It's the holiday season, and nice things are vital to our continued equilibrium. Equilibrium is nice! And so I present you with some nice things, to maintain this blessed state.

First of all, The Toby Wallpapers and Icons page has been updated over on my website. You can now download some basic wallpapers and icons for Late Eclipses, as well as wallpapers and icons for Nebelbann (the German edition of A Local Habitation). Plus there's a fantastic new wallpaper/icon set for An Artificial Night, showing dear Katie, all toned in beautiful blues and whites.

Second of all, the cover for Late Eclipses has been nominated as one of the Beautiful Book Covers of 2011. While I'd love it if you'd go and vote for me, this counts as a nice thing because some of these covers are truly gorgeous, and I hadn't seen the majority of them before. I'm really excited about the books coming out in 2011! It's going to be a banner year for reading.

Third of all, because I am me and I truly do regard this as "a nice thing," here is a list of really cute animals that will seriously fuck you up if given the opportunity to do so. Hooray! Some of these animals are really cute. And all of them are really included to make you wish that you'd never been born. I tend to regard this as awesome.

Happy Wednesday!

A little while ago, Lauren (who designed the fantastic covers for Feed and Deadline) emailed to ask if I might have a parody of "The Night Before Christmas" that related to dead things just, you know. Lying around. I did not. But I did have a history in filk, and access to the original poem. So fifteen or so minutes later, "I do not" became "sure!" and I was able to send Lauren a nice, zombie-filled bit of Christmas fear.

Because Lauren is insanely awesome, she promptly turned it into a poster. And because Orbit is insanely awesome, you can now download this gruesome collaboration in a variety of exciting formats. It's suitable for use as an e-card, a computer wallpaper, or even a printed holiday letter.

So from all of us to all of you, have yourself a scary little Christmas now.

It's time for the fifth winter giveaway, and for me to get a little bit odd (yes, even by local standards). See, the book I'm giving away this time is one I didn't write: In A Gilded Light, by Jennifer Brozek. Why am I giving it away? Because I wrote the introduction, which makes this key to having a complete collection, as well as being a just plain awesome book.

Again, this is a random drawing—leave a comment, potentially win a book. Yes, if you're winning it for someone else, I will happily mail it to them. I'm afraid I can't promise to have it signed for you unless you want to wait until after New Year's for me to mail the book, since Jennifer isn't technically local, but the book remains bad-ass, even sans signature.

Just comment here to be entered in the drawing. A winner will be chosen Monday afternoon. Game on!

The nominees for the 2010 Goodreads Choice Awards have been announced, and PRAISE THE GREAT PUMPKIN, I've been nominated not once, but twice!!! To quote the email sent to inform me of this delicious little slice of awesome...

"The Goodreads Choice Awards reflect what readers like. There were no secret committees. We did not defer to experts or look at book sales or previous awards. Goodreads nominated 15 books in 23 categories by analyzing statistics about books read by our members from the 47 million books added, rated, and reviewed on the site in 2010. Official nominees were selected based on a book's popularity and average rating among Goodreads members, so a nomination is truly an honor because it comes from your readers!"

So thank you, readers! And, you know. Cats, or whoever else may have decided to put my books into their system. I've been nominated in two different categories: Feed, written under the name "Mira Grant," is up for the Goodreads Choice Award for Science Fiction, and An Artificial Night is up for a Goodreads Choice Award for Paranormal Fantasy. The polls are open to all readers for the entire month of December, and the winners will be announced in January. Specifically, on January 5th. My birthday.

An award would be so much cooler than a card. I'm just saying. Here are the links to the respective voting pages:

http://www.goodreads.com/award/choice#41650-Science-Fiction
http://www.goodreads.com/award/choice/2010#41647-Paranormal-Fantasy

So anyway, pass the word, cast your votes, and if I win either (or both), I'll do something interesting for your amusement. Because that's just the kind of girl I am.

Awards!

I keep saying that the dead of winter is when we need to be reminded that we're allowed to have nice things, since that's when nice things often seem to be the furthest from our grasp. And so it is with awe and delight that I announce that the next two October Daye novels have been acquired by DAW Books. These urban fantasy/mysteries continue the adventures of October Daye, under-caffeinated changeling detective, and will be coming soon to a world near you. They are:

Ashes of Honor
The Chimes at Midnight

...that's books six and seven, respectively. I am grateful and staggered and overjoyed and a little dizzy over the idea of being able to bring more of Toby's adventures to the world. I'm going to be working with the same team at DAW, which is awesome, and I'm really looking forward to wading into these books and taking the steps necessary to make then wonderful.

The world gets more Toby!

Happy holidays!

Will faithfulcynic please pick up the white courtesy telephone*? The random number generator has smiled upon you, and you have won a copy of A Local Habitation. Hooray! Life is good, especially when it's Tuesday, and you're winning things.

I'm going to be continuing to post giveaways and do drawings during the weeks to come, because dude, it's December. We need a little shiny happiness that doesn't involve going within a mile of the mall.

More to come!

(*By "white courtesy telephone," of course, I mean "send me your shipping information via my website contact form." Any other means of contact will result in your book not being mailed to you, possibly ever, because I am occasionally a blonde of very little brain.)

hvideo, please pick up the white courtesy telephone; you have won a copy of Rosemary and Rue, which I will happily mail to you or to the person of your choice (although if you want this puppy mailed internationally, you're going to need to pay for postage).

Please email me through my website contact link to let me know where to send your book!

As a pop-culture junkie who treats monster movies as something barely this side of a religion, it was inevitable that I would wind up falling in love with a certain California blonde girl when she funky chickened her way into my life ("How loose is your goose? My goose is totally loose..."). My love for her impacted my view on life, my video collection, and even my speech patterns—you can tell when I've been watching old episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer by changes in my cadence and intonation. It's a little freaky.

So it was also inevitable that when I was invited to be a contributor to Whedonistas: A Celebration of the Worlds of Joss Whedon by the Women Who Love Them, I would jump at the chance.

This star-studded essay collection is the second in the female-centric essay series from Mad Norwegian Press, and was edited by Lynne Thomas and Deborah Stanish. I haven't read the whole thing yet, but just the list of contributors feels me with geeky glee. I'm in a book with Emma Bull! My fourteen year old self can finally die happy! I mean, except for the part where then, I wouldn't remember why being in a book with Emma Bull is cool, so let's skip that.

One of the other contributors, Teresa Jusino, has written a lovely post explaining the book and why it's awesome at Tor.com. Just to further convince you that the book is made of win, the editors and Tor.com have conspired to let you get an early look at my essay, "The Girls Next Door: Learning to Live with the Living Dead and Never Even Break a Nail." (If you can come up with a more me-esque title, I'm not sure I want to know about it.)

Go forth! Read! Maybe improve your holiday season and chances of surviving when the Hellmouth finally opens by ordering yourself a copy! It's going to be fun for the whole family.

Grr. Argh.

It is with extreme pleasure and with no small degree of squeaky joy that I announce that the first two InCryptid books have been acquired by DAW Books. These urban fantasy adventures focus on the Price family of cryptozoologists as they seek to protect the cryptids of the world from humanity...and humanity from the cryptids of the world. The first two volumes are:

Discount Armageddon
Midnight Blue-Light Special

Cryptids and cuckoos and field guides, oh my! Words really can't express how insanely happy I am right now. I'm going to be working with the same team at DAW, which means I know I will have great editorial, fantastic in-house support, and a whole lot of sheer bonus fun. I'm so excited that you're all going to get the chance to meet these people. They're some of my favorites. And now, in the words of the Aeslin mice...

CHEESE! AND! CAKE!

Psst.

I've been sitting on this for months and months and months, and now, finally, I can show you something totally bitchin' that you really want to see. I mean, assuming you like things that are awesome, that is, and that you include FEED on that list.

Go ahead. Take a peek.

( Cut-tagged for the protection of your friends' list, which really doesn't need something this huge suddenly showing up without warning. But trust me, you should totally click.Collapse )

I'm a Zombie Girl,
In a Zombie wo-oo-orld,
I'm decaying,
But I'm staying!

Out of mercy to the sensitive souls among you, I will stop there. See how merciful I can be? When I remember that other people don't necessarily enjoy cannibalism before breakfast? Then again, when one is attempting to build a better pain chart (thank you, Hyperbole and a Half), sometimes it's necessary to find out where the limits are.

I'm in a very Mira mood today, maybe because it's gray and raining, maybe because my weekend is like a katamari, and full of things, and maybe because, drullroll please...

FEED is a 2010 Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Nominee in the Science Fiction Category! (For a slightly more compact ballot, focusing on the paranormal and science fiction nominees, check this link.)

I am, like, crazy-excited over this, because this is a really big deal. The Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Awards are a great bellwether of quality and awesomeness, and this is my first time appearing on the ballot. I'm truly, totally jazzed. So, y'know. Fingers crossed and the apocalypse doesn't come!

PANDEMIC DANCE PARTY FOR EVERYBODY!

Today is Thursday, and things are awesome! Like, seriously, seriously awesome. Why are they awesome? Because they are. I will explain.

First awesome: Conjure Oils is doing a line of perfumes inspired by the Toby Daye books. They debuted at OryCon, and they are amazing. Seriously, I squealed, more than a little. There are seven scents in the initial line, and more coming, some of which I am, like, crazy excited about (the idea of January O'Leary perfume makes me giggle way more than is strictly sane). If you're a BPAL fan, or know someone who is, you could do a lot worse than Toby Daye perfumes for the holidays.



Ahem: squee.

Second awesome: My darling Mia, over at Chimera Fancies, is getting ready for her incredibly massively huge holiday sale, and has put up a preview post of pendants. It seems like every batch is better than the batch before, which is probably part of why my pendant collection is beginning to rival my Pony collection for sheer number of pieces. I mean, damn.

The latest sale begins Friday, November 19th, at noon Pacific time, and if you check out her post, you can find out how to get yourself entered in a drawing for possible free awesomeness. I mean, how much better can it get than free awesomeness?

Third awesome: My mailing tubes arrived last night, and I estimated correctly, meaning that the mailing of the new "Wicked Girls" posters has officially begun. Specifically, I've mailed posters to Tara and to our cover model, but that means I now know exactly what I'm dealing with, rather than just making a highly educated guess. Hooray for math!

For details on the posters, and on how you can currently order them, please see yesterday's post on the subject. I'm planning to package and mail all paid orders from this week on Saturday morning, which means you'd have them by the end of the week in the United States, and by the end of the month in Canada. I also now know what it would cost to mail internationally, so please contact me via my website if you'd like to discuss other mailing options.

Tara bet me five dollars and a cupcake that we'd sell fifty in the first twenty-four hours. There's three hours left, and we're at thirty-eight. Free cupcake!

And those are the things which are awesome. What's awesome in the world of you?

