So I am considering—not yet wedded to, but considering—re-releasing Stars Fall Home, since it's currently all out of print and stuff, and that's no fun. But being me, I'm not willing to do this if I don't feel that I am in some way improving things with a re-release. This means a) that I will probably re-record "Sycamore Tree," to resolve some issues I have with the vocals, and b) include at least one new song, for the sake of, you know, making my lizard brain not freak out about spending time on something I've already done.

This is the link to my songbook. Yes, this link, right here.

If I were to record one song that had not previously been recorded, what would you want it to be? Defend your choice! With two caveats:

* No parodies.
* Nothing mad science or horror. That will eventually be a second theme album.

Tell me what to do!

Too busy to brain. Here, have some bits and pieces.

Wicked Girls T-shirts.
My mother is on her way to Carmichael, California to pick these up right now. So assuming that there hasn't been some horrifying and unforeseen printing error (which seems unlikely, as we had very clear graphics, and a very clear work order), I will be starting to mail these out this week. I'll post again once I'm absolutely certain that everything is good. I will also announce when and where hand-delivery will be available, for those of you who don't want to wait for the mail, but will be in the same place as me in the weeks to come.

CD statuses.
When CD Baby runs out of Pretty Little Dead Girl, that's it, it's gone. I have twelve copies left; five are going into my vault, and the other seven will be going to the book release party and my October conventions. I will definitely be reprinting Wicked Girls, but it may need to wait until early 2012, since there's a whole process involved in doing something like this. I am also considering reprinting Stars Fall Home, with certain changes/enhancements (new cover, to match better with Wicked Girls, maybe a new track). I'll keep you posted.

Conclave, October 9th to 11th.
I'll be posting about this at more length once I make it through the weekend alive, but next week, I am the Literary Guest at Conclave, in Romulus, Michigan. It's going to be a big party, with me teaming up with Wild Mercy (including Amy McNally) to set the stage on fire, as well as bunches and bunches of exciting panels, fabulous events, and general good times. If you're in the Michigan area, this should definitely be on your radar.

Mailing things.
If you're expecting me to mail you something, and I haven't mailed you something, and you're wondering if the post office may have eaten your something, it didn't. Everything has been insane, and I am way, way behind on my mailing of things. I am sincerely hoping that the shirts will fix this, since it's going to mean taking van-loads of crap to the post office, and that usually inspires more stuff to go into the mail.

Why aren't you watching this?
Man, the new season of Fringe is so good that I want to take it home to meet my parents. If you're not caught up, or if you dropped the show in season one before it got good (which many people did, I know), you should totally give it a go. I could not love this show more if it was dipped in chocolate and rolled in candy corn.

...okay, maybe that's going a little far. Om nom nom.

Candy corn.
In my belly.

The Pirates of Emerson!
If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, you should be aware that the Pirates of Emerson haunted house park is re-opening tomorrow night for its annual Halloween bash. There are six haunted houses included in general admission, and there's a corn maze, and ghost pirates and and and. It's like someone made a sweet, refreshing oasis for my soul, and then kindly dropped it within easy driving distance. Best of all, general admission is only $20. Not suitable for easily scared children, adults, or house pets. Hugely recommended for everybody else.

Anything else?
Be...excellent to one another.

And PARTY ON, DUDES!

Hey, gang, this is your friendly reminder that the fifth iteration of the Traveling Circus and Snake-Handling Show will be appearing this Saturday, October 1st, at San Francisco's own Borderlands Books. Festivities will commence at five, and will include delicious baked goods, live music, our inevitable raffle, and a Toby Daye Q&A.

This iteration of the Traveling Circus and Snake-Handling Show includes, in alphabetical order, Jeff "Heavy Metal Squid" Bohnhoff, on guitar and sound; Maya "Sonic Boom" Bohnhoff, on guitar and vocals; Michelle "Ceiling Cookies" Dockrey, on vocals; Tony "Code Monkey Likes You" Fabris, on guitar and vocals; Beckett "Don't Lick That" Gladney, on harmonica; Paul "The Cute One" Kwinn, on guitar and vocals; Betsy "Living Improbability" Tinney, on cello and vocals; and me, doing my usual mix of vocals and random stage patter.

