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!

First off, I just want you to know that I had to generate three random numbers to get one winner. Why? Because the first two were people volunteering to pay postage. Thank you all so much. I should be getting more author's copies soon; once they arrive, I'll see about pulling another winner out of that post.

Secondly, the winner of this copy of Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots is sylviamcivers. Sylvia, please drop me a line via my website contact page within the next twenty-four hours. If I don't hear from you inside that window, I will have to draw another winner.

Thank you again to everyone who participated, and offered to help out. Y'all are awesome.

And the winner of Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots is...

geekhyena!

geekhyena, please send me your mailing information via my website contact form within the next twenty-four hours. If I do not receive your information, I will select another winner.

Speaking of selecting another winner, it's time for another drawing. This one is something I've been meaning to do for a while: a good faith drawing.

Look. Times are tough right now, and with the holidays coming, 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 Tuesday 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.

If this works, I'll try to do it again. Let's spread some holiday cheer...FOR JUSTICE!

ETA: This drawing is now closed. Thank you!

I have copies of Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots, and guys, it is a pretty, pretty book. Very solid, very well-designed and awesome. And that means I should give a couple of copies away.

This is the first giveaway. It is open to all, with the caveat that if you are outside the United States, you must be willing to pay postage if you win. I am sorry about that, but I can't afford international postage right now. If that's cool with you, yay! If it's not, I really am sorry, and hopefully will win the lottery soon.

To enter, leave a comment with your location (US/non-US), and what super power you would have if you lived in Velveteen's universe. Winners will be selected via random number generator, BUT! If you don't include everything above, you cannot win.

I will randomly select a winner on Sunday, November 18th, so that I can mail the book before Thanksgiving.

Good luck! Game on!

But first, a note:

I wasn't able to draw the winners when I originally said that I would, because planning and prep for Spocon got away from me. I apologize for that. At the same time, if something happens to prevent my posting winners immediately—and we live in a chaotic environment; things happen—please don't start emailing, Facebook messaging, and Tweeting me asking whether I've drawn the winners. When I draw the winners, I post them here. All you do by following me to other forums to ask why I'm late is make my stubborn kick in, and then I wind up even later.

Selecting winners takes time. I need to feed the data into the RNG, and then count, by hand, to be sure that ineligible comments (followups on original comments, comments which do not follow the stated rules) aren't selected as the winners. It can take up to half an hour, with something like this, where there are multiple factors involved. My having time to tweet from the airport doesn't mean I have time to sit and count.

Thank you for understanding.

And now...

Winning an ARC of A Fantasy Medley 2, georgiamagnolia!
Winning an ARC of When Will You Rise?, apocalypticbob!

You each have twenty-four hours to send me a mailing address, and thank you for playing! More giveaways to come!

In addition to the much-vaunted (and very pretty) Ashes of Honor ARCs, I currently have ARCs for two, yes two different Subterranean Press books. One, A Fantasy Medley 2, contains the first-ever Tybalt-centric novella, "Rat-Catcher," which explains how he first came to be a King of Cats, the origins of his name, and why, when pressed, he sometimes introduces himself to humans as "Rand Stratford." The other, When Will You Rise?, is a collection of two Mira Grant short pieces that have not previously been published in physical form. Both will be coming out this fall, as gorgeous, limited edition volumes.

Understandably, these are even more limited than normal ARCs. But they're worth the read (and the finished books...hoo, nelly). So what's a girl to do?

Give some stuff away, naturally. Specifically, one copy of each Subterranean Press ARC.

This particular giveaway is open to US residents or to non-US residents who feel like paying postage. I'm very sorry about the restriction, there, but I'm in the middle of convention season, and I don't have the spare dollars right now. To enter...

1. Comment with which book you'd like to win, and why.
2. Give your best plea to the Random Number Generator.
3. If you're a non-US resident, indicate both this and your willingness to pay postage.

I will use the RNG to choose three potential winners for each book, and then choose the plea I like best. Yes, that makes it a little arbitrary, but only a little. Winners will be selected on Wednesday, August 8th, at noon PST. The usual twenty-four hour window will then apply.

Game on!

ETA: Guys, don't tell me why you want to win/why you should win; tell the RNG why you, above all others, are the predestined owner of the book. I want you to bribe the random number generator like a corrupt politician. Have fun! Don't just tell me "because I want it." If you didn't, you wouldn't be here!

I've sat down with my old buddy, the Random Number Generator, and together, we've selected the three winners* for this ARC giveaway.

From the United States of America, huggebear and junebug130!

From the United Kingdom, _the_firedancer!

Please contact me within the next twenty-four hours, via my website contact form, to provide mailing information. Contacting me through any other means will result in your message being ignored, and a new winner being chosen.

Congratulations to everyone who won, and watch this space for more giveaways!

(*I had to draw five numbers to do this, because the first two people selected had not listed their country of origin. Even if you're sure I know where you live, if the rules say "list your country or you can't win," you must list your country, or you can't win. I'm terribly sorry not to be sending ARCs to those two people. Please, please, follow the rules as written. I hate being forced to reject entries as much as you hate not to win.)

It's time to give away more ARCs of Ashes of Honor. Do you want an Ashes of Honor ARC? Well, here's what you need to do:

To enter, simply leave a comment on this entry. The comment must be ON THE ENTRY, and not on another comment; threaded comments cannot win. I will draw the winners on Tuesday morning, July 31st.