As I've discussed before on this blog, I have OCD, which manifests itself most specifically in pattern-formation and obsessive tracking. Oddly, you can use my tracking as a bellwether for my overall mental health: If I'm tracking, I'm good, and if I'm not, I'm probably getting pretty alarmingly de-stable, and should be encouraged to start counting crows and writing down my results as quickly as humanly possible. (I saw six crows yesterday, indicating gold, in case you wondered.) I am at peace with my diagnosis, and have learned to live with my idiosyncrasies just as much as "normal" people live with theirs.

Of course, part of managing my flavor of OCD involves keeping my tracking detailed, dependable, and most of all, consistent. Which is why I depend on Franklin-Covey's planner refills to keep me from snapping and killing everyone in an unformatted rage. Only there's one small problem:

Since they unexpectedly redesigned the "Blooms" planner pages in 2005, I've insisted on going to the Franklin-Covey store in person, to be sure that what I'm getting is something I can actually use. And both California stores have been closed in the last year, resulting in great dismay and sorrow on my part.

Enter salvation, in the form of Washington, and Ryan. Because there is still one store—one beautiful, wonderful store—in Redmond. It opens at ten on Saturday mornings. Which is why, at nine-fifteen, Ryan picked me up and drove me to that glorious wonderland I often refer to as "the OCD porn store."

On the way, we saw a bald eagle. Just sitting there. Being the stone-dumb symbol of our country. DUDE WHAT THE FUCK. I mean, seriously.

Finding the store was easy, and we were the first ones there, probably because we were actually there before they opened. The manager on duty was a friendly, well-groomed blonde woman, originally from California, who said we were lucky to have come when we did, as the store will probably be closing in January. My heart broke a little. While I can understand that high-end planner products are probably more economically sold online, I always spend more in the physical stores, because I can put my hands on things, and really understand why I might need them.

Case in point: a deeply discounted orange leather purse. I opened it. I peered inside. I commented on all the pockets.

"I can put my planner in here," I said.
"Yes," said Ryan.
"I can put my Netbook in here," I said.
"Yes," said Ryan.
"I can put Alice in here," I said.
"Maybe," said Ryan.
"What's an Alice?" asked the manager.
"My cat," I said.

Ryan produced his iPhone, and produced a picture, which we showed to the manager.

"Holy crap," said the manager.

I bought the purse.

It was a glorious morning, filled with victory (and later, with pancakes). We even saw the eagle again, flying over the water, looking for breakfast. I mourn for the loss of the OCD porn store, where I never feel odd at all, just really, really efficient. And Alice does, in fact, fit inside my purse.

So, as many of you have ascertained from this month's welcome post, I have a new member of my feline family: Thomas, a blue classic tabby and white Maine Coon. Like Alice, he hails from Seattle's fantastic Pinecoon Cattery, courtesy of Betsy Tinney. He and Alice actually share a mother, the sweet-natured and endlessly tolerant Arial (yes, like the font), although they have different fathers. Thomas joined the family on Sunday afternoon, heralded by a rather epic amount of hissing from my pre-existing cats, Lilly and Alice.

Thomas, it should be noted, has really not participated in the hissing. He's a goofy, sweet little blue boy, and he starts purring when I get within three feet of him. That is, when he's not racing through the house like a kitten possessed, sinuous blue tail flying out behind him like a flag, losing traction on the hardwood floor, and slamming into the nearest available wall. Yes. He does this a lot.

Lilly and Alice remain dubious of our new family member, but they're starting to warm to him. Lilly was grooming him yesterday (she is the lickingest cat alive), and he and Alice slept on my chest last night, together. Given that he's likely to weigh more than she does when he grows up, this may become a lot less endearing really, really soon. Then again, they eliminate the need for a space heater, so hey. All three of them spent last night's episode of Glee hanging out, purring loudly, and being cute. I have the cutest cats in the entire world. And all my cats are blue.

This brings me to two Maine Coons and one classic Siamese, which strikes me as a good place to stop, since going any further takes me into crazy cat lady territory. Besides, I'm already pretty sure that, if they wanted to, they could take me.

Kitten!

(No, there are not yet kitten pictures available. Yes, there will be kitten pictures...eventually. Making pictures uploadable is a long, manual process, and I'm getting ready for this weekend's Orycon Guest of Honor slot, integrating a new cat into my household, and trying to finish a book. Asking me for kitten pictures only reduces my desire to deal with formatting them. So please show mercy, and don't ask?)

Hello, everybody, and welcome to my journal. I'm pretty sure you know who I am, my name being in the URL and all, but just in case, I'm Seanan McGuire (also known as Mira Grant), and you're probably not on Candid Camera. This post exists to answer a few of the questions I get asked on a semi-hemi-demi-regular basis. It may look familiar; that's because it gets updated and re-posted roughly every two months, to let folks who've just wandered in know how things work around here. Also, sometimes I change the questions. Because I can.

If you've read this before, feel free to skip, although there may be interesting new things to discover and know beyond the cut.

Anyway, here you go:

( This way lies a lot of information you may or may not need about the person whose LJ you may or may not be reading right at this moment. Also, I may or may not be the King of Rain, which may or may not explain why it's drizzling right now. Essentially, this is Schrodinger's cut-tag.Collapse )

Publishers Weekly has released their list of the Best Books of 2010. Including their selections for the best science fiction, fantasy, and horror.

Feed made the list.

I am genuinely overjoyed. It's also a nice change from focusing on trying to breathe without hacking up a lung, that having been my previous activity for the morning. I wrote one of the Best Books of 2010! OH MY SWEET GREAT PUMPKIN AND PIE.

This isn't very coherent, in part because I don't have it in me to be coherent right now. Mostly, I just have it in me to be flailing wildly, and totally ecstatic.

Squee.

Treat: a new interview is up at Papercut Reviews, and there's a chance to win a signed copy of either Rosemary and Rue or An Artificial Night. So whether you're a new reader or a long-time friend of the series, you can maybe win the book that's right for you!

Treat: Cory Doctorow has posted his thoughts on this year's Hugo Awards, and has some really sweet things to say about my acceptance speech. It's nice that other people remember it. I barely do. I was sort of out to lunch that day.

Treat: Katie Babs has posted about the New York Comic Con, and has a picture of a rare public Mira Grant sighting. The lovely Miss Mira is neither covered in gore nor decapitating anyone, which makes this picture doubly rare.

And today's big treat, which comes better late than never, I give you the September 2010 issue of Geek Speak magazine. Why? Because, well, it includes a fantastic interview with me (conducted in Australia, no less), which asks me a lot of fun things I don't get asked very often, a cracking good review of An Artificial Night, and a sweet, passionately lovely review of AussieCon IV, including, yes, my Campbell win. Seriously, I was like, 30% of this issue, it's awesome.

Those are your treats for this lovely Halloween morning. Stay safe tonight, and remember, always check your candy.

Hello, boys and ghouls, as the great Elvira once said. The time has come for another review roundup, this one celebrating the most wonderful time of the year: Halloween. And that means, surprise, surprise, that we'll be focusing on my more undead works.

First up, there's a lengthy, fantastic video review of Feed up at the New Jedi Order. Now, as a warning, this is a thirty-minute review: it's literally a Halloween special's-worth of zombie goodness. There's swearing and adult content, and it's huge fun, and I get compared to Stephen King. I am a happy girl.

There's also a kick-ass review of Feed on the blog "I Smell Blood and an Era of Prominent Madman," a name which I now want to see on a business card. The reviewer says, "Feed by Mira Grant AKA Seanan McGuire, (you'll never see them in the same room together) is the first book in the Newsflesh trilogy to which all I can say is: Get cracking woman I want the rest of the story." Working on it!

The Paperback Dolls are celebrating Zombie Week, and have posted a fantastic Feed review as part of the party. They say, "Feed resonates because it is a call to open your eyes and really see the problems of the world around you. See them, act on them, hold our leaders responsible for making progress on the grave issues facing us. Whether the problem is an out-of-control zombie virus, global warming, a limp economy, or dangerous enemies wielding the weapons of hate and terror, the call is the same. Take ownership of these problems, and shine a light into all dark corners." Also, "Rise up and read this book, too. If you like zombies, read it. If you like political thrillers, read it. If you are more than a bump on a log, read it. It's worth it." Win!

The Feed review at My Friend Amy's Blog (actual blog title) says, "It is not in any way a romance. There are zombies. There is death. The dead rise again...but only to eat your brains. There's a lot of action and a lot of mystery. And the biggest compliment I can pay it is that when I wasn't reading it, I was wishing I was reading it." That's a damn big compliment, frankly.

Finally for this batch, another video review of Feed, this one by MoonstarElf, who is peppy and fun, and got the book from her mother, which is totally a chain of transmission that I approve of. YAY VIDEO BLOG REVIEWS!

I am a happy blonde, and I hope you have a happy Halloween!

Back in mid-September, Borderlands Books in San Francisco played host to the third Traveling Circus and Snake-Handling Show, assembled to celebrate the release of the third (yes, already) October Daye book, An Artificial Night. Yay! I love Borderlands, I love the Circus, and I love book release parties, so this was like a whole casserole baked entirely out of pixie dust and joy. PIXIE DUST AND JOY.

We began with me, Amy, Brooke, Ryan, and Mia at my house, getting ready for the day ahead of us. This largely consisted of "putting on clothes" and "packing the event kit," a large orange plastic box that carries all the non-perishables needed for a big book party (raffle tickets, raffle prizes, bookmarks, paper plates, pens for signing stuff, occasionally one or more of the cats if we don't seal it fast enough). Ryan and Mia drove off with Amy. Mom picked the rest of us up, along with my youngest sister* and her girlfriend, and we drove to San Francisco, only stopping off to buy classy, classy cake from the warehouse store.

We got to the bookstore hours early, and stowed our stuff in the bookstore before scattering to find food. Amy, Brooke, and I would up going to a tacqueria down the street, which fed us delicious Mexican food, and kept Brooke from killing and eating us all. I ate a chicken burrito, nom, and we walked back to the bookstore to find a Kate sitting outside, reading a book, and the rest of the descending Circus waiting inside. Hooray! CIRCUS TIME! The entire Circus was wearing orange and black and green. ORANGE GIRLS OF THE WORLD, UNITE. Seriously, it was MAD AWESOME.

The night was divided into five distinct activities: music; raffle drawings; cake; reading; Q&A. We had breaks between activities, so people could mill, visit, use the bathroom, and shop (being as we were in a very large, enticing bookstore and all).

MUSIC: Musicians from everywhere! Alphabetically by instrument, we had Brooke Lunderville on banjo, Betsy Tinney on cello, Amy McNally on fiddle, SJ Tucker on guitar and vocals, Michelle "Vixy" Dockrey on vocals, and me on occasional "flustered author is flustered" vocals. (We did close with "Wicked Girls," so that's all right.)