Kate and Ryan will be running support, because they are awesome, and my mother will be running around like a chicken with her head cut off. Jude and Naamen will be keeping the bookstore from burning down (respect the bookstore). Mia will be on hand for pendant sales, and Victor and Lara will be on hand for AWESOME (and inevitably getting drafted).

It's going to be an awesome time, with signings and questions and cupcakes, and you should come. If you can't attend, remember that you can contact the bookstore to place orders for delivery, and get your books signed by attending our Circus in your heart.

See you Saturday!

Two orders of business!

First, CD Baby has confirmed receipt of the Red Roses and Dead Things restock. Perfect for Halloween or any other time of year, this is my mad science and horror album. It's not out of print, but it's getting harder to find. Order now if you want to be sure of getting a copy in the next few months.

Secondly, I've re-stacked the CD shelf, which meant sorting and doing inventory on all albums. After putting everything back where it belongs, this is what I have left:

252 copies of Red Roses and Dead Things.
197 copies of Wicked Girls.
12 copies of Pretty Little Dead Girl.

Please be aware that in each case, the remaining stock represents the entire print run of the album. All three can still be acquired from filk dealers, but I'm looking at selling out of Pretty Little Dead Girl in 2011, and probably selling out of Wicked Girls in the same time period.

Wicked Girls will be reprinted when it sells out, but I don't know how long that will take. Ditto Red Roses and Dead Things. Pretty Little Dead Girl was a convention album, and will NOT be reprinted.

This has been your CD updated for today.

Because people have been asking:

CD Baby is out of Red Roses and Dead Things, my mad science/horror theme album. I am mailing the restock for them today. If their normal cycle applies in this case (sometimes they're faster, sometimes they're slower), the CDs should be available on the website in about eight days. They're only asking for sixteen copies right now, so if you've been waiting for this album to be available again, you should probably watch the website.

Because people have also been asking:

There are now fewer than two hundred copies of Red Roses and Dead Things remaining. I will probably do a second printing of this one, because it's managed to sell out so fast, but that will have to wait until I have the money to do it (something which could take a while). If you wanted to get a copy, "sooner" is probably a better idea than "later."

Related:

Stars Fall Home is currently out of print. There are not currently any plans to reprint the album any time in the immediate future. It is not available as a download. I do not know of any filk dealers with stock at this time.

Pretty Little Dead Girl: Seanan McGuire and Friends Live at OVFF 2005 is about three hundred copies away from going out of print. This is the only currently available album with the songs "Sycamore Tree" and "Pretty Little Dead Girl."

Wicked Girls is about two hundred copies from selling out its first printing. This one will definitely be reprinted, but I have no way of saying exactly when, or how many copies will be in the second run.

Most filk dealers have copies of my currently in-print albums; CD Baby has, or will have, copies available via their website.

Administration is hard. Let's have strawberry ice cream.

I am slammed, and so you're getting one of those dense little fudge-like blog posts where everything fits easily in your mouth and also, you probably don't want to eat the whole box. You're welcome. And so...

The Return of the Traveling Circus and Snake-Handling Show.

The Traveling Circus and Snake-Handling Show will be coming together again on October 1st, to blow the roof right off of Borderlands Books! It's going to be a party. This time, the lineup includes Vixy and Tony, Betsy Tinney, Katie Tinney, Jeff and Maya Bohnhoff, Paul Kwinn, and the always-awesome Beckett Gladney. Mia Nutick will be on hand, with pendants. Kate Secor will be on hand, with sticks. Come for the music, cupcakes, readings, raffles, and fun; stay to buy books and make the bookstore like me. Hooray, Circus!

Ashes of Honor.

