of "San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats," and says, "The overall story, a documentary of sorts, was so sad. And yet, weirdly cathartic. I can't describe it any other way. There were so many fantastic little moments where my heart ached for these people, especially as the story reached the end." I so want to write Space Crime Continuum fanfic, I can't even.

Finally for today, CC2K has posted a review of Ashes of Honor. Um. An advance review, originally, which says something about how behind I am on these. Anyway, she says, "If you dig urban fantasy, this is one of the best out there. If you're looking to try the genre for the first time, this series could be the place to start." Dude.

That's all for today. Catch you when I'm less prehistoric.

I am absolutely delighted to announce that my story, "Emeralds to Emeralds, Dust to Dust," will be appearing in the anthology Oz Reimagined: New Tales from the Emerald City and Beyond, edited by John Joseph Adams and Douglas Cohen. It will be available in February 2013.

Let's be honest here. You've always wanted to see a grown-up, embittered, lesbian Dorothy living with her girlfriend (Polychrome, naturally) in the slums of the Emerald City, solving crimes with the aid of her trusty gourd Friday, Jack Pumpkinhead, haven't you? Well, now you can.

And yes, this is the story that inspired me to start working on a dark urban fantasy Oz trilogy. Because sleep is for the weak, or something.

Oz!