RAFFLE: You got one ticket for showing up, one ticket for a purchase from the cafe, and one ticket for a purchase at the bookstore, for a maximum of three tickets per person. The drawing included everything from books to pendants to toys, and was fun, as always, with the usual amount of fuss and cheering for the winners. Buckets of fun.

CAKE: We had two cakes, and no cake cutting device. So Alan, glorious Alan, cut the cake with a gladius. I love having events at Borderlands. I love it SO DAMN HARD.

READING: Because I didn't want to read from the third Toby book, I read "Lost" from Ravens in the Library. When I started the story, the store had three copies left in stock. When I finished it, they had...zero. Literally, I started to say "I think this may be the last one," and Jude signaled that no, it had been sold while I was reading. Super-fun! Also, I made Vixy cry. Flawless victory.

Q&A: The Q&A was, as always, insane. You should come to one sometime.

During the milling sections, people talked, bought books, bought pendants, and bought copies of Sooj's new album, Mischief. (We wound up selling out of that, too.) Many books were sold, many hugs were given, and at the end of the night, we bid the bookstore a fond farewell and went down the street to Fritz, where we ate fries and mussels and crepes, and were joyful.

Everybody loves a night at the circus. Don't you?

(*The one who looks like a zaftig gothic Betty Page.)c

My last full day in Australia dawned bright and clear, and best of all, WorldCon-free*, which meant Jeanne and I could get in some high-quality TOURISM before I had to go to the airport and catch my flight back to the United States. FOR GREAT JUSTICE. Our plans for the day involved hitting the Melbourne Zoo (renowned among zoos for being TOTALLY BITCHIN'), and then driving a gazillion miles** to Phillip Island to witness the Penguin Parade.

We got up stupid-early in the morning to meet Mal and his very sweet friend whose name I have since forgotten, because I Am Crap With Names. They had rented a car for the day, because they are wonderful, thoughtful people. And it was off for the zoo! Well. Off for breakfast. But after that, the zoo! Hooray the zoo!

Sadly for us, several school groups had also decided that this was a yay the zoo kind of day, and the place was swarming with children. I do not question the right of children to go to the zoo, nor, in fact, the need for children to go to the zoo. But when it's one adult to thirty small boys, I start to feel a little bit like a cat surrounded by Aeslin mice, and that isn't a fun sensation. We chose the path that seemed least likely to intersect with the school groups, and started wandering.

The Melbourne Zoo is just as awesome as its press implied it would be. Within the first twenty minutes, we'd seen snow leopards, cougars, bears, and tigers, and I had decided that this was the zoo where the fourth InCryptid book would be set. SURPRISE. We went on to see an enclosure containing only male lions, who were, um, rather dedicated to finding some females; a large pack of African wild dogs; some cool birds; giraffes; a bunch of wild turkeys; and the biggest damn tortoises I have ever seen in my life. Seriously, people could live in those shells. If they weren't, y'know, already occupied.

And then, wonder of wonders, miracle and miracles...the Reptile House. Which was full of glories untold and miracles unnumbered, including several species of snake that I had never actually seen before. Because I love my snake-fearing friends, I will not go into explicit detail, save to say that I had a powerful bonding experience with a taipan, and small boys who taunt rattlesnakes should be put out of the Reptile House at once.

We wandered the zoo a bit more, with a stop for lunch before we entered the Australian wildlife exhibit. Kangaroos roamed free, wombats burbled, and Jeanne and I finally got to see an echidna. Yay! We stopped the admire the echidna. At great length. A zookeeper noticed us clustered there, and came over to announce that she'd be doing a koala show in five minutes at the (connected) koala enclosure. We allowed as how this was very nice for her, and kept watching the echidna, I don't know, echid. Whatever you call what an echidna does. Ten minutes later, the zookeeper came back and asked, if she told us all about the echidna, would we come and see the koala show. Would we ever!

I got to touch an echidna. My life is now complete.

The koala show turned out to be pretty cool, too, and their young female koala—named "Alice," nicknamed "Devil Spawn," which proves that there's an Alice everywhere—was spritely and fun to watch, unlike her wild cousins. Totally worth the stop.

We also saw: manta rays with awesome leopard spots on, platypuses swimming (and being way smaller*** than I expected them to be), elephants taken VERY SERIOUSLY, lemurs, orangutans, fish, seahorses, and penguins. And then it was time to leave the zoo, so that we could spend hours upon hours in the car, driving to Philip Island. Mal's friend left us then, as he did not want to spend hours upon hours in the car. Mal's friend is a smart guy.

I kept myself amused during the drive by counting Australian magpies, as they were everywhere. One's for sorrow, two's for joy—does anybody know what seventy-eight is for? Because there were a lot of magpies. It was like being escorted across Australia by Vixy in spirit guide form. Hi, Vixy!

We reached Philip Island fifteen minutes before the Penguin Parade began. Now, this is not a tightly scheduled thing; the term "penguin parade" actually refers to the completely natural life cycle of the Fairy Penguin. They go out to sea in the morning, and return on the evening tide, whereupon they parade up the beach to get back to their nests. Humans sell tickets to watch this happen. The penguins don't get it. But hey, if we want to freeze our asses off sitting on the bleachers and watching them walk, more power to us.

It was like something out of The Last Unicorn. Waves would roll in, and leave behind little foot-high penguins when they rolled out again. Then the little penguins marched up the beach, making fantastically loud noises. It was magical. It was bizarre. It was freezing. We ran for the hot cocoa stand when it was over, and that stuff did NOT last long.

Signs in the parking lot requested that we check under our car for penguins. That's Australia, all over. Hello, welcome, please do not flatten a penguin when you leave.

I am so glad I got to go.

(*I loved WorldCon, and had a fantastic time, once I started actually sleeping again. But it was awfully nice to be done with all my "official" duties that didn't involve enjoying the native wildlife and putting horrific things in my mouth.)

(**As a native Californian, I tend to view most places as being somewhat small and quaint. Yes, I realize this is insane, and potentially insulting, but I can't help it. My state is gargantuan, and it's messed up all my ideas about scale. Well, Australia is a continental FUCK YOU to this tendency, being as it is, I don't know, A CONTINENT, and is thus FUCKING ENORMOUS. Australia could eat California as a nice snack with some tea and scones and maybe a side order of Greenland. Australia is AWESOME.)

(***Sorry, Perry the Platypus.)

So October is basically "embarrassment of riches" month here in the San Francisco Bay Area, at least as far as author events and awesomeness are concerned. Being a sensible person, I like things which are awesome. This weekend? Has a whole lot of awesome packed into a relatively small space. HOW DO THEY DO IT?!? I DO NOT KNOW. But you—yes, you—can benefit from it.

First up, tomorrow! Professor Laurence A. Rickels, author of I Think I Am: Philip K. Dick (available from the University of Minnesota Press) will be at Borderlands Books at 3:00 PM. One presumes he will be talking about his book. And immediately after he's had his turn...

ZOMG SKIN HORSE! Shaenon Garrity and Jeffrey C. Wells will be at Borderlands Books at 5:00 PM, celebrating the awesome-tastic release of Skin Horse, volume II in a delicious dead tree edition. It's gonna be awesome. Are we prepared to face Shaenon and Jeffrey together, in the same place? I do not know. But again, you can benefit from it, because dude.

Sunday, also at Borderlands Books, Richard Kadrey will be appearing to talk about the second book in the Sandman Slim series, Kill the Dead. Words cannot properly express how much I loved this book, and its predecessor, Sandman Slim, which is now in paperback. He'll be at the store at 3:00 PM, being AWESOME.

All events are free of charge, and remember, you can contact the bookstore to place orders and requests for signed books of your very own. I'll be attending the Skin Horse party, because I am a sensible blonde, and because I have been promised cupcakes. I hope to see you there!

I forgot to share the most positive review from Publisher's Weekly yet received by a Toby Daye book:

"McGuire hits her stride with this fast-paced, sharply plotted, tense urban fantasy, the third featuring half-fae detective Toby Daye (after 2009's A Local Habitation). Toby is dismayed to encounter her frighteningly upbeat Fetch, May Daye, a magical doppelganger heralding her imminent demise. Hot on its heels comes the discovery that Blind Michael, lord of the Wild Hunt, has kidnapped a number of fae and human children—including several whom Toby considers family—to replenish his riders. Determined to outfight or outwit Michael, Toby chases him down several increasingly dangerous Faerie Roads and through the streets of San Francisco, finding unexpected allies and new inner strength. McGuire adeptly plunders folklore, nursery rhymes, traditional ballads, and fairy tales for her framework, and fleshes it out with plenty of action and intrigue. With the addition of May, the cast finally clicks and the series really solidifies." —PW

What do I take away from this? Well, a) May is totally awesome, b) it is possible for me to get a positive review that doesn't mention Tybalt (although Tybalt disagrees with this position), and c) I am totally a folklore pirate. Ahoy, mateys! Slow down your fairy tale and prepare to be boarded!

In other news, An Artificial Night was the top-selling mass-market paperback at Borderlands Books last month. That? Rules. (Also, Feed was number ten. If I can get a third book onto the list at the same time, I get to shout BINGO! really loud.)

Life is good.

When last we left our intrepid heroes, Jeanne and I were heading to the auditorium where the Hugo Ceremony was being held, so that we could acquire a sufficient number of seats for our (admittedly large) group of people. We had, by that point, myself, Jeanne, Cat, Gretchen, Jay, Shannon, Daniel, and Keli, all of whom were basically "required human to prevent destruction of mankind." This is quite a lot of seats, so really, it makes sense that we took off the way we did.

Even with our early arrival, we wound up two seats short. Cat and I took the seats in the main row (where we would have a clear shot at the stage, should it be needed), while Jeanne and Gretchen sat right behind us, allowing for hand-holding and hysteria, despite the technical separation. Hyperventilation commenced.

Eventually, everyone was present and in their seats, and the lights were dimmed for the Hugo Ceremony to begin. Garth Nix, the MC, came out and told a funny story about how he was chosen to be the MC. At least, I think it was funny. I was mostly focused on hyperventilating without passing out. It's fun! Then came the video presentation of the year's "highlights in science fiction." This included, among other things, the book covers and author pictures of all the year's nominees.

They showed my book. And my face. On the big big big screen at the Hugos. This would be the point in the ceremony where I started to cry for the first time.

After the video came the First Fandom Big Heart Award, which, while not a Hugo, is given out during the Hugos. Please note that the Campbell Award is given before any of the actual Hugos (but after the Big Heart Award), and this little additional delay was enough to make me more of a nervous wreck than I already was. Now consider that Cat's category, Best Novel, was the last of the night, and she was still together enough to make soothing noises and pat my hand. Woman is a rock when she's gotta be, that's all I'm saying here.