The sixth Toby book is trekking right along, and is currently on-schedule to have a finished first draft by October 26th. I even have a progressive daily word count goal sheet to prove it. Once the book is done, it goes off to the Machete Squad and The Agent for review and severe physical harm, and I can really buckle down on Midnight Blue-Light Special, a few YA projects, and the next Mira Grant book. This is what we call "Seanan rewards herself for working by creating more work." This is also what we call "Seanan has no social life."

Social life.

Except that I do have a social life, honest! I'm flying to Seattle this weekend for a Counting Crows concert (yes I am flying to another state just for a concert DON'T JUDGE ME I LOVE THEM). The Pirates of Emerson are getting ready to re-open their annual haunted house park, and I'm very excited about that. And I'm already making sure to plan dinners and lunches with the friends I'm going to see during...

My fall convention schedule.

The first full weekend of October (7th-9th), I will be the Literary Guest of Honor at Conclave, in Romulus, Michigan. The weekend after, I will be appearing at the LitCrawl!, this time in the Borderlands Cafe. The weekend after that, I will be flying to Ohio for OVFF, where I will sing in the Pegasus Concert, share a room with Brooke, hug Vixy a lot, and wear a pretty dress.

And after that, I nap.

Too much TV.

All my fall shows are coming back on the air. Right now, as of this week, I'm watching Eureka, Warehouse 13, Alphas, Castle, NCIS, Glee, The New Girl, America's Next Top Model, Fringe, Haven, and Doctor Who. Some of these shows are ending for the season very soon. Others are just getting started. Still others have not yet made an appearance on the schedule. Thank the Great Pumpkin for Tivo.

Toys!

The spring line of Monster High dolls has just been announced. I have acquired the Modern Doll Collector's Convention Evangeline ("Soul Sweeping"), but not the centerpiece doll (which I want very much). I have arranged a proxy for the Halloween convention. I am, in short, insane. But wow, do I have lots of toys staring at you while you try to sleep.

Cats.

Insane.

"Wicked Girls" T-shirts.

At the printer now! Soon, I shall have them, and soon, we shall begin sorting out the shipping process. Since some of you did order them as gifts for the holiday season, I may try doing a "priority boarding" post, where I say "let us know if you need yours soon for any reason," and bump those people to the front of the queue. If I do this, however, I need to trust that only people with real need will ask; more than fifty such requests, and we won't be able to handle them, so no one will get out-of-order shipping. And the spreadsheet is really random, the order in which your request was placed has nothing to do with it.

...and that is all, for right now. More to come later.

I need a nap.

Three days past the release of One Salt Sea, and everything's still a little damp around here. That's probably going to be true for a while. Anyway, the reviews are starting to come in, and I thought it might be nice to share them. Take a deep breath...

The incredible Cat Faber (catsittingstill) actually wrote her review of One Salt Sea in song form, which is usually the sort of thing I do to people, not the sort of thing that I have done to me. There's an MP3 and everything, and it's incredible. You should go and listen. Seriously.

Kenda at Lurv ala Mode has posted a review of One Salt Sea, and says, "Geeze, how do you keep doing reviews for a series that consistently gets better and better? The books are anything but the same ole this and that, but it makes it progressively harder to pimp the things. Yes, this one was so fracking good—like the last one. Yes, it engaged me emotionally and made me cry—like the last one. YES, IT WAS AWESOME, OKAY? How often do I have to say it? Every time, apparently."

...right, I win at review. Let's all have ice cream. (She also says, "This series is a testament to just how deeply one can—and likes—to be drawn down, deep into a book." Seriously, I win.)

Kelly at Fantasy Literature also posted a review of One Salt Sea, and says, "One Salt Sea is the best October Daye book to date; everything that's great about the series comes together in one book. The plot is strong, the characterization is terrific, the tragedies hurt, a few things that were confusing are explained here, and McGuire's usual beautiful writing and dark humor are present and accounted for. This has become one of my favorite urban fantasy series, and I can't wait to find out what happens next." Yay!