I will be choosing three winners this time, two for US addresses (not necessarily residents, just mailing addresses), one for an international address. Please identify your country when commenting. I will post the day I draw the winners, telling you who won; winners will have twenty-four hours to contact me before I draw again. And them's the rules.

Comment, be blessed by the random number gods, profit! Game on!

ETA: Comments which do not identify the poster's shipping status (USA/non-USA) cannot win. This is because I will be selecting winners based on both the RNG and their stated location. So if you comment without telling me where you are, you cannot win unless you update that comment to include a country.

Forgive me: I was tired, and forgot to select a winner for our casting contest. Today's lucky recipient of a signed copy of Blackout is...

dimestore_romeo!

Please email me via my (not Mira's) website contact form by this time on Sunday, July 22nd, to claim your prize. Also let me know whether you want the US or UK edition. I'll need mailing info and all that, and congratulations! Truly, your geek is strong.

Thanks to everyone for participating, and we'll have Ashes of Honor giveaways shortly.

The random number generator has spoken, and ravenclawed, you are the winner of an ARC of Ashes of Honor!

Please email me via my website contact form within the next 24 hours. If I do not have an email from you by this time tomorrow night, I will choose a new winner.

Thanks to everyone who participated, and there will be more giveaways to come!

Thomas has something he'd like to show you, and since I try to go along with my cats when they have strong desires (I don't want them to chew my face off in the night), I'm going to let him be the one to display the pretty this time. The pretty, pretty, pretty.

Pretty!



He's very attached to that copy, but I have several more, and this is your opportunity to win one. Because seriously, the ARCs of Ashes of Honor are flat-out gorgeous, and would grace the very finest of homes. So...

To enter today's drawing, post a comment on this entry. The entry itself, not as a reply to someone else. I will give it through the weekend, and will select a winner via random number generator on Sunday night. Now, the important part: you really will have 24 hours to get me your info if you win, because then I'm leaving for San Diego, and will not be shipping anything until I get back. So if you want an ARC, watch this space Sunday night!

Open to international winners, but please identify your country of origin in the comment if non-US, so I'll know I need to pick up customs forms while I wait for your address.

Game on!

It's been a while since we've had a good fantasy casting thread, and this promises to be a crazy week at work, so I figure it's time to have a pretty party. This week, we're casting Feed. Feel free to cast other works in the Newsflesh universe as well (so if you want a high-profile actress for Becks, when it's essentially a cameo in the first book, explain how you'll use her in the second). Pictures are a plus!

A few things to keep in mind:

There is absolutely no reason, by the text, that the actors cast for Georgia and Shaun need to be white. George is described as "pale" after she's been inside for a long period of time, but that's it. The only characters that really need to be cast Caucasian are Buffy and the older Masons (Stacy and Michael). Buffy because she's blonde, the Masons because they're a very specific sort of suburban archetype gone horribly wrong.

Your Shaun and Georgia should be similar in age, because they're going to be playing off each other a lot.

Explaining your casting/supplying pictures is a big, big plus.

At the end of the week—well, Thursday; I'm on a plane all day Friday—I'll pick the dream cast I like best and send them a signed copy of Blackout. Because I hate the post office but hate thinking about addresses more, this is open to everyone.

Have fun!

...cmsieg! If I do not receive an email from you by 9:30 PST tonight, I will choose a new winner for the early copy of Blackout!

Please email me. :(

Don't trust your soul to no backwoods Southern lawyer, 'cause the judge in the town's got bloodstains on his hand, and the two winners of an early copy of Blackout are...

cmsieg
amberswansong

The rules!

You must send an email with your mailing information via my website contact form (mine, not Mira's) within the next twenty-four hours. If you do not, I will be forced to choose another winner. This contest was open only to the US, UK, and Canada. If you do not live in one of those places, please let me know, so I can select another winner.

Your books will be sent by Orbit, not by me. So I just need addresses, and then it's out of my hands.

Congratulations to our winners, and more giveaways to come!

Submitted for by my publisher for your approval...

***

Yesterday, io9 published an excerpt of Blackout, the final book in the Newsflesh trilogy. Today, an intrepid Newsie hacked into the CDC computer system and liberated another file. For this one, though, you'll have to do a little digging...

Below is a puzzle whose answer reveals one of the five codes you'll need to access the second, top-secret document.

( Click here for the party.Collapse )

The random number generator has spoken, and the winners of an ARC of Discount Armageddon are...

From the US, druidspell and fae_of_the_rose!

Internationally, hiyokonojinsei!

Congratulations! And now...THE RULES.

1. You must contact me within 24 hours of this announcement to claim your prize. Otherwise, a new winner will be chosen, and while I will be sorry, I will not recant.

2. You must contact me through my website contact page. LJ messages will not be acknowledged.

3. You must include a valid shipping address for me to send your prize to.

If you do all these things, joy and wonder will be yours! Thanks to everyone for playing, and there should be a few more giveaways before release day.

It's time to give away more ARCs of Discount Armageddon. Do you want a Discount Armageddon ARC? Well, here's what you need to do:

To enter, simply leave a comment on this entry. The comment must be ON THE ENTRY, and not on another comment; threaded comments cannot win. I will draw the winners on Wednesday morning, February 8th.

I will be choosing three winners this time, two for US addresses (not necessarily residents, just mailing addresses), one for an international address. Please identify your country when commenting. I will post the day I draw the winners, telling you who won; winners will have twenty-four hours to contact me before I draw again. And them's the rules.

Comment, be blessed by the random number gods, profit! Game on!