The Big Heart was given. John Scalzi and Jay Lake took the stage, along with Kathryn Daugherty, the year's administrator (and someone who's known me since I was fourteen), who was holding the actual Campbell, turned against her chest to hide the writing. Jay and John explained the award, along with fun facts like "where the Campbell pin came from" (thank you, Jay and Spring), and "who thought up the tiara" (thank you, Elizabeth Bear). The names of the nominees were read out. I discovered the heretofore unknown ability to taste sounds and pray in sign language (hint: I can finger-spell "please, Great Pumpkin" faster than I can spell my own name).

(Also, wow, the screaming when they said my name was amazing. I mean, everyone got cheers and applause, but if you listen to the ceremony on playback, I think people actually blew the levels screaming when they said my name. Cue second tears of the evening.)

"And the winner of the 2010 Campbell Award for Best New Writer is..."

I clutched Cat's hand so hard my fingers hurt.

"...Seanan McGuire."

I kept clutching Cat's hand, because let's face it, when you can taste sounds, you're going to be like Cordelia in that episode where she was in the running to be Homecoming Queen: you'll think they said your name even if they've just announced "No Award" as the winner. Cat pushed me to your feet. "That's you."

The processional music for the Campbell was the theme from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Kathryn, Jay, and John were all beaming like they'd been the ones to win. I was mostly chanting "Oh my God" over and over again, that being roughly the limits of my mental acuity at that particular moment in time. They put the tiara on my head, and I was rightly crowned the Princess of the Kingdom of Poison and Flame.

All hailed.

My acceptance speech was a bit disjointed, at least in part because I was so focused on clinging, lamprey-like, to the Campbell. I did say that John and Jay were mistaken when they said that people wearing the (star-shaped) Campbell pin weren't the sheriff: "I just think y'all should know, I actually am the sheriff." So congratulations, my six-year-old self: you got to wear a pretty dress, become a princess, and be sheriff, all in one night. Next up, the planet of eternal Halloween, and maybe a pony.

I explained how, when I was seven, I said I wanted to grow up to be a Timelord, and everyone was okay with that, because no one knew what that was, and how everyone was a lot less okay a few years later, when I said I wanted to be a science fiction writer, because "girls don't do that" (and also I would wind up living in a cardboard box). I thanked the Great Pumpkin, which may well be a Hugo first. I thanked some other people. I lost the ability to form coherent words, and fled the stage as quickly as three-inch heels and a floor-length skirt would allow.

I admit, I spent the rest of the ceremony watching my award as much as I watched the stage (and also, getting the tiara caught in Cat's hair, at one point during the proceedings). People won things; we cheered. I cheered especially loudly when Will McIntosh won Best Short Story, since I'd had dinner with him the night before, and he was an absolute doll, and when Phil and Kaja Foglio won Best Graphic Story, because c'mon, it's Phil and Kaja. Favoritism? On occasion, yes. But at least my biases are public knowledge.

Cat didn't win Best Novel. But she did clutch my hand just as hard as I'd clutched hers, and thus was symmetry maintained.

After the ceremony, the winners and presenters had to stick around for a lengthy photo session on the stage (some of the pictures appear in this month's issue of Locus, which I need to buy multiple copies of, since otherwise, my mother will end me). Meanwhile, the other nominees, and their plus-ones, decamped for the Hugo After-Party. After all the pictures were finished, Jeanne and I joined them, dragging John Grace (my audiobook publisher) in our wake.

At the party: booze! Yay! Also prizes from next year's WorldCon, in Reno, and trays of actual food, which I finally felt competent enough to consume. Ellen Kushner came over and admired my Campbell. I squealed a lot, and wound up at a big table full of people I adored, sipping champagne, wearing my tiara, and loving the night.

Every time someone asked me if I was ecstatic, I replied, "I'll be ecstatic tomorrow, when I wake up and it's Monday." Ah, the joys of feeling vaguely like you're living in a dreamworld. Nothing is every quite as real as it seems, until it's over.

When we were all champagne-ed out, we went back to the Hilton Bar for more serious drinks (which were serious). On the way, I stopped to use the bathroom, and was then waylaid by a lookout for the filkers. "Are you going to come up?" he asked. "Kate's waiting for you to sign her book."

I said I could, but only for a few minutes, as Jeanne had my shoes, and up we went. The circle was singing "Hope Eyrie" when we entered the room. Half of them stopped singing to applaud, making me turn beet red and flap my hands in negation. (Thankfully, no one was mad at me for interrupting the song, since I clearly hadn't meant to.) I signed Kate's book. I was asked to sing before leaving, and, since Kathleen was there, sang "Burn It Down" with more fervency than I had ever managed before. My fear was on the fire, baby, and it was going down.

Fleeing, I rejoined the others at the Hilton, and had another round of hugs and joy with the folks who hadn't been able to attend the after-party. Then it was up to Cat's room to put our real clothes back on (and pluck the pins from my hair) before Jeanne and I walked back to our own hotel, to sleep.

Jennifer woke up long enough to say "Congratulations, lady," and went back to sleep.

For the first time in days, so did I.

We're almost at the end of the pre-order period for my third studio album, Wicked Girls. Yay! Only 88 pre-order slots remain out of a possible 300, which, I must admit, is not bad at all. For details on the album itself, please check out my albums page, where you can find the track listing, several of our featured performers, and the truly kick-ass cover art. Pre-orders are being sold to pay for duplication and mastering, and the album will not go to press until they have closed. Which is also why you keep seeing status updates.

To place your order, go to:

https://seananmcguire.com/secure_order.php

Pre-orders follow this price scale:

* $18.00 USD: First domestic pre-order.
* $16.00 USD: Second domestic pre-order.

* $20.00 USD: International pre-order.
* $16.00 USD: Second international pre-order.

This is because of the way the mailing costs work. A third CD would cost the same as a first; this assumes that the CDs are being shipped together. So two CDs to the same US address would be $34.00, but two CDs to two different US addresses would be $18.00 each. Hope that's not too confusing.

(Basically, all pre-orders are a base cost of $15.00, plus shipping.)

Since we also need to pay mixing costs, we're taking album sponsors; you can submit sponsorships through the order form. This is the last week to get listed in the liner notes as an album sponsor. 212 pre-orders have been sold, out of a possible 300, meaning that 88 pre-orders remain. Don't miss your chance to pre-order! All pre-order CDs will be signed and numbered.

Questions? Comments? Glee!

Check out this incredible piece of Toby/Tybalt fan art by irrel:

Follow the clicky link to the pretty!

I am delighted beyond words.

Gosh and golly.

Here is your weekly status on the pre-orders for Wicked Girls, my third studio album (and the official follow-up to Stars Fall Home). For details on the album itself, please check out my albums page, where you can find the track listing, several of our featured performers, and the truly kick-ass cover art. Pre-orders are being sold to pay for duplication and mastering, and the album will not go to press until they have closed. Which is also why you keep seeing status updates.

To place your order, go to:

https://seananmcguire.com/secure_order.php

Pre-orders follow this price scale:

* $18.00 USD: First domestic pre-order.
* $16.00 USD: Second domestic pre-order.

* $20.00 USD: International pre-order.
* $16.00 USD: Second international pre-order.

This is because of the way the mailing costs work. A third CD would cost the same as a first; this assumes that the CDs are being shipped together. So two CDs to the same US address would be $34.00, but two CDs to two different US addresses would be $18.00 each. Hope that's not too confusing.

(Basically, all pre-orders are a base cost of $15.00, plus shipping.)

Since we also need to pay mixing costs, we're taking album sponsors; you can submit sponsorships through the order form. We'll do our best to include all sponsors in the liner notes, although late sponsorships may not be included.

We have sold 193 pre-orders out of a possible 300, meaning that 107 pre-orders remain. Don't miss your chance to pre-order! All pre-order CDs will be signed and numbered.

Questions? Comments? Glee!

Last night was all about me and Cat Valente and the SoHo Gallery for Digital Art, home of the New York Science Fiction Review series of readings. Because, you know, when you import yourself a couple of fairy tale girls, the only thing to do is stick them in front of a large crowd and wait for the fun to begin.

But the fun has to begin at the beginning...

My flight got in right on time, which was a small blessing, since I wasn't really sleeping very well. Mind you, the fact that I was able to sleep at all made me a lucky girl. I had actually upgraded my ticket to Main Cabin Select, as that was the only way to get out of being crammed into a middle seat for five hours in the air. I turned out to be the only person in my row, and was able to pull the "belt yourself into the middle seat, curl up like a pillbug, and sleep" trick. Blessed empty seats, how I adore thee. But there were screaming babies on the plane, and there was turbulence, and it was not a restful night.

Jon and Merav collected me from the airport, and—after dropping Merav at work—Jon drove me home...where Kate was already waiting on the front stoop. Whoops. We went inside. I plugged in my laptop to make sure nothing was on fire, and the phone calls began, making it quite clear that a nap was not in my future. Well, fine, be that way, universe. After showering and changing my clothes, we were off, to meet The Agent in lovely downtown Manhattan, and eat lunch. Because without sleep and without food, I was going to murder someone.

(Incidentally, this was the first time The Agent got to meet Kate. They got along. So when they destroy your puny planet, don't worry. I'm sure they'll make you a nicer new one before long.)

Lunch was challah French toast and mussels, at least for me. Om nom. From there, we went to a lovely tea house The Agent knew about, where she and Kate drank lovely tea, and I passed out on a love seat. Eventually, The Agent went off to do something else, and Kate stole my headphones, while I...passed out on the love seat again. But then! A Cat Valente came and joined our party! Hooray! Kate and Cat sat and chatted while I achieved that nebulous state known as "wakefulness," and we set out for the venue. With one of those "only in New York" stops along the way, to buy hand-crafted artisan popsicles. No, seriously. I mean it.

We ate our popsicles, giggled a lot, and walked onward, to the SoHo Gallery of Digital Art...and into our very own fairy tale. The walls were covered in our books, our faces, our everything, and it was incredible. It was like a dream. I squeaked. We stared in awe. And then, because we needed our fairy tale faces in this fairy tale place, we ran off to change our clothes, Cat into a mad awesome tailored suit, me into a bright orange skirt and green top. And then the flood began.

We were both a little worried, in that abstract author way, that no one would show up. It turns out that what we should have been worried about was violating fire code, as the room wound up so packed that we ran out of chairs, then ran out of wall, and finally, ran out of places to stand. Wow. Everyone from DAW came—I got to meet Saladin!—and so did most of my New York friends, along with people like K. Tempest Bradford and Ellen Kushner and Teri Windling OH MY GOD I MET TERI WINDLING.

Ahem.

Cat read an absolutely gorgeous piece from The Habitation of the Blessed. I read "Laughter at the Academy: Field Studies in the Development of Schizotypal Creative Genius Personality Disorder." Everyone sighed and swooned at Cat's reading; everyone laughed in the appropriate places at mine. I got to shout "IGNITE THE BIOSPHERE!" in a room full of people who'd actually come to hear me do just that. It was magical.