Something to Muse About has posted a review of One Salt Sea, and says, "This series just keeps getting better with each book. Now we must deal with the grueling wait for Ashes of Honor." Short, sweet, and awesome.

Finally (for now) is a post that's half Feed review and half Wicked Girls review and generally just lovely. This Just In: Seanan McGuire is Awesome. Because how could I resist a title like that?

Now grab a towel and dry yourselves off. The waters are still rising.

Hooray hooray, the 2011 Pegasus ballot is live at last! And this is a good, good year.

The ballot for the 2011 Pegasus Awards for Excellence in Filking is now live for voting, and holy cheese, there are some awesome nominees this year! The ballot...

Best Filk Song

"Die Puppen (The Dolls)" by Eva Van Daele-Hunt.
"Joan" by Heather Dale and Ben Deschamps.
"Paper Worlds" by Talis Kimberley.
"Somebody Will" by Ada Palmer.
"Wicked Girls" by Seanan McGuire.

Best Classic Filk Song

"Gone Filkin'" by Tom Jeffers.
"Little Fuzzy Animals" by Frank Hayes.
"Nessie Come Up" by Dr. Jane Robinson.
"The Phoenix" by Julia Ecklar.
"Storm Dancing" by Tom Smith.

Best Performer

Amy McNally.
Playing Rapunzel.
Stone Dragons.
Toyboat.
Tricky Pixie.

Best Writer/Composer

Barry Childs-Helton.
Dr. Mary Crowell.
Phil Mills.
Ben Newman.
S. J. Tucker.

Best Badass Song

"Crispy Danish" by Andrew Ross.
"Evil Eyeball" by Sibylle Machat.
"Evil Laugh" by Seanan McGuire.
"My Brother, My Enemy" by Ada Palmer.
"Tough Titty Cupcakes" by Betsy Tinney.

Best Romantic Song

"As I Am" by Heather Dale.
"One Small Boat" by Marilisa Valtazanou.
"Rain On Berlin" by Eva Van Daele-Hunt.
"Starlight & Saxophone" by Tom Smith.
"Too Many Years" by Bill Roper.

I mean, just look at all that awesomesauce. The Best Song Category alone contains representatives from four nations (America, Canada, England, and Germany), and so many of my favorite people are on this ballot that it boggles the mind. It's like a big delicious biscuit of amazing, and I am overjoyed and honored to be on it. (Also, "Wicked Girls" is up against two of my favorite songs, "Paper Worlds" and "Joan." It's a good year to be a filker.)

The Pegasus homepage has all the song samples and lyrics you could need to educate yourself on some totally amazing music, and some totally amazing people. Check it out for fantastic!

So I just packed a restock of Red Roses and Dead Things and Pretty Little Dead Girl for CD Baby. In the process of doing so, I had to, you know, count the remaining stock. Bearing in mind that I have somewhere between ten and fifty of each title floating around the house, boxless and waiting to be found under a sofa or behind a bookshelf, I have remaining...

* One CD long box of Pretty Little Dead Girl (thirty copies). This means this CD is now officially on the verge of going out of print. It will not be reprinted.

* Seven CD long boxes of Red Roses and Dead Things (two hundred and ten copies). This is somewhat less urgent; I've probably got stock for the next year or so. After that, who knows? I recommend picking up a copy soon if you wanted one, since Stars Fall Home became unavailable shortly after dropping below two hundred. I may or may not reprint, depending on demand.

* Seven CD long boxes of Wicked Girls (two hundred and ten copies). That's...um. That's sort of awe-inspiring, really, when you consider that this album has been out for less than a year. Actually, scratch "awe-inspiring"; go with "terrifying." If you wanted a copy of the first pressing, this would be the time to get one. I'm almost certainly going to do a second run, since I want this to be available for at least two years, but how long that takes will be determined by my available funds.