ETA: Comments which do not identify the poster's shipping status (USA/non-USA) cannot win. This is because I will be selecting winners based on both the RNG and their stated location. So if you comment without telling me where you are, you cannot win unless you update that comment to include a country.

I still need addresses for the following:

jhyanmar
thebluerose

If you're one of these two people, I need to hear from you ASAP. I would normally have drawn new winners by now, but have been too busy...which could work in your favor if you contact me, via my website's contact link, within the next twenty-four hours! After that, I will need to put your ARCs back into the pile to be given away.

Come on, help me give you things!

First up, sorry for the delay: I decided that I hadn't spent enough quality time with the exciting stomach bug that's touring around the country and became vilely ill to make up for it. Details are not forthcoming. You're welcome. Technically, I'm still ill, but I can at least sit up and type now, which is more than I could manage yesterday.

Because so many people had great "why I should win a copy of Discount Armageddon" answers, and because I am still sick, I gave up on being arbitrary and leaned on the random number generator instead. Our winners are...

jhyanmar
kalenodonnell

But because I did say I was going to be arbitrary, and because I found a few extra ARCs in my mailbox yesterday, I am also going to send a copy to...

thebluerose

Because New Zealand needs cryptids.

If you're one of our winners, please send me your mailing address via my website contact form within the next twenty-four hours. If I don't have your contact info by then, I'll choose a new winner. (thebluerose, you and I will also need to work out shipping; we can do that after you contact me.)

For everybody else: what kind of giveaway should we do next? LOLcryptids? Poetry? Art? Cookies? The sky's the limit, and I want to know what you think.

And now I'm gonna go lie down.

Who wants an ARC of Discount Armageddon? No, really: who really wants it?

For this giveaway, we're going to mix and match effort with laziness. Comment on this entry with why you—yes, you—should receive an ARC of the first InCryptid adventure. Be creative. Be insane. Whatever makes you happy. On Friday, at noon PST, I will use our friend the Random Number Generator to select a winner. I will then read through the entries and select my favorite as a second winner. Yes, it's totally arbitrary. But it's also stated right up front, so I don't feel bad.

This contest is open to all North American residents without any restrictions, and to non-North American residents who either a) have a North American mailing address or b) are willing to pay me postage. I do apologize for that, it's just that I can't afford to ship a lot of stuff overseas right now. And now...

Game on!

And the winner of the random number generator drawing is...

bookgirlr!

Please contact me with your mailing address via my website contact form by 8am PST on Wednesday, December 14th. If I have not received your contact information by this time, I will be forced to select another winner.

And speaking of other winners...

it_aint_easy also wins an ARC, for making me laugh so hard with his entry comment that Diet Dr Pepper came out of my nose. This isn't something I've done before, and it's not likely to be something I do again, but seriously. You make me laugh until I can't breathe, you deserve a little recognition.

Again, please contact me with your mailing address via my website contact form by 8am PST on Wednesday, December 14th. If I have not received your contact information by this time, I will not be sending your ARC. (I also won't be choosing another winner, as this was Crazy Bonus Prize.)

More giveaways and excitement to come!

I have the Discount Armageddon ARCs, and they are GORGEOUS OMG GORGEOUS. Beyond gorgeous. They are perfect in every conceivable way, and all other books weep with the knowledge that they are not my Discount Armageddon ARCs.

Do you want a Discount Armageddon ARC?

Welcome to giveaway number one! To enter, simply leave a comment on this entry. The comment must be ON THE ENTRY, and not on another comment; threaded comments cannot win. I will draw a winner on Tuesday morning, December 13th.

This giveaway is open only to occupants of the United States, because the post office near me has been out of customs forms for a week, and I can't promise to mail anything internationally before I leave for Disney World. I will do a more widely-open giveaway in a few weeks.

Comment, be blessed by the random number gods, profit! Game on!

ETA: A winner has been chosen! All hail to the RNG.

Tomorrow is the release of One Salt Sea. Tomorrow. It's being spotted in the wild; I couldn't take this book back if I wanted to. And to be quite honest, I don't want to. I'm excited as all hell to know that you're about to have the chance to read it. I hope you will. And because I am a blonde who is disturbingly fond of feeding her cats, I hope you'll buy it, too, and enjoy it as much as I enjoy knowing that it's out there.

I am currently working on Ashes of Honor, and am literally making this post to free up some tabs. So here, have some links:

Book Banter is doing a giveaway, in which you can win a copy of One Salt Sea. I love the gang at Book Banter. They are awesomesauce. So enter, and win!

Sara Anne, who I found through Twitter, has an excellent post on why official publication dates matter, and hence why authors get a little sniffly when people talk about finding their books early. I would really, truly love to make the NYT again with this book. I would love to make the print list even more, since that would mean I'd have something to frame. If I make the print list, I will do a giveaway the likes of which has never before been seen. Just saying.

And look! One Salt Sea is a Night Owl Reviews Top Pick! Hooray! I'm totally thrilled, because this is totally awesome. Hooray for good reviews!

See you tomorrow!

After getting waylaid by life, I have finally selected the winners of our two most recent ARC giveaways! The random number generator has spoken, and the random number generator chooses...

judifilksign for Pimp My Website!
tal125 for Graphic Fun!

Please submit your mailing address via my website contact form. I will mail your ARC when I get home from WorldCon (Judi, if I'm going to see you next weekend at Context, just make sure to let me know, and I'll hand-deliver yours). Which brings us to...