In the Q&A afterward, someone asked us if we'd ever considered doing a photo shoot as Snow White and Rose Red.

And Cat and I laughed.

Okay, like, wow. How is it October? It's not supposed to be October. It's supposed to be, I don't know, somewhere comfortably in the middle of August (only then I suppose the Hugos wouldn't have happened yet, and I'd still be a neurotic mess, so maybe that's not the best thing for me to be wishing for). I love the fall, it's my favorite time of the year, and I love October, it's my favorite month of the year, and since I both need a three-week-long nap and a finished draft of the fifth Toby book, this whole "welcome to October" thing isn't working out for me as well as it otherwise might.

On the plus side, however, I'm mostly packed for tonight's red-eye to New York. I'll be met on the other end by Jon (of Jon and Merav), who will carry me off to my East Coast home in Jersey City. (Let's face it. Once I understand how to handle your recalcitrant plumbing, I basically live with you.) I will then take a really long nap, because good ye gods, red-eye flight, before a) letting Kate into the flat, b) calling The Agent about lunch, and c) heading into Manhattan for the big adventure.

What big adventure, you may ask? Why, me, reading with Cat "the Crusher" Valente at the New York Review of Science Fiction. TWO AUTHORS ENTER, BOTH AUTHORS PROBABLY LEAVE. I'm so excited! When you put me and Cat on the same stage, and give us a microphone, a good time is basically guaranteed. The doors will open at 6:30 PM, and there's a five dollar suggested donation. I recommend arriving early, for good seating (although I don't think there's going to be a splatter zone). Cat put it really well. She said, "Sometimes I get matched up with another reader with whom I become friends, but being paired with one of my sisters and shipmates just makes everything so fun and relaxed. Plus, we encourage each other dreadfully." So come and see us encourage each other dreadfully! It's going to be a fabulous time.

I'm also going to be at the New York City Comic Con this upcoming weekend, as both myself and my own evil twin. Seanan will be doing the Penguin Panel on Friday night, and a signing at the Penguin booth on Saturday. Mira will be doing the Zombie Panel on Saturday night, and a signing at the Orbit booth (also on Saturday). I'd love to meet you! Please, swing by if you're at the convention! Just, y'know, please don't show up for my Seanan-signing with eight copies of Feed, or my Mira signing with all the Toby books. I try not to antagonize my publishers like that.

I get to see The Agent, and The Editor, and all my New York friends. I get to eat interesting food and ride the PATH train and generally have a wonderful time. All while making word count every night, because a girl has got to eat (or she'll end up on the street). And then I get to fly home, and keep making word count, because word count never rests.

Anyway, if you're in New York, I hope I get to see you, and if you're not, I hope I get to see you some other time. Any pending prizes will be mailed when I get back, as I am a bad blonde, and forgot to buy new book mailers.

Oh, babe, I hate to go.

It's that time again! The time when I, and my good friend Random, generate the winners for the latest Toby Daye giveaway. Everybody dance! Anyway, after feeding the range into the random number generator, our winners are...

sasquatch1313, who wins a copy of An Artificial Night!
lyssabard, who also wins a copy of An Artificial Night!
janetmiles, who wins a copy of Rosemary and Rue!

Please use my website contact form to provide your mailing information, and, if you're planning to give the book as a gift rather than treasuring it forever, the name of the person you want me to inscribe it to. Remember, if you try to contact me through any other* mechanism, I may not see it in time, and if I don't hear from you by Monday, I'll pick again.

(*This is not entirely true. If you dispatch a talking pink pegasus to carry me back to Ponyland, I will totally hand-deliver your book before we fly over the rainbow into the glorious embrace of Paradise Valley.)

Winners!

...to bring the harvest home.

Today is the first of October, the last month of the year (as reckoned by some calendars, including the one I elect to keep). The leaves are turning; the heat is fading; the migratory birds are moving on. The monarch butterflies have already left for their long trek down the California coast to Mexico, where they'll spend the winter on sunny beaches, dreaming of Santa Cruz. In the fields, the corn and pumpkins are coming in, along with the late-season tomatoes and the sweetest apples. The cats are putting their warmest coats on, preparing themselves for frozen nights ahead. Fall is finally here.

I am delighted beyond all measure.

I've always been an autumn girl. I love the smell of fallen leaves, the smell of rain either coming or just barely past, the smell of bonfires burning in the near distance. I love the cries of the crows as they call each other to treasure, and the mournful wail of the coyotes in the hills, singing summer to its rest. Persephone has taken off her summer dresses and hung up the apron she wears when she works her summer job—I always assume she works at an ice cream parlor, I don't know exactly why—and is making her way back to Hades, back to her husband, back to her home. The seasons are turning, and for a little while, I get to go as Persephone goes, because this time of the year...this time of the year is my home.

Many of my friends are summer girls. They like the heat and the green and the flowers everywhere. I like a lot of things about the summer—I like strawberries and lizards and the ability to walk for miles without carrying an umbrella—but summer's not my home. A few of my friends are winter girls. They like the cold and the white and the taste of frost. I like a lot of things about the winter—I like cocoa and warm blankets and the taste of peppermint in everything—but winter's not my home, either.

The first of October is always wonderful, because it's like opening a book I've read before that still manages to be different every single time. Welcome back, October. I couldn't be happier to see you.

Welcome to the fall.

Saturday continued the "early comes the dawn" trend, with Jeanne and I both out of bed by seven. Jennifer and Jeff didn't murder us for our sins against the sleeping, and that's probably a sign that they're in line for sainthood. (Then again, we didn't murder them for snoring, so maybe the scales are just nicely balanced.) This was already shaping up to be my busy day, and just got busier once we got to the convention center and discovered that my three o'clock panel had been moved to noon. Yay for the fluidity of time!

(Footnote: Originally, I was supposed to be on the eleven o'clock panel about female superheroes. For some reason, it wasn't printed on my badge, and I wound up not attending, since once the convention starts, my back-of-badge panel list is about the only thing that can make me change directions. While this was deeply disappointing at the time, all recountings of the panel have made me glad to have missed it, as I might have killed someone. Hint: telling me that there is no sexism in comics is a good way to get your head bitten off. I am a vermicious knid when provoked.)

The time-shifted panel was that glorious old standby, "What Is Filk?", and consisted of me, Bill Sutton, Kathleen Sloan, and Terence Chua. If you want a bunch of people to talk about filk and the definitions of same for an hour, well, you could do one hell of a lot worse. It was a lot of fun, watching all the local filkers realize that no, really, They Are Not Alone. We are filk. We are legion, yo.

I went literally straight from my panel-on-filk into an hour-long two-person panel with Paul Cornell, titled "Fringe: Paranormal Investigations in SF Television." I adore Paul. I adore geeking madly with Paul. And I adore paranormal investigations in science-fiction television. This panel was like the delicious chocolate bonbon of my weekend, and the only way it could have been better is if Jeanne had delivered a ham, cheese, and tomato croissant to me at the panel's end.

Oh. Wait. BEST PANEL EVER.

My signing was scheduled for four, right after Cat's signing. I went over and kept her company for a while, until her line began to form and she was occupied by her fans. Ah, the trials of stardom. Or something. Her signing ended, mine began, and I signed a bunch of stuff (as one does), while inking during pauses between people. Someday, this damn mermaid will be finished.

The AussieCon V filk concert was arranged a lot like the UK Filkcon Main Concert: everyone piled into a single room and performed two or three songs during the multi-hour slot. Kathleen Sloan was my stunt guitarist, and we went on after (among other people) the Suttons, Terence, and Nan Freeman. NO PRESSURE. I performed my own "Wicked Girls," and Vixy and Tony's "Burn It Down," both of which went over very well, before running to get changed for dinner.

Dinner! It was me, Jay and Shannon, Daniel and Kelly, and two people whose names sadly escape me right now (I'm sorry!). We went to a very nice place attached to the casino attached to the hotels attached to the mall, where we spent several hours chatting, enjoying decadently good food, and, in my case, eating a big bowl of bugs. Bay lobster! It's delicious! And looks like a horrible cross between a lobster and a trilobite, which made it EXTRA DELICIOUS.

There was some unpleasantness about the service, but Daniel was able to resolve it with a minimum of fuss, and we all decamped back to the Hilton to resume Barcon. While there, I got to meet Ellen Kushner, and tell her that she's a big part of why I write urban fantasy now. Also, there were cocktails. Which made it easier for me to actually fall asleep when I finally made it back to my hotel, since, well...

Saturday night. That meant it was almost time for the Hugos.

I did not sleep through the night.

The first full day of WorldCon dawned bright and early. Very bright, and very early, since Jeanne and I were both still waking up at roughly six o'clock in the morning. The fact that I did this despite spending a good portion of the night out drinking with my friends was somewhat astonishing to everyone involved, and could be taken as proof that I function on some sort of nuclear power source, rather than actual sleep. Our early rising did net us first shower, which was nice, as fixing my hair* takes a long damn time (which is why I so rarely bother to do it). Now socially acceptable, we hit the street in search of a) breakfast, and b) caffeine.

Breakfast was ham and cheese croissants in the food court attached to the casino attached to our hotel. Yeah, I know, I'm stacking on attachments like a professional spammer, but that's apparently the way they roll in Australia. Unless otherwise stated, assume all meals were in the food court attached to the blah blah blah. It was close, convenient, and (by local standards) reasonably priced, and Jeanne and I were both willing to eat there. Pretty much a victory all the way around.

At the convention center, the poor folks at registration were still waiting on their program books, so we went to see Mary Kay Kare and get my Participant Packet instead. It had invites! To Hugo-related functions! This is about when it all started seeming very real to me, and also when I pretty much gave up sleep for the duration. Expect my sanity to degrade rapidly from this point onward.

We wandered the convention, figured out where everything was, and had an unexpected meeting with Lezli Robyn, my fellow Campbell Award nominee. She was incredibly sweet, and I'm very glad to have met her. After touring the dealer's room and the half-assembled art show, I located Jay Lake and Shannon Page on a comfortable couch, and camped there for a bit, because Jay is cuddly and I was warm. Jeanne pointed out that failure to decamp from Jay would mean I got no caffeine before my three o'clock panel on Supernatural. I knew I'd need caffeine for that one. I decamped.

Thank Heaven for 7-11, yo.

The panel went well, despite some early confusion as to what, exactly, we were talking about. The topic was "Breaking the Fourth Wall: Supernatural and Its Audience." Given my opinions on season five, this could have been a blood bath. It was not, largely because polite tourists don't kill people. (At least, that's what Kate says, and everyone I ask says she's right. Conspiracy much?) And that was...well, that was it. That was my only Thursday panel.