All three albums are available through CD Baby; I'm mailing the restock on the two currently out of stock titles tomorrow. They are also available through your friendly neighborhood filk dealer.

And that's our status.

Okay, so. A few things...

1. I am still assembling the T-shirt spreadsheet. I had intended to finish last night, but then my home internet decided to emulate the mighty banana slug and travel at a speed of approximately three miles per hour, making navigating LJ borderline impossible. So if you haven't heard back from me, you do not yet need to worry. I will post one more time when the spreadsheet is done, saying "if you haven't heard back from me, worry." But if you followed the instructions (name, size, color, email address on the original post) or contacted me and asked politely for an exception, you should be fine.

2. I just found out that apparently, my drummer on Wicked Girls was never paid. I thought he'd been paid out of the money I gave my producer, but no, that all went to mixing. Given the math of albums, this is totally believable, but marginally, you know, inconvenient. So if you don't yet have a copy of Wicked Girls, or wanted to get one for a friend, now would be an awesome time to do so, as I now have an unexpected recording-related bill to pay.

3. I have a convention this weekend, and word counts to make, and I'm trying to post a piece of Newsflesh-related short fiction every day during the countdown to Deadline. So in the interests of maintaining my own sanity, I'm declaring amnesty from my normal "answer all comments" blog policy where those posts are concerned. I'll try to answer direct questions and the like, but I won't answer every expression of "yay, more story." I'll read and appreciate them all, I just need to use my time in other ways right this second. :)

4. My phone is dead. Not just a little dead; dead-dead, the great death from which there is no returning. So I'm a little grumpy, and only accessible via electronic channels right now. Some of which don't work from home, where the internet is toast. Did I mention that this was the best week ever?

5. There is no number five. I just didn't want to end the list on an even number.

The CD Baby newsletter for April has gone out. They always highlight a few albums, including their titles and covers, along with "listen" links. It's a fun way to find new music, and filk albums never show up there.

Only Wicked Girls? Is their top seller for April. And they still have stock, so hopefully people will be able to listen and then order and then I will have fewer CDs sitting around waiting to be adopted.

So, um. I think this may be the first filk CD ever selected as a top seller.

Whoa.

That's all.

This past Saturday was my fourth Toby-related book event at San Francisco's Borderlands Books, home of naked cats, tolerant employees, and, every six months or so, the Traveling Circus and Snake-Handling Show. We've appeared in other locations, but Borderlands is the one we keep going back to; Borderlands is the home base for this particular flavor of insanity. Why? Because we like them.

This particular party was slated to start at six and run until nine, giving us three hours in which to sell books, answer questions, make music, and feed people vast quantities of sugar. We arrived at the bookstore en masse around four-thirty, while the prior event was tearing down, and toted ALL THE THINGS inside. Seriously, when we go into carnie mode, we're a scary mob of ALL THE THINGS. It looks like we're planning to actually move in. Wisely, people scattered; just as wisely, Kate (who met us at the bookstore) hauled me away to put food in me, since I'm about as much help during setup and tear-down as a Gila monster with a machine gun.

People began showing up around five-thirty, while we were in the midst of final touches, final placements, and soundcheck. Jeff ran our small but spunky sound system, while Kate worked the raffle table and ensured (along with Mom) that everyone got a ticket of their very own. Six o'clock hit, heralded by the arrival of my cupcakes, and we got that party started.

As always, the festivities were divided between music, Q&A, baked goods, and drawing prizes in our raffle. The questions were new and different, the raffle prizes were an awesome mix of standard and surprising (including some special additions by the bookstore, which made things even more spectacular), the cupcakes (from Cups and Cakes Bakery) were delicious, and the music was rocking. The set lists:

SET ONE:
1. "Thirteen." Michelle "Vixy" Dockrey, lead vocals, tambourine; Maya Bohnhoff, Seanan McGuire, backing vocals; Tony Fabris, guitar; Betsy Tinney, cello.
2. "Dear Gina." Seanan, lead vocals; Vixy, backing vocals; Tony, guitar; Betsy, creepy creepy cello.
3. "High Desert." Maya, lead vocals; Jeff Bohnhoff, guitar; Kristine Bohnhoff, backing vocals; Vixy, backing vocals; Betsy, cello.
4. "Pocket Man." Maya, vocals; Vixy, backing vocals; Jeff, guitar; Betsy, cello.
5. "We Can Be Anything." Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Betsy, cello.