I am about to leave for Reno, and will be gone until Sunday night. I will be catching up on my mailing when I get home (so, Monday). If you are expecting something from me, the odds are extremely good that it has not been sent out yet, and will be sent this coming Monday. I'm sorry for any inconvenience. It turns out that I have a carrying capacity. Who knew?

I now return you to your regularly scheduled program.

Since website issues are thankfully limited, I'm going to kick off a second ARC giveaway. This one will be open until Monday, and is one of the ones that requires actual effort (sorry about that). This time, we're going visual! Make icons, do a photo manip, draw a picture, grab some friends and pose, whatever makes you happy. The rules:

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

2. LOLcats are also eligible.

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

4. That's all.

The winner will be chosen Monday, August 15th, via random number generator.

So here's the deal. I have two websites, and I maintain them both myself, manually. That means nothing changes unless I go in and change it. The sites are here:

http://www.seananmcguire.com/
http://miragrant.com/

Parts of these sites are quite out of date, because I have been a busy little bee. We are thus going to play a little game.

Step 1: Go to my website. Either one.
Step 2: Poke around until you see something that could use improvement. A typo, a missing link, an unclear question on the FAQ, even a missing question on the FAQ. (Pages that aren't linked at all, like the Field Guide, or don't exist, don't count. Those are future improvements, not current issues.
Step 3: Post here, suggesting a correction/update.
Step 4: Step away from the website.

I will be making updates and corrections, partially based on this post, for the next week. On Friday, I will use our friend, random number generator, to choose a winner of an ARC of One Salt Sea (US-only, unless you can help with postage). No matter what, everybody benefits, since the end result should be an easier-to-use website.

Game on!

The random number generator has spoken, and our latest winner is...

bzarcher!

Thanks to everyone who participated. bzarcher, please submit your mailing address via my website contact form by noon PST on Tuesday, August 2nd. If I do not receive your contact information by this time, I will select another winner.

More giveaways and goodies will be forthcoming, as we approach the official release of One Salt Sea into the world.

Whee!

Who wants to win an ARC of One Salt Sea? Good. I'm going to make it easy on you, because I'm feeling mellow that way. To enter...

1. Comment on this entry. Be sure you're commenting on the entry, not on someone else's comment; only comments left on the actual entry will be eligible.
2. Tell me one thing you think will happen (or hope will happen) in One Salt Sea. You don't have to be serious! Make something up if it amuses you. I love me some silliness.
3. Wait.

I will choose a winner, using our old friend, Random Number Generator, on Monday, August 1st. So yes, this is a very short contest, and you should get in while the getting is good.

Game on!

As most of you are probably aware by now, I collect generation one My Little Ponies from the 1980s. I have something on the order of two hundred plastic horses, a bunch of the playsets, and an open door policy toward boxes of Ponies found in attics of childhood homes. (Seriously. It's amazing how often people write me and go "I found this box, do you want it?" I have several Ponies I love very much that I acquired in this manner.)

As I slowly prepare to move, I've been sorting, indexing, and packing large portions of my Pony collection. I don't actually have a comprehensive list of what I do or don't have; a lot of my Ponies came from eBay job lots, or from the aforementioned attic finds, so there are duplicates, and Ponies whose names I don't know.

I mentioned on Twitter that I was doing this. And one of my Tweeps, a very lovely paranormal romance writer named Delilah, asked if I had her favorite, a yellow Rainbow Pony Pegasus named Skydancer. She lost her Skydancer in a fire when she was a kid. I understand losing Ponies. Part of why I collect is because I lost my childhood collection before I was ready to part with it. I affirmed that I did have Skydancer, and more, that I had a duplicate, and would she like her?

She would like her.

Skydancer has reached Delilah, and is finally home. I have reunited someone with their favorite Pony. And it strikes me that this is the thing we often don't want to understand about fear, or pain, or grief, or loss. Sometimes, we need to focus on the little things to survive the big ones. When a house burns down, we mourn a toy. When a grandparent dies, we get upset about missing a TV show. It's not being petty. It's coping with small so the big doesn't break you.

To quote Delilah: "I have Skydancer again. It's like a tiny little wound in my soul healed, risen like a rainbow-haired phoenix. What is lost can be found."

I feel like the world is going to be okay today.

Late, but not forgotten! The winner of the random number casting game is...

thatrainbow! Your entry showed thought, effort, and creativity. So clearly, the random number generator has taste. Please email me, using my website contact form, and give your mailing address. I will then sign an ARC of One Salt Sea and send it off to be your loving buddy.

And the judge's choice bonus prize goes to...psiten! psiten, you may choose any one of my published books (the first four Toby books, the first two Newsflesh books, or the first three Toby books in German), and I will send it to you. For this magical thing to happen, you must first send me your mailing address, via my website contact form, along with the title you want to receive.

Thanks to everyone for playing; the next contest will be slightly lower-impact, as it will be overlapping San Diego, and I will not have the brain.

It's time for ARC giveaway #3...the casting call! Here's how this is going to work:

1. Leave a comment on this post with YOUR DREAM CAST for ANY of my projects. Want to cast the Toby books? How about Feed? Or Sparrow Hill Road? Have the perfect actress in mind for Velveteen? The sky's the limit!

1b. Be sure your comment starts its own thread. Only casting choices left on the original post (not as a comment on someone else's comment) will count as entries. You can suggest cast members for someone else's dream team, but they won't be entries.

2. One entry per project per person (so you can cast the Toby books and the InCryptid books in different comments, but not enter twice with different Toby casts).