Oh, wait. What about my Kaffeeklatsche? You know, that thing where I go and have coffee with anyone who wants to sit and talk to me for an hour? That was still coming up, right? Well, yes, and no. Because somebody told the programming desk that I was sick, you see, and they cancelled my slot. I found this out when someone asked me why, if I was sick, I was hanging out in the hall chatting with my friends. I went down to the front desk and whined until they fixed it. GO TEAM MATURITY. After that, the actual Kaffeeklatsche was fine. People drank coffee (I drank Coke Zero), we talked, and a good time was had by all. Jeanne and I trundled off for dinner, after which I returned to the Hilton to spend several happy hours at Barcon, drinking expensive cocktails and feeling the love. I love the love.

Friday, I spent most of the day idly trundling around and visiting my friends, capping it all off with the moment...the myth...the madness..."Seanan McGuire and Catherynne M Valente In Conversation." Also known as "the Snow White/Lily Fair Variety Show." It was, quite seriously, quantum madness. People asked it, we talked about it. Also, Cat brought the My Little Pony I'd given her to be our moderator while we sat on the edge of the stage and made merry for an hour. Worlds were born. Laws of physics were broken. It was awesome. And we're going to do it again in New York, because that is just how we roll.

After the In Conversation, Jeanne and I decamped to collect John Grace (my audio book publisher), Malcolm (Jeanne's friend), and Phil and Kaja Foglio. We trekked back to the alley for dinner. This time, they bribed us with a free bottle of wine for the table! Score. We got a fabulous table, and spent several hours chatting, eating, splitting appetizers, and generally having a fantastic time. Best WorldCon Friday ever. Even with the rain.

Australia is amazing.

(*Yes, it is actually possible for me to not look like a dandelion on the verge of going to seed. It's crazy, I know, but all things are possible with SCIENCE. And a ceramic straightening iron.)

Here is your weekly status on the pre-orders for Wicked Girls, my third studio album (and the official follow-up to Stars Fall Home). For details on the album itself, please check out my albums page, where you can find the track listing, several of our featured performers, and the truly kick-ass cover art. Pre-orders are being sold to pay for duplication and mastering, and the album will not go to press until they have closed.

To place your order, go to:

https://seananmcguire.com/secure_order.php

Pre-orders follow this price scale:

* $18.00 USD: First domestic pre-order.
* $16.00 USD: Second domestic pre-order.

* $20.00 USD: International pre-order.
* $16.00 USD: Second international pre-order.

This is because of the way the mailing costs work. A third CD would cost the same as a first; this assumes that the CDs are being shipped together. So two CDs to the same US address would be $34.00, but two CDs to two different US addresses would be $18.00 each. Hope that's not too confusing.

(Basically, all pre-orders are a base cost of $15.00, plus shipping.)

Since we also need to pay mixing costs, we're taking album sponsors; you can submit sponsorships through the order form. We'll do our best to include all sponsors in the liner notes, although late sponsorships may not be included.

We have sold 186 pre-orders out of a possible 300, meaning that 114 pre-orders remain. Don't miss your chance to pre-order! All pre-order CDs will be signed and numbered.

Questions? Comments? Glee!

Australia!

Having had our wacky outback adventure (tm), it was time to turn my attention to more mundane topics, IE, "checking out of the hotel, moving over to our convention hotel, and attending a signing." Yes, a signing. I was supposed to be at the Southlands Dymock's bookstore by mid-afternoon, which was super-fun, especially considering that I had no living clue where that was.

Jeanne and I managed to get packed and out of our first hotel in a reasonable amount of time, after bidding a fond farewell to our newly-familiar surroundings. (Had we been aware that we were also bidding farewell to the only free Internet in the ENTIRE COUNTRY, we might have been a little more tempted to stay where we were. I'm just saying.) Because we are not idiots, we took a cab between hotels. Because our room wasn't ready yet, we checked our bags with the concierge, picked up our taxi vouchers from the front desk (thank you, Orbit!), and were off.

Where were we going? Why, the Westfield Mall. You know. The biggest mall chain on the west coast of the United States. Because that is what every tourist should do. GO TO THE MALL. We found the bookstore, along with a Safeway, and basically every store I would expect to find in a large suburban mall. Humans. We're all essentially the same.

The store manager, Chuck, was truly thrilled to have me, and made a point of getting his picture with me. This is because Chuck is awesome, and his store now has many signed copies of Feed (alas, only my evil twin was represented in the store's stock). We hung out for a few hours, and I got to meet a few awesome people I'd been hoping to meet while in Australia, including Tez. Yay Tez!

Before we left, I bought the UK edition of the latest Pratchett, I Shall Wear Midnight, because that's just how I roll. We had lunch at TGI Friday's, and made our way back to the hotel, where our room was still not ready.

We made our way to the Crowne Plaza to collect our badges. The woman who gave me my badge all but wanted a blood sample, which was...fun. (Seriously, I was like the only person in line asked to produce photo ID. Apparently, my life is very steal-worthy. Who knew?) I ran into several friends, and much hugging happened. We returned to the hotel, where our room was still not ready. Grumble.

Eventually, we were able to get into our room, greeting Jennifer and Jeff with great glee in the process, and then we were out, to have dinner with John (my audio book producer), a bunch of his other clients (including Phil and Kaja, and Cat, all of whom would be very central for me over the course of the weekend), and some awesome last-minute additions: Rob and Mundy. Rob and Mundy made my convention infinitely more awesome, and I am so beyond overjoyed to have met them. Seriously, there are not words. Even if our dinner conversation had rather more circumcision than I was expecting.

After dinner, Jeanne ran off to meet some friends, and I went off with Rob, Cat, and Mundy, to crash someone's cocktail birthday party. Cat and I wound up sitting on the cool veranda overlooking downtown Melbourne, sipping rum cocktails made with pomegranate liqueur, and going "Holy shit, this is our real life."

Maybe it's worth stealing after all.

10. It's Friday! And that means that tomorrow is Saturday, which further means that it's finally time for me to have a book event at the Other Change of Hobbit! Conveniently located next to Ashby BART, spacious, and full of neat things, this is one of my favorite bookstores. You should totally come.

9. Karen Healey (I know, right?) has a poll for the best moment of WorldCon 2010/Aussiecon IV, and yes, my squeaky acceptance of the Campbell Award is currently in the lead. Which is the sort of thing that makes me blink and cry a little. But in the good way, I promise! Also, John Scalzi licking stuff.

8. After our horrible "oh crap the house is full of fleas" experience this summer, everything seems to have settled down. Alice's belly-fur is growing back, no one's trying to claw their own flesh off, and our strict regimen of flea powdering the carpets and pouring poison on the cats is keeping the blood-suckers away. Thank the Great Pumpkin.

7. SHARKTOPUS! Tomorrow night on SyFy! Because Coyote loves me and wants me to be happy.

6. By the same measure, have you seen Jane Austin's Fight Club? Because seriously, this video is love. (Technically safe for work, if you're allowed to watch videos at work and feel like doing some potentially awkward explaining about why all those girls are smacking the crap out of each other.)

5. Resident Evil: Afterlife actually doesn't suck. I know, I'm as surprised as you are. Sort of tickled, too, but mostly just surprised. It's not as good as Resident Evil: Apocalypse, but then, what is?

4. Jean Grey is still dead.

3. Things that are back on the air: Glee, Fringe, Big Bang Theory, Bones, and America's Next Top Model. Things that have managed to stick the landing in their season finales: Rizzoli and Isles, Leverage, Unnatural History, and Warehouse 13. Things that make me happy: watching too much television.

2. Despite my currently perennially delayed posting schedule (curse you, Australia, and your lack of Internet), the latest iteration of the Traveling Circus and Snake-Handling Show went well, and we all had a fantastic time. Plus, the bookstore now has signed books, and that makes everything wonderful.

...and the best thing about today...

1. Welcome to fall.

What's awesome about your Friday?

My darling Mia at chimera_fancies is running a set of truly awesome sales right now. Six, all told, when you add up the auctions and the rest. It's an embarrassment of riches, one which awes and delights.

First up, the pendants she made from An Artificial Night are now available for sale. This is just the first batch; the second will be going live tonight. They're made from pieces of an ARC of the book, and all of them are signed by me. I honestly think this is Mia's best work yet. I'm honored and delighted to have been a part of it (and not just because it meant I got to see the pendants before anybody else did).

She also made three special pendants for auction sale. These are pressed under glass, with charms and extra glitter, and to make things extra-special, she had me write blurbs for all three.

"When one seeks advice on love, matters of the hearth, children, gardens, or the maintenance of apple orchards, ask the sun. When one seeks advice on wishes better left unwished, quests better left untaken, the mathematical definitions of the universe, or the maintenance of cherry orchards, ask the stars. When one seeks advice on kisses, on candles, on secrets, on fairy tales, on riddles, or on the maintenance of the peaches of immortality...ask the moon. If you word your question well enough, the moon may even answer." —Pendant #1: Ask the Moon.

"There are rules that bind transactions in the magical world, forms that must be followed, customs that must be obeyed. In time, one learns the tricks that allow these rules to be suspended, if only for a time. Make contracts with frog princes only when the moon is new; barter with small, nameless men only in perfectly round rooms with windows facing east. Do not trust cakes baked by women made of flowers, or wine pressed by men made of stone. There are ways to slip past every rule, if you are clever. Now come, bearing all these things in mind, and raise your hand, and dare the sea witch's door. —Pendant #2: Bargain With the Sea Witch.

"On the eve of her execution, the Princess Calendra—condemned by her own silence, and by the words of her father, who named her as a witch—stood before the pyre, squared her shoulders, and said, "In a Kingdom of men who fancy themselves as heroes, not a one has come to save me. In a world of stableboys and swineherds who dream of working wonders, not a one has come to my defense. In a time of so much pride, so much smug reliance on the words of storytellers, one man should have come...but instead I stand here, wicker maid and sacrifice to the harvest of your cowardice. Very well. If you will not save me, the time has come, I fear, to save myself." They say she vanished then, that she and her handmaids—who had been loyal, held in chains even as she was—rose on black white owl wings and flew away into the night. And where they went, none know...but the owls ask, always, who? Who will save you, little one, with your silence and your sorrows? Will you wait for a hero who may never come, or will you rise, and save yourself?" —Pendant #3: Then I'll Save Myself.

Now, if you, like me, already have a great many pretty things, you may be dreaming of jewelry boxes. This need, too, can be met. More than once, even, and for auction. I love it when the world meets our needs.

Beautiful things. Thank you, Mia!

When last I left this incredibly delayed trip report, Jeanne and I had managed (finally) to touch down in Melbourne, following an unplanned jaunt to Sydney (during which we were not permitted to leave the plane). After fleeing the airport, we caught a bus to a bus terminal, where we caught another bus to our initial destination, the Hotel Promenade. We were going to be staying there for the first few days, before transferring to the WorldCon hotel block to join our fannish compatriots.