SET TWO:
1. "Radio Free Luna." Maya, lead vocals; Vixy, backing vocals; Jeff, guitar; Tony, guitar; Betsy, cello.
2. "Manhattan Sleeps." Maya, Kristine, vocals; Vixy, backing vocals; Jeff, guitar; Betsy, cello.
3. "Tam Lin." Vixy, Maya, Seanan, vocals; Jeff, guitar; Tony, guitar; Betsy, cello; Vixy, djembe; Maya, shaker.
4. "Walmart." Maya, lead vocals; Vixy, backing vocals; Jeff, guitar; Betsy, cello; Vixy, tambourine.
5. "Oak and Ash and Rowan and Thorn." Vixy, lead vocals; Maya, backing vocals; Vixy, djembe.

SET THREE:
1. "Alligator in the House." Vixy, lead vocals; Maya, backing vocals; Tony, guitar; Betsy, kick-ass cello.
2. "Tanglewood Tree." Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Betsy, cello.
3. "Apprentice." Vixy, lead vocals; Maya, backing vocals; Jeff, Tony, guitar; Betsy, cello.
4. "Got to Fly." Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar.
5. "Wicked Girls." Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Betsy, cello.

"Thirteen" and "Apprentice" are on Vixy and Tony's first album, Thirteen.
"Dear Gina" is on Seanan's third album, Red Roses and Dead Things.
"High Desert" and "Radio Free Luna" are on Jeff and Maya's fourth album, Möbius Street.
"Pocket Man" is on Jeff and Maya's third album, Aliens Ate My Homework.
"Manhattan Sleeps" is on Jeff and Maya's second album, Manhattan Sleeps.
"Tam Lin" and "Alligator in the House" are on Tricky Pixie's first album, Mythcreants.
"Tanglewood Tree" and "Wicked Girls" are on Seanan's fourth album, Wicked Girls.
"Got to Fly" is on Marian Call's second album, Got to Fly.

A good time was had by all. We raised the roof; I signed more books in a single sitting than I ever have before, even at Comicon; the cupcakes lasted eight minutes, tops; nothing got broken. We're already making plans and getting our ducks in row for the next time that the Circus comes to town.

Thanks to everyone who attended, and to everyone who didn't...see you next time!

What: Late Eclipses release party.
Where: San Francisco's own Borderlands Books, home of the naked kitties.
When: Saturday, March 19th, from six to nine PM (probably followed by decamping down the street for dinner, because That's How We Roll).
Why: Because we like you!

The Traveling Circus is descending upon Borderlands in a new incarnation, to dazzle, delight, and entertain you as we celebrate the release of Late Eclipses. This particular circus spectacular will feature Vixy "Kitsune Girl" Dockrey, Tony "Tony" Fabris, Betsy "The Cellonator" Tinney, Jeff "Heavy Metal Squid" Bohnhoff, and Maya "The Crusher" Bohnhoff. Oh, also, me. This is the first time the Bohnhoffs have joined us for a Traveling Circus, and I'm very excited about the whole thing.

There will be a raffle, readings, Q&A sessions, music, and cupcakes. Borderlands Cafe will be open right next door, to satisfy your nourishment needs (because let's face it, man does not live by cupcakes alone). We always have a great time at these things, and part of what makes them so awesome is the way people show up and help us party. So please, show up! Help us party!

It's going to be a fun night.

Late Eclipses [Amazon]|[Mysterious Galaxy] is nearly upon us, and you know what that means. TRAVELING CIRCUS TIME!