3. Explain your cast in the comment. Why are they perfect? Why should we agree with you?

And then...GAME ON! I will choose a winner via random number generator on Friday, at 5PM PST. I reserve the right to supply a bonus prize or prizes for the person whose cast amuses me most, or strikes me as the best supported. (Yes, you can use my casting choices, but you do need to explain why you agree with them.)

Go Hollywood or go home!

To the surprise of absolutely no one, and despite strong showings by poodles and doll collections, the winner of the second ARC of One Salt Sea is ladyaraia and her massive group photo recreation of book three! Congratulations, and please get me your contact information by Sunday evening, through the form on my website, or another winner will be selected.

Thanks to everyone who participated, and I'll be opening the next contest on Monday.

Well, it's time; time to vote. Five entries have been selected by the random number generator, and five entries have been selected by me. Now it's in your hands. Choose your favorite, shill for your favorite, whatever works for you. The poll will remain open until Friday afternoon, at which point I will announce who gets an ARC of their very own.

Game on!

It's time for the second ARC giveaway for One Salt Sea, the fifth of the October Daye adventures. As per the usual pattern around here, this is the giveaway that requires a little more effort. To whit:

For this giveaway, we're going visual! Take a copy of one of my books. Take a pet, prop, or even a small child, whatever suits your fancy. An Artificial Night being held by a little girl with a candle in her other hand? A Local Habitation being used to prop up your DSL modem? Late Eclipses being menaced by an army of My Little Ponies? Whatever you can set up and snapshot, I want to see!

Post your pictures (or links to your pictures) here. On Tuesday, July 5th, I will choose my five favorites, and allow the random number generator to select five more. These will go up as a poll, and the world can vote! The final winner will be determined at 8am PST on Friday, July 8th. North American entries only this time, I'm afraid; I just can't afford the international postage right now. I'm sorry about that.

Be creative, be quirky, have fun, and show me what awesome things you can do with a camera, a book, and the desire to own One Salt Sea before your neighbors do!

Game on!

Well, it's a few hours late, but I've selected the winner of the first giveaway ARC of One Salt Sea. The random number generator has spoken, and the winner is...

...jaimecallahan.

Please contact me by noon PST on Sunday, using the "contact" form on my website. Provide your mailing address. If you do not contact me by noon on Sunday, I will choose another winner. Do not expose mermaids to water after midnig—oh, wait, it's unavoidable. Do not enter water when mermaids are present. Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.

Giveaway #2 will be announced next week. Thanks, everybody!

Yes, it's time for the moment you've all been waiting for: the moment where I give away the first ARC of One Salt Sea, the fifth book in the October Daye series. Today seems like a good day to open the contest, being as it's the summer solstice and all. Longest day of the year means free stuff for somebody! So...

Who wants to win an ARC? About what I figured. I'll have some more effort-intensive contests in a little bit, but first up, it's our old favorite, the random drawing. To enter, please do the following:

1) Leave a comment on this entry. Leave it as a comment on the entry, please, not on someone else's comment. Comments left on other comments cannot win.

2) That's all.

Please don't comment going "pick me, pick me," if you could be so kind. I don't pick anyone. The random number generator picks the winner, and it is a cruel mistress which has never yet picked a comment containing "pick me." Instead, why not tell me why you're excited about this book? I'd really love to know.

I will choose a winner at 2PM PST on Friday, June 24th.

Game on!

ETA: Y'all, please remember that I won't answer questions posed on a random number giveaway post. It messes up my ability to cleanly locate a winner, and that just makes things frustrating for everyone.

1. Deborah (the Lovely Assistant for the Wicked Girls shirt project) is now contacting anyone whose payment hasn't been received via LJ comment, in an effort to give folks every possible chance to complete their order before we go to press. Remember, this is a limited-run thing, so we're not making more shirts than have been paid for, at least not for general sale (I may make and squirrel away a few extras, but that isn't going to help you if you haven't checked your email for her payment request). So if you're still trying to complete your order, please do so ASAP.

2. Speaking of completing things...my LJ comments got a little bit away from me, with over 600 waiting in the queue at one point. I've managed to peck and pick them down to 74 comments in need of answers, and I'm going to be trying to get to all of those this week. If you left me a comment and didn't hear back, and you thought I was ignoring you, I wasn't. (This applies to first comments only; I don't reply to all replies, I would lose my mind. Also remember that I declared amnesty for all comments left on the countdown, and will not be answering those.)

3. I am still waiting to hear back from all winners in Friday's Deadline drawing. Specifically, I have not yet heard back from irish_ais. If I do not hear from you by 5PM PST tonight, I will be choosing a new winner. Sorry about that.

4. I'm going to be doing my first giveaway of an ARC of One Salt Sea (Toby Daye #5) later this week. Watch this space for details.

5. Here is a lovely interview with Elizabeth McClellan which mentions, among other things, "Wicked Girls," Sooj, Amal's splendid Honey Month, and Cat Valente. Go, read, be delighted.

That's all for right now. What's new with you?

Well, I promised two copies of Deadline and one set of promotional buttons, to be given out via random number generator. The numbers have been generated, and the random has spoken. Your winners are...

Deadline winner #1: briargrey!
Deadline winner #2: arison!

And the winner of the buttons is...

irish_ais!

If you have won a prize, please contact me with your mailing information via my website contact form by noon PST on Sunday, June 19th. Anyone who does not contact me will have their prize given to someone else. Sorry about that.