Since neither of us really wanted to be jet lag's bitch for the duration of our vacation, we basically went to the hotel, dropped everything off, and left, heading out into the wonderful world of Australia. Goal: stay awake until a reasonable bedtime. Jeanne, being foolish, allowed me to pick our activity...and that, o best beloveds, is how we wound up spending the better part of an hour walking pointedly toward the distant glories of Victoria Market. Jeanne has gone walking with me before, and understands that a) I think of anything under five miles as "a little ways," and b) I will always know how to get back to where I started. So she felt just fine following me around Melbourne, which is probably for the best.

Wonderful discovery the first: 7-11 has come to Australia. And while a chain store may not be your idea of a wonderful discovery, I consider anything that gives me cold fizzy caffeine to be an absolute miracle. There is no Diet Dr Pepper in Australia, but Coke Zero is an acceptable substitute. Luckily for everyone's survival.

Wonderful discovery the second: on the way to Victoria Market, we found a little alley that contained a) an Indian place that fed me delicious goat curry, and b) a chocolate place that made insanely decadent and delicious drinking chocolate. These calories would see us through the rest of our journey.

On! To Victoria Market! Where we looked at things ranging from the standard "rook a tourist, win a prize" assortments known to markets the world over all the way to Australian opals and wonderful handmade children's toys. I bought a mobile with pirates on it for Brooke's upcoming spawn. Jeanne bought some opals. Both of us agreed that the local seagulls were awesome, and that it was time to walk back to the hotel.

On leaving, we found a pet store with a large reptile selection, and Jeanne tolerantly allowed me to go in and coo at all the adorable snakes and lizards. Because that's just how we roll.

Walking back down Elizabeth St. allowed us to stop at multiple shops that had interested us on the way to the Market, including Minotaur, a science fiction specialty shop that felt sort of like the Australian answer to Forbidden Planet. They didn't have any Toby books, but they did have several copies of Feed, which I gleefully signed. Yay for signings! They seemed rather stunned to have a genuine American author in the store scribbling on things, but didn't ask for ID, which is good, as I don't have any ID for Mira.

We returned to the hotel, ate in the restaurant (decent, not great, but definitely filling), and went to bed early, only to awaken equally early. Like, "before six o'clock." Oops. We got up, found breakfast, and started our day of killer attack tourism. Destination one: the Melbourne Aquarium.

Now, I could say lots of things about the natural beauty of Australia's natural wildlife, or the cheekiness of eels, or the fact that holy crap, manta rays can apparently be as big as minivans. I could mention the giant lionfish, and go on at great length about the penguins. But I won't. Why? Because HOLY CRAP BEST OCTOPUS EVER. Seriously, their Giant Pacific Octopus renewed my faith in the universe. Poor Jeanne had to keep coming back and hauling me away from the tank, and my octopus communion. He was a rockin' and a rollin', and I wanted nothing more than to stay with him all day.

Alas, it was not to be. Farewell, sweet octopus. We lunched on pumpkin and potato pizza (not kidding), and went in search of the local Lush, since Jeanne needed conditioner. I know, I know, tourism, we're doin' it wrong. Still, when we found the store, we discovered that Australia got exclusive shower gel, and I claimed a bottle of Black Pearl in the name of AWESOME. Between that and the octopus, I was a happy, happy girl. Jeanne also got a local phone, since she's smart that way.

We returned to the hotel to drop off our things before we went looking for dinner, which was really the capper on our awesome day, because we discovered—quite by accident—An Alley of Wonders. Lots of little restaurants, all of them competing for the right to feed us dinner. We settled on a place that gave us free sodas and served me kangaroo steak, since I had to eat it at least once. It tasted sort of like a cross between goat and rabbit.

Australia: awesome so far.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you tomorrow's...

PARTY SCHEDULE!

4:00 PM: Setup, sound check, and final details. You can show up, but we may ignore you if you do. Sorry about that.
5:00 PM: Welcome to our party. We're done ignoring you now.
5:40 PM: Perhaps you would like some music.
6:00 PM: Perhaps you would like to win things.
6:30 PM: Now there will be cake.
7:00 PM: More music?
7:30 PM: More prizes?
7:45 PM: Assuming people are not too busy buying books and drinking coffee, I'll read something. No, really.
8:30 PM: Last music of the night.
8:50 PM: Last chance to give the bookstore and cafe money before we say goodnight.
9:00 PM: Last raffle drawing of the night and we close the evening.

This iteration of the Traveling Circus and Snake-Handling Show will be in the bookstore proper; the cafe will be open throughout the evening, and they've promised to get more bread and delicious pastry this time. Raffle tickets will be available through the three standard methods: show up, buy something from the bookstore, or buy something from the cafe.

All performing musicians will have CDs for sale, because we're predictable like that. Mia will be there with pendants for sale, and they are gorgeous. There will be cake, and candy, provided as part of the party, and a whole cafe full of delicious things to purchase and enjoy.

It's gonna be a good night. Hope to see you there.

Have you always wanted to attend one of my book events? Well, here's your chance!

The Traveling Circus will be reuniting this Saturday, September 18th, for a gala bash at Borderlands Books in San Francisco, California! Festivities will commence at five, and continue until nine, by which point the bookstore will have had more than enough of us, and will doubtless shovel us all out into the street.

Will there be music? Yes, there will be music. With Amy McNally, Michelle Dockrey, Betsy Tinney, SJ Tucker, and Brooke Lunderville in attendance, music has become unavoidable. The musicians will be back in the bookstore this time, leaving the cafe open for the consumption of delicious, delicious beverages, and even more delicious food.

Will there be a raffle? Yes, there will be a raffle. Awesome prizes are being prepared as we speak, tucked into their box with care as we get ready for the big night. All attendees will get a raffle ticket automatically; get another ticket by making a purchase at either the bookstore or the cafe (three tickets per person, maximum).

Will there be cake? Yes, there will be cake. It's Toby's one-year publication "birthday," and cake makes every birthday better.

Will there be pendants? Yes, there will be pendants. chimera_fancies will be in attendance, with a never-before-seen batch of pendants created from an ARC of An Artificial Night. They're some of her best work to date, and will be available for sale throughout the evening. Seriously, you don't want to miss these.

Remember that, if you can't attend, Borderlands is happy to take requests for signed and personalized books, and I'd be thrilled to sign a book to be mailed to you. They have all three Toby books, Feed, The Living Dead 2, and—the last time I checked—one of the last remaining retail copies of Ravens in the Library. So show up if you can, and consider placing an order if you can't!

This message bought and paid for by The Traveling Circus and Snake-Handling Show, LLC.

To celebrate the release of The Living Dead 2 (featuring my/Mira's new story, "Everglades"), John Joseph Adams has arranged a full-on zombie week over at Tor.com, beginning with a massive prize pack associated with a zombie caption contest. That's right; caption a picture, potentially win an incredible amount of crap.

The prize package includes, among other things...

* Both anthologies
* A signed copy of Feed (US or UK edition to be determined)
* A copy of Red Roses and Dead Things
* A DVD of Shaun of the Dead
* A copy of The Zombie Combat Manual

...and lots and lots of other signed books, short stories, and other goodies. Seriously, it's like doing five minutes of work for the potential of a whole lot of pay-out. Give it a go! All you have to lose is your braaaaaaaain.

Here is your weekly status on the pre-orders for Wicked Girls, my third studio album (and the official follow-up to Stars Fall Home). For details on the album itself, please check out my albums page, where you can find the track listing, several of our featured performers, and the truly kick-ass cover art. Pre-orders are being sold to pay for duplication and mastering, and the album will not go to press until they have closed.

To place your order, go to:

https://seananmcguire.com/secure_order.php

Pre-orders follow this price scale:

* $18.00 USD: First domestic pre-order.
* $16.00 USD: Second domestic pre-order.

* $20.00 USD: International pre-order.
* $16.00 USD: Second international pre-order.

This is because of the way the mailing costs work. A third CD would cost the same as a first; this assumes that the CDs are being shipped together. So two CDs to the same US address would be $34.00, but two CDs to two different US addresses would be $18.00 each. Hope that's not too confusing.

(Basically, all pre-orders are a base cost of $15.00, plus shipping.)

Since we also need to pay mixing costs, we're taking album sponsors; you can submit sponsorships through the order form. We'll do our best to include all sponsors in the liner notes, although late sponsorships may not be included.

We have sold 145 pre-orders out of a possible 300, meaning that 155 pre-orders remain. Don't miss your chance to pre-order!

Questions? Comments? Glee!

Hello, everybody, and welcome to my journal. I'm pretty sure you know who I am, my name being in the URL and all, but just in case, I'm Seanan McGuire (also known as Mira Grant), and you're probably not on Candid Camera. This post exists to answer a few of the questions I get asked on a semi-hemi-demi-regular basis. It may look familiar; that's because it gets updated and re-posted roughly every two months, to let folks who've just wandered in know how things work around here. Also, sometimes I change the questions. Because I can.

If you've read this before, feel free to skip, although there may be interesting new things to discover and know beyond the cut.

Anyway, here you go:

( This way lies a lot of information you may or may not need about the person whose LJ you may or may not be reading right at this moment. Also, I may or may not be the King of Rain, which may or may not explain why it's drizzling right now. Essentially, this is Schrodinger's cut-tag.Collapse )

You guys.

This is so hard to write. I've literally started this post eight times, and deleted it every time, and started over, trying to find the words I want. Words are usually something that I find pretty easy—sometimes too easy, as my tendency to never shut the hell up can testify. Not right now. Right now, the words are very hard. So very hard.

I spent most of this year's WorldCon in a cheerful fugue state, throwing myself into things as hard as I could in order to keep from thinking about the Hugo Awards. Jeanne, Cat, Rob, Liz, Paul, Mondy, Jay, Shannon, John, seriously, thank you so much, because if you hadn't been there, I would probably have spontaneously combusted. As it was, it was occasionally difficult not to ask how people could be so damn calm when the votes were in and there was nothing we could do and why couldn't we just know already?

Sunday, Jeanne, Gretchen, and I descended on Cat's hotel room to get ready for the Hugos. Cat met us at the door, and ordered me to close my eyes. I am a trusting blonde; I closed my eyes. She led me into the main room, and let me open my eyes, to find myself facing a bed covered in tiaras. Covered in tiaras. "Because," she said, "your friends wanted to be sure that no matter what, you went home with a tiara."

You guys.

I love you so much.

Susan came to do our hair. We put on dresses and makeup and nail polish and smiles, like nothing about the night mattered...and to a degree, right then, it didn't. We sang along to "Firebird's Child" and "Ship Full of Monsters," and the Night Kitchen in Seattle filled with people watching the live feed and sending all their love across the sea. We were together, and the world was full of magic, and we went to the reception and drank free champagne and had people tell us how amazing we looked, and it was amazing. (Cat and I managed, totally accidentally, to acquire dresses in basically the same colors. I felt like I should have brought her a corsage.)