The Traveling Circus (this time consisting of myself, Betsy Tinney, Vixy & Tony, and Jeff and Maya Bohnhoff) will be descending on San Francisco's own Borderlands Books on March 19th, where we will do our best to blow the roof off with our characteristic mix of music, madness, and random, unexpected cheering. There will be a raffle, and the cafe will be open to fill your bellies with delicious food. This is Jeff and Maya's first day at the Circus, so please show up and help us show them how we roll.

I'll post a reminder when we get closer to the event, and of course, all events are listed on my website appearances page.

Also potentially of interest, for those of you who can't make it to the party: remember that Borderlands Books will take orders for signed and inscribed books, and will happily ship them all over the world. I'll be swinging through the store on Tuesday, where I'll happily sign any books that are waiting in my queue. So if you want a personalized book, drop the store a line, and trade some cash for the knowledge that my pen has been put to paper in your name.

It's really a book!

So wow. February is more than halfway over, and I'm trying to clean everything up on my end of things, in the hopes that doing so will enable me to, you know, accomplish something for a change. Because I've just been sitting around doing nothing up until now. So...

1. All the damaged Wicked Girls CDs have been claimed, although some are still pending payment. It's highly unlikely that any more damaged CDs will show up; Mom and I have checked the boxes thoroughly at this point, and it looks like the unpleasant surprises are over. Thank the Great Pumpkin.

2. I am mailing the last of the paid-for "Wicked Girls" posters tomorrow. This means that, if you are waiting for a poster, you should have it in approximately a week (all the posters being mailed are going to US addresses). If you have requested a poster but not yet paid for it, you have ten days before I delete your name from the list, and release any held numbers back into the wild. If you're not sure whether you've paid or not, you can always contact me.

3. I'm going to be setting up my final pre-release giveaways over the next week or so. Finances are forcing me to restrict them to US addresses/international addresses only if you're willing to pay for postage. I'm really sorry about that. It's just that it costs me approximately three dollars to mail a book inside the US, and outside gets very spendy, very fast. Specific rules to come.

4. I'll doubtless be saying more about this later, but as we're getting into the period where people start getting excited about Deadline: I do not have ARCs. I am not going to have ARCs. Please don't ask me for them, please don't comment on other giveaway posts saying you'd take an ARC of Deadline instead of the stated prize, just please, please, don't. There are no ARCs of this book. I'm not holding out on you, I just don't got the goods.

...and that's our administrative junk for the night. Join me next week, when "administrative junk" will probably include port and drunkenly yelling at my rambunctious kitten.

First up, here is a message from my darling spectralbovine, who is, by the way, questionably insane, as well as being one of my favorite hotel roomies:

"Wow! A great many thanks to everyone who has already donated to 826 Valencia, helping me raise nearly $5,000! Our team has raised nearly $12,000, making us the most successful fund-raising spelling bee team in the history of 826. If you would like to be a part of this tremendous achievement, there's still time!

http://tiny.cc/sunilspellingbee

If you would like to see me put all this cheating money to good use against Michael Chabon, Lemony Snicket, Adam Savage, John Vanderslice, Tracy Chapman, and others (including a former National Spelling Bee competitor), I invite you to attend the Spelling Bee for Cheaters on Thursday, February 17 at 7:30 PM at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco.

http://www.cityboxoffice.com/ordertickets.asp?p=5324

Use the discount code 826VLNTR to get general seating for $15 and premium seating for $40! Bring giant foam letters to give me hints."

Now, his team is currently in grave danger from the various celebrity teams; Adam Savage, especially, has endangered their status as Most Successful Fund-Raisers Ever. So if you were considering helping this good cause, here's your chance!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch (or back in my living room, depending on your point of view), Mom and I were shipping Wicked Girls CDs the other day, and discovered that one of the boxes had been partially damaged in shipping. So I have three CDs with cracked jewel cases and slightly damaged liner notes, but no damage to the CDs themselves. I'm selling these for $5 plus postage; please comment here if you're interested.