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

Item the first: remember that I currently have a random-number giveaway for Deadline and some swag gathering entries. I'll be picking my three winners tomorrow. For details on how to enter and what you can potentially win, please see the post I've linked above. Go ahead. I can wait.

Item the second: this has literally been sitting in my link soup for a year, waiting for me to find something that makes it topical. As I have failed, I am now providing the link in isolation, because it amuses me. Moshez comments on zombies and weapons, and why my Horror Survival FAQ is sometimes sub-optimal. Join me in giggling.

Item the third: while I'm linking to random crap that makes me smile, here. Have the Animal Review review of the deep sea anglerfish. They give the anglerfish an overall F for being horrifying and upsetting and not really very friendly at all. Amusingly enough, these are all the reasons I give the anglerfish an overall A. For AWESOME.

Item the fourth: I can't remember if I ever actually linked to these, despite their being, you know, mad awesome, so here. Have a link to some absolutely gorgeous icons that were made using lyrics from my latest album, Wicked Girls. The icons, which are by snowishness, cannot help but make me happy, and so I am sharing them with you.

Item the fifth: Megan Lara's art is pure hammered awesome.

Item the sixth: I managed to find the Dead Tired Frankie Stein doll last night, which means a) I now have all the individual Dead Tired dolls except for Cleo De Nile, who I'm hoping to find this weekend, b) everyone at my local Toys R Us knows me on sight, and c) I am a total nerd. I am, thus far, a total nerd who has managed to resist the lure of the ball-jointed Soom doll, however, so I'm calling this a win for me, even as I call it a loss for my shelf space.

Item the seventh: I am so tired it physically hurts. I have to sleep tonight, or I'm just going to dissolve off my own bones like an overcooked chicken or one of those airline passengers in the first episode of Fringe. I didn't sleep at all on Tuesday night, and last night was our first really hot night of the summer, so the cats kept waking me up to freak out. Please play nicely today, as I may start to tremble and cry otherwise.

What's news with you?

Who likes free stuff? I know I do! Plus I just got my author's copies of the North American edition of Deadline, which is gorgeous and makes me happy. Also I have a fantastic book trailer. So how can I combine these things?

Like this.

I am giving away two signed copies of the North American edition of Deadline to people who watch and link to the book trailer. To enter, do the following:

1. Watch the trailer, because it is awesome. If you have a YouTube account, you can also leave a comment to let Lauren, who did the graphic design, know how awesome it is. This is optional.

2. Link to the trailer. Blog, Facebook, Twitter, bathroom wall graffiti (although in that case, I want a picture).

3. Comment here letting me know that you have done both things.

...and that's all. I'll pick two winners via random number on Friday, and then? Wonderful goodness can be arriving in your mailbox! North American entries only, please, unless you're willing to pay some of the postage; shipping books outside the continent is just too expensive for me right now. :( I'm sorry about that.

But wait, there's more. I will pick a third winner, also by random number, and they will receive an exclusive button set—one each of the Feed and Deadline buttons made by Orbit for handing out at conventions. Not sold in any store! Totally spiffing!

Oh, and because this trailer launched last week, step #2 can absolutely be retroactive. So if you already blogged or Tweeted or whatever, just let me know, and I'll enter you in the drawing. Not that I'd object to your doing it again, but my goal here is not spamming the internet, because spamming the internet makes people sad and bitey.

You know what comes next:

GAME ON!

The random number generator has spoken! And it says the winners of Whedonistas are...

firebirdgrrl
jeffreycwells

Congratulations! Please send me your mailing information via my website contact form within the next twenty-four hours to receive your prize. If I don't hear from you by the time I rise from the depths of sleep tomorrow morning, I'll choose a new winner. For which I apologize, but well, that's the only way to maintain order around here.

For those of you who are waiting for me to mail you something: I will be packing posters for mailing out tonight, and doing the mass mailing on Monday. I currently have four paid posters pending (say that five times fast). If you wanted to order a "Wicked Girls" poster, now would be a good time to do it, as it would get you into a guaranteed mail batch (IE, Monday). I will be deleting all unpaid poster requests on Monday the 21st, which should free up several numbered posters. Again, I apologize, but I can't hold things forever. If you have not received a poster, and think you've paid, feel free to email me.

Interview and giveaway over at My Bookish Ways! I'm mailing the prizes, so they will be signed. Go ye forth, and participate. Or point people at the interview, and let them participate. I'm pretty easy, as such things go.

Descended From Darkness, Volume II is now available from the Apex Book Company, and contains my story, "Dying With Her Cheer Pants On," a Fighting Pumpkins adventure that first appeared in Apex Magazine. If you're trying to acquire the whole pumpkin patch, this book is a must. Also, you know. Rah rah supporting Apex, lots of other awesome stories (seriously, some of them blew my socks off), go team. But it's early in the morning where I am, so "GO PUMPKINS!" is about the extent of my brain.

What's news with you?

I have received my copies of Whedonistas [Amazon]|[Mysterious Galaxy]! This book is a celebration of all things related to Joss Whedon, with essays from lots of wonderful writers, and interviews with some of the people actually involved with the shows! Buffy to Dollhouse, it's all here.

I don't really need four copies for my very own. So...

In my essay, I talk about my love of Buffy, and how it helped me grow into myself as both a fannish adult and a professional author. Others talk about finding community through the Browncoats, or the treatment of good and evil in Angel, or the Hero's Journey of Dr. Horrible. If you're a Whedon fan, you probably have a story of your own. Tell it! Be as detailed or as brief as you like. On Friday, I shall unleash our old friend, Random Number Generator, to pick two winners, each of whom* will receive a copy of Whedonistas.