Then we went to the actual award ceremony. Cat and I sat in the second row; Gretchen and Jeanne sat right behind us. The order of the evening was "opening speech, video presentation, First Fandom Award, Big Heart Award, Campbell Award." Jay Lake and John Scalzi presented the Campbell. They took the stage together, and explained the tiara, and read the nominees, and I clutched Cat's hand like the audience was an ocean and I was going to go under. Kathryn Daugherty came out, holding the award, name turned toward her so no one could see it. John opened the envelope.

"And the winner of this year's John W. Campbell Award for best new writer is..."

And they said my name.

And I sat there, because the room was spinning and I could taste sounds and they couldn't mean me. And Cat pushed me to my feet, and everyone was clapping, and I walked to the stage while the Buffy: the Vampire Slayer theme played and the room spun and tears made everything blurry, and I just said "Oh my God" over and over again, because there was nothing else in the whole world that I could say. And Kathryn gave me the plaque, and John and Jay gave me hugs, and they put the tiara on my head, and you guys...oh, you guys...

I am the Princess of the Kingdom of Poison and Flame. I am the 2010 Campbell Award winner. I am the first urban fantasist to win the Campbell Award. Because they said my name.

I will be more coherent soon. I will write about my acceptance speech soon. I will stop gasping a little every time I see the tiara soon. But oh, you guys.

I won.

Bit by bit, I am beginning to catch up on everything that went undone while I was in Australia! First up...

The Living Dead [Amazon]|[Mysterious Galaxy] is one of my favorite anthologies of the past few years. It's smart, it's savvy, it's awesome, and it's chock-full of zombie goodness, in every shape and size and degree of decomposition. So when it was announced that there was going to be a sequel, you can probably guess that I damn near dislocated something running to beg for a slot on the table of contents.

Well, I got it—or Mira did, anyway. "Everglades" is a story of the Rising, set in the Newsflesh universe more than twenty years before the events of Feed. You can acquire it, along with many other pieces of awesome zombie awesomeness, in The Living Dead 2 [Amazon]|[Mysterious Galaxy]. We're talking forty-three stories, many of them appearing for the first time ever, all edited by the fabulous John Joseph Adams. It's swanky.

Come on. Let us tell you a deadtime story.

I am in Australia, and I am making a wonderful announcement, thus solidifying this as the best week ever. To be precise:

Pre-orders for Wicked Girls, my third studio album (and the official follow-up to Stars Fall Home), are now officially open! Pardon my squealing, and with big, big thanks to porpentine, who has made the magic go once again. Featuring performances by Kristoph Klover, Michelle Dockrey, Amy McNally, SJ Tucker, Betsy Tinney, and probably several other people that I've managed to temporarily forget, this is probably my favorite album to date. Seriously, I think I'm finally figuring out what it is I'm doing. It brings the good. It brings the sweet. And it brings the AWESOME.

To place your order, go to:

https://seananmcguire.com/secure_order.php

Pre-orders follow this price scale:

* $18.00 USD: First domestic pre-order.
* $16.00 USD: Second domestic pre-order.

* $20.00 USD: International pre-order.
* $16.00 USD: Second international pre-order.

This is because of the way the mailing costs work. A third CD would cost the same as a first; this assumes that the CDs are being shipped together. So two CDs to the same US address would be $34.00, but two CDs to two different US addresses would be $18.00 each. Hope that's not too confusing.

(Basically, all pre-orders are a base cost of $15.00, plus shipping.)

We're taking three hundred total pre-orders, then closing it down; depending on how fast they come, and when we hit three hundred, there may be a small overage, but not much. Since we also need to pay mixing costs, we're taking album sponsors; you can submit sponsorships through the order form. We'll do our best to include all sponsors in the liner notes, although late sponsorships may not be included.

You can view the track list here:

http://seananmcguire.com/albums.php

The track order is by no means finalized, but it's almost there. I'll keep you posted as pre-orders progress, and will be posting weekly with the "where we are in the process" updates.

Questions? Comments? Glee!

Well, that's that; my magical murder pixie toils are done, and they have borne sweet, sweet fruit, has the second book in the Newsflesh trilogy, Deadline, has just been sent back to my publisher in final draft form. Barring acts of god or unforeseen gaping plot holes, my part in this book is over until the page proofs. Which will probably hit around October, assuming we follow the timeline we followed for Feed. Post-It notes in Ohio, here we go again!

Final book stats, including Dedication and Acknowledgments:

150,001 words.
525 pages.
Twenty-seven chapters.

When asked to say something about the book, Vixy says, "Fucking brilliant. Gripping. Terrifying. Satisfying. It's about heroes." So, you know. Fucking brilliant. You heard it here first, folks. Really, I'm scared out of my mind—I always am at this point—but I'm also deeply relieved, because it's done. It's finished. My baby is heading out into the great wide world, and there's no more chopping or stitching or graverobbing to be done. (What? You mean everyone doesn't assemble their offspring out of transistors and corpse parts?)

I'm done.

One more book, and this grand adventure is over; one more book, and we find out whether or not I can stick the landing. I think I can. I hope I can. I believe I can. Because alive or dead, the truth won't rest.

Rise up while you can.

We're only inches away from An Artificial Night, and how better to celebrate than with a mixed review roundup? First off, Amanda at Diary of a Book Addict has posted a review of A Local Habitation, and says, "Set up in a somewhat unexpected way, A Local Habitation continues Toby's adventures in an enthralling, amazing and character-driven story that is just as good as the first one. McGuire's writing skills glow and her world is vibrant and engaging. I couldn't put it down until the very end." Hooray!

Meanwhile, SFX in the UK is showing the Feed love. Their reviewer says, "Feed is a proper thriller with zombies. Grant doesn’t get carried away with describing her world or the virus. She’s clearly thought both out brilliantly, but she doesn’t let it get in the way of a taut, well-written story." Glee.

Today's Livejournal review comes from apocalypticbob, who decided she was going to tackle Feed. She says, "I was lucky enough to win a signed ARC of this book, and it was so incredible that I couldn't wrap my head around it well enough to review it. Seanan has the ability to build worlds that suck you in and characters you love even when you aren't sure if you like them." Awwww. I like that.

There's another Feed review up at A Book A Day 'Til I Can Stay, where the reviewer says, "Feed is passionate and incisive writing. Grant is clever and thought-provoking, piggybacking on horror fiction tropes to speak to the audience about how we may be manipulated by the ‘news’, how fear motivates our decisions and how democracy is reduced to a special interest land-grab. At its core though, Feed is a story about a brother and sister who love each other very much. I eagerly await Deadline." That works for me.

Finally for today, sarahtales (Sarah Rees Brennan) has posted her awesome Feed review, and says, "These are not the zombie boyfriends or girlfriends you're looking for. What this is, is the ideal zombie book for nerds." Seriously, just go read the review. It's MADE OF WIN.

...okay, so this was less "mixed" than "four Feed reviews with a Toby on top." Whatever. The ratios will be shifting soon, and I have a link file to clear out!

More to come.

I am delighted to announce that I will be attending LepreCon, in Tempe, Arizona as their Music Guest of Honor! For one magical miracle weekend next May, Arizona will be invaded by me, Elizabeth Bear, and a host of others, all at once.

It's going to be such a party.

There will be details as I get them, but this is the announcement part of our program. So I have announced.

ARIZONA!

maryrobinette is in town for this month's SF in SF—which I will regrettably be missing, due to having a prior engagement—and I managed to catch her on chat this morning and arrange for an afternoon meeting to hang out. This delighted me utterly, because I adore Mary, and don't get to see her often. (For those of you who need a footnote: Mary Robinette is the "voice" of the October Daye series, as she reads them in audio book form. She's also a puppeteer, an author, and the 2008 recipient of the Campbell Award. Girl's got game.)

Since the first thing I do with any out-of-town guest is take 'em for cupcakes, I arranged to have Mary meet me at Cups and Cakes Bakery. Yes, I am the devil. She was properly delighted by the palace of sugary delights, and consumed a peanut butter cup (chocolate cake, peanut butter frosting, dipped in chocolate ganache) and a red velvet, while I, being a pretty pink princess, ate a Pretty Pretty Princess (strawberry cake with strawberry frosting). Yum, all the way around.

You can't hang out in a bakery forever, so I asked Mary if she'd like to walk over to Borderlands. She was game for this adventure, and I've walked that route so many times now that I don't really need to pay attention anymore. Gleeful chattering and wandering ensued, culminating in our arrival at the bookstore, where we found Jude, Alan, and—eventually—Jeremy.

Jeremy had a box.

Inside the box was the new Night Shade Press anthology, The Living Dead 2. This is a big, handsome book, with a gorgeous cover, and a great table of contents. Said table of contents includes Kelley Armstrong, Max Brooks, David Wellington...and Mira Grant.

Oh, wait. That's me.

Oxygen is hard.

The story, "Everglades," is set on the U.C. Berkeley campus during the Rising. It's sad and wistful and tragic, and you should totally read it. I mean, you should totally buy this anthology if you like zombies, even a little, because it's gorgeous, but really? My story. In a book. With all these amazing people.

I managed a) not to break Jeremy's fingers snatching the book away, and b) to stay and keep talking for a while, because running cackling into the night would have been rude. We eventually shifted to the cafe, where I hugged Cole, hugged Mary goodbye, and departed for home, taking my book with me.

My book. You cannot have it. Get your own. MINE.

Damn, this was a surprisingly good day.

Lilly is, without a doubt, the lovingest, clingiest, lickingest cat I have ever known. She wants to be where I am, all the time. If I'm in the bathroom, she's in the bathroom. If I'm in the bedroom, she's in the bedroom. The only exception comes when we're watching television: she's learned to recognize the volume changes from pausing a video or the live show going to commercial, and will remain patiently on the couch, waiting for me to come back. Did I mention that she's also one of the smartest cats I've ever known in my life? Because seriously, sometimes it's a little bit unnerving.

This morning, Lilly pulled her usual trick of putting her front paws on my thigh and looking at me beseechingly until I pushed back from the desk, then jumping into my lap, where she sat sphynx-style, leaned against me, and buried her head in the crook of my arm. It's amazing how good I've become at typing while she does that. Entire chapters have been written around the purring water hazard that is my Siamese.

Lilly can recognize the opening themes to The West Wing, Haven, Fringe, and Doctor Who; any of these songs will bring her running, as she knows they're a guarantee that I'm about to sit still for an hour. She hasn't learned to read yet, so she doesn't bring me those specific DVDs when she's trying to encourage me to spend some time on the couch, but she brings me other DVDs (and a much wider assortment now that she has Alice to help her get things down). Again, disturbingly smart cat.

Lilly is sweet, friendly, and relatively calm most of the time, which means she doesn't get as much "air time" as Alice, who is much pushier (and puffier). But Lilly is one of the best cats I've ever known. And yes, she's named after Lilly Kane.

I just felt the need to share that.