The book officially comes out next Tuesday, so even if you don't win, you should absolutely pick up a copy for the Whedon fan in your life. Or in your head. Whatever floats your boat.

Game on!

(*North American entries only, please, unless you're willing to pay postage. I just can't afford it right now, I'm sorry.)

Item the first:

lilysea was one of our winners in the random book drawing, but had forgotten that she had already ordered a copy of Late Eclipses. So, because she is a glorious and generous soul, she has allowed me to draw a new winner! calico_reaction, you have won a copy of Late Eclipses of your very own. Please email me with your contact information, so that I can get your book into the mail. As always, you have twenty-four hours (although I may not pick again if you don't claim your prize, as I want to do my mailing this week).

Item the second:

All my cats share the same favorite toy, a fuzzy red squid on a stick from the Animal Planet line of cat toys. They made cat toys for like, six weeks, and then discontinued them, which is terrible, because their toys were AWESOME. The squid is the last survivor of the original batch, and is put carefully away when not in use, since otherwise the fur squad would turn it into so much cotton calimari.

Last night, Thomas and I had a good squid-swing, and I put the squid away, not noticing as I did that he was watching, intently, to see where it went. On a shelf. Six feet above the ground. Fifteen minutes later, I heard a loud clatter, and got up to see what was going on. Nothing appeared to have been knocked over; I shrugged and went back to watching Glee.

Clatter clatter clatter. Clatter. The hell? I got up again, and discovered that the clattering noise was the stick, banging against things, as Thomas proudly toted the squid around the house. I took it away. I put it away. Ten minutes later...

CLATTER.

Sigh.

So yeah. Maine Coons are a) capable of logic, and b) big enough that they can jump really bloody high when they want something. You have been warned.

Thanks to everyone who participated in my recent massive drawing for free copies of my books! After feeding everyone's names into an Excel file (to sort them) and then into a random number generator, the winners are...

Rosemary and Rue winner #1: amber_fool
Rosemary and Rue winner #2: bahnree

An Artificial Night winner #1: Dayle Dermatis
An Artificial Night winner #2: myre_angel

Late Eclipses winner #1: gwyd
Late Eclipses winner #2: lilysea

And now, the fine print! Each of you has twenty-four hours to contact me, via my website contact link, with your mailing information. If you're outside North America, we can work out postage payment at that time. If I do not hear from you within twenty-four hours, I will draw another winner for your prize. I kept the file just in case this happens.

Thanks again to everyone who tossed their name into the hat; watch this space for more giveaways and drawings.

It's time for my exciting Book Four GIVEAPALOOZA!!!! (Cue iCarly excited crowd noises.) Because Late Eclipses drops in just eleven days, I want to get everybody excited through the most basic means available to me:

Giving things away.

Specifically, I am giving away six books: two copies each of Rosemary and Rue (book one, for beginners!), An Artificial Night (get caught up!), and Late Eclipses (because new releases are awesome!). This giveaway is open only to North American addresses, unless you indicate in your entry that you're willing to pay postage. I'm really sorry about that, I just can't afford to both give books away and ship them overseas.

So here's how this will work:

1. Leave a comment on this entry. Leave it on the entry, please, not in response to another comment (replies to comments cannot win).
2. Indicate which book you want.
3. Indicate why you want it. Be as factual or as ridiculous as you like. Is it your birthday? Do you plan to encase it in amber and throw it in the ocean? Are termites involved? Have a party!
4. If you are outside North America, and willing to pay postage, include this in your comment.

...and that's all. The winners will be selected by our old friend, Random Number Generator, on Tuesday, February 22nd.

Game on!

ETA: Guys, remember, An Artificial Night is book THREE. I sadly do not have any copies of book two in this giveaway, and if you try to read book three or four without reading books one and two, you're going to be really, really confused.

Thanks to everyone who submitted questions for my latest wacky ARC giveaway. The random number generator has spoken, and our first winner is...

...alicetheowl! Alice, please email me via my website contact form within the next twenty-four hours to claim an ARC of Late Eclipses for your VERY OWN. Blah blah failure to contact me will be taken as not wanting your prize, blah blah picking a new winner, blah blah do not taunt happy funball, blah blah YAY YOU'RE A WINNER NOW LET ME MAIL YOU THINGS!

Our second winner, selected by using the random number generator again, this time on a list of my favorite questions, is...

...seawench! Congratulations! Lady of the Waters, please email me via my website contact form within the next twenty-four hours to claim an ARC of Late Eclipses for your waterlogged enjoyment (book is not waterproof, management is not responsible for damages stemming from attempting to read in your submerged living room). Again, blah blah blah blah follow the rules or I'll have your voice and it'll be NO LEGS YOU FOR, YOUNG LADY.

And that's our giveaway! More to come, because I like giving out prizes when I'm twitchy (and wow does waiting for a book to drop make me twitchy). Thanks again for participating, everybody, it was super fun!

1. I'm still taking entries in my "ask a question, win an ARC" drawing. Remember that two prizes will be awarded, one by our old friend, Random Number Generator (oh, Genny, you're so capricious), and once by me choosing the best question of the bunch. Please, please don't ask for spoilers. Ask questions that would potentially be found in an FAQ, even one as profoundly silly as mine.

2. I'm a Barbie girl! Well. Sometimes. The brilliant Tara O'Shea (who does my website graphics, and isn't she amazing?) does Barbie customs, because she is marginally insane, and is now making me my very own Alice Price-Healy, because I am marginally insane. Tracking down 1/6th scale weapons and camping gear is surprisingly soothing. As is the part where, when I'm done, I get to ship it all off to Tara, and not deal with it until it comes back as a real, live Barbie of one of my characters. My life is so hard sometimes. (This will not be my first custom Barbie. That honor goes to Lt. Anis Bihari of the USS Rutan. She has spots!)

3. According to DAW, finished copies of Late Eclipses now exist, and I should have mine in a week or so. So you can look forward to pictures of Thomas putting the now-traditional toothmarks in the cover of my file copy, right before I start hyperventilating.

4. Yesterday, I went to two flea markets with my mother and youngest sister, both of whom acquired Immense Amounts of Crap. Despite bringing my naked Gloom Beach Draculaura along so that I could try clothes on her (Monster High dolls can wear many Bratz and Moxie Girl fashions), I managed not to buy anything except for a bottle of water. I compensated for this by swinging through the Berkeley Half-Price Books and acquiring yet another sack of books I won't get around to reading for a month or more. I need help.

5. And by "help," I mean "I need someone to come over and shelve things with me for about seven hours solid." Even that may not conquer the leaning piles of literature and restore my capacity to see the floor, but I am occasionally a crazy idealist where such things are concerned.

6. In an effort to not be a total wreck today, I spent about two hours last night sitting on the couch, watching telly. Specifically, the post-Superbowl episode of Glee, which I loved, and the first episode of the North American Being Human, which I loved. So it was a night full of love. That's even before you take into account the seven-month-old Maine Coon draped across my lap, loving me so loudly that I had to turn up the volume on the TV (kid has a purr like a lawnmower).

7. CD Baby has sent me their restock request, and so I'll be mailing them restock of Wicked Girls, Red Roses and Dead Things, and Pretty Little Dead Girl tomorrow. If you're looking for Stars Fall Home, I really am sold out, but Southern Fried Filk has several, as do many other filk dealers I know.

That's my Monday. What's new in the world of you?

Whee! Time for another ARC giveaway! Once again, I'm giving away an ARC of Late Eclipses, the fourth book in the October Daye series, which comes out in twenty-seven days. So you could get an early chance to find out what's going on! Also, I'm actually giving away two books this time. Curious? Read on!

If you've been to my website recently, you may have noticed that my Toby FAQs are a trifle, well, sparse. Whole books are missing. Since I'm getting ready to shuffle things around to make room for InCryptid, I'd like to fix this. So here's what you need to do to enter today's ARC giveaway:

1) Leave a comment on this entry containing a suggested question for one of my FAQs. FAQ-type questions only, please, like "Is the date at the beginning of An Artificial Night correct?" or "Why has Quentin's hair changed color?", not "Will Toby and Tybalt ever get together?" or "Is there going to be a movie?"

2) Leave the comment on its own, please, not as a reply to someone else's comments. Comments on comments can't win, even if they have the BEST QUESTION EVER.

3) That's all.

Now here's the twist: I will be choosing two winners. One will be chosen by the random number generator, cruel mistress that it is, and the other will be chosen by me, based purely on my personal "that's the BEST question" reaction. Also, I will use your questions to improve the FAQ, so really, everybody wins.

I will choose a winner at 2PM PST on Tuesday, February 8th.

Game on!

Point the first: the winner of our random drawing "picture of your pet with one of my books" contest is...the_liz666! Please contact me via my website contact link within the next twenty-four hours to claim your prize. If you don't, I will choose another winner. Also, can I just say, I am SO VERY GLAD this was an explicitly random number-based contest? If I had to choose from the awesome, awesome entries, my head would have exploded. There was Perry the Platypus! And cats! And videos! And fish! AND A FRIKKIN' TIGER! I have the best fans in the whole world.

Point the second: I recently received some old ARCs from my publisher, found during one of the rare but vital "let's clean all the things" sessions. Is anyone out there doing cool art projects with books right now? I have two copies of A Local Habitation and three of An Artificial Night, and I'd love to see them turned into something awesome. Let me know if you have any ideas about where these books could go. (Donating them to a women's shelter doesn't work very well, because they're ARCs; they don't stand up well to repeat reading. Turning them into art, on the other hand, is both awesome and forever. Everybody wins!)

Point the third: I need to do a few more contests, naturally, before finished copies of Late Eclipses start showing up. Does anybody have any cool suggestions? And no, "Just give it to me" doesn't could, and may get you swatted at.

It's time for another ARC giveaway, this one requiring slightly more effort than the usual "random draw." I've noticed that there's always a spike in book orders right after I post pictures of one or more of my cats being adorable with a book (expect pictures of Thomas with An Artificial Night in the near future). So we're doing pet photography again! The rules:

1. Take a copy of my book.
2. Take a pet (your own, or someone else's, although you should ask before borrowing the neighbor's cat).
3. Take a picture.
4. Post the picture.

Entries will be taken until the morning of Monday the 24th, at which point I will use the random number generator to choose from amongst the eligible submissions. I reserve the right to award a second prize if there's a picture that just slays me, like if someone gives a copy of Feed to a tiger or gives a copy of Rosemary and Rue to a dolphin. Be creative, have fun, and show me your pets!

(Yes, small children in cat costumes count as pets for purposes of this contest, but they have to be yours.)