And that's the news.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It's a Wicked Girls day here in sunny California, where I've just received the confirmation that Wicked Girls is now available for order on CDBaby.com. If you missed the pre-order period, or just need another copy, this is your chance! We're probably going to sell out their available stock pretty quickly, but that's okay; they'll ask me for more, which I will dispatch promptly, and showing them the level of demand will help to set the tempo of their restock requests.

Theodora Goss has written a beautiful contemplation on what it is to be a wicked girl. People I've never met are taking this up as a rallying cry, and that warms my heart and gives me hope.

Emily Gilman has also posted her contemplations on being wicked and lovely, and not living in fear, and these are two brave, bold women I've never met, talking about what it takes to fly.

Be brave. Be true. Fly.

That's all I'll ever ask of you.

ETA: CDBaby now says "out of stock," but will take requests anyway. That's fine. Go ahead and place your order now, and I should have a restock request from them by Monday, at which point they'll have more CDs, and I'll have less.

I am home from Georgia and Massachusetts! I am no longer stranded in the snowy South or New England! This is awesome. Also awesome: the traditional posting of the set list from my most recent filk convention, accompanied with lyric links and helpful notations. My backing band was a little unusual, since it was assembled at the Absolute Last Minute, with lots of awesome people stepping up to make sure that my guest of honor concert wasn't a total disaster. Big, big thanks to Dr. Mary Crowell, Amy McNally, Bill and Brenda Sutton, Dave Rood, and Jodi Krangle, for saving my bacon.

I am so grateful to have been GaFilk's Guest of Honor. It was, to repeat myself a bit, a true honor, and I couldn't have had a better time. The GaFilk set list, with arrangement* notes, was as follows:

1. "The Sealskin and the Story and the Sky." (Seanan McGuire, vocals; Bill Sutton, guitar; Brenda Sutton, bodhran; Dave Rood, bass; Dr. Mary Crowell, piano; Amy McNally, fiddle.)
2. "Counting Crows." (Seanan, vocals; Bill, guitar; Brenda, bodhran; Dave, bass; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle.)
3. "Mama Said." (Seanan, vocals; Bill, guitar; Brenda, coconut shells; Dave, bass; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle.)
4. "Mother of the Crows." (Seanan, vocals; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle.)
5. "Still Catch the Tide" (Talis Kimberley cover). (Seanan, vocals; Jodi Krangle, backing vocals; Bill, guitar; Brenda, bodhran; Dave, bass; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle.)
6. "The Ghost of Lilly Kane." (Seanan, vocals; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle.)
7. "Dear Gina." (Seanan, Katie vocals; Mary, piano, creepy demon vocals; Amy, fiddle.)
8. "Silent Hill." (Seanan, vocals; Mary, piano.)
9. "Dare to Dream." (Seanan, vocals; Bill, guitar; Brenda, bodhran; Dave, bass; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle.)
10. "Evil Laugh." (Seanan, vocals; Bill, guitar; Brenda, dinosaur shaker; Dave, bass; Mary, piano; Amy, Merav, backing vocals.)
11. "Burn It Down" (Vixy & Tony cover). (Seanan, vocals; Bill, guitar; Brenda, bodhran; Dave, bass; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle.)
12. "Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves." (Seanan, Jodi, vocals; Bill, guitar; Brenda, bodhran; Dave, bass; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle.)
13. "My Story Is Not Done." (Seanan, vocals; Bill, guitar; Brenda, bodhran; Dave, bass; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle.)

The bridge for "Wicked Girls" was...

"Now Brenda beats bodhrans, and Vixy's run off with the fairies,
And Deborah will pour you red wine pressed from sweet poisoned berries.
Autumn signs secrets, and Amy plays tricks,
While Sunnie calls music from wires and sticks,
And the rules that we live by are simple and clear..."

As always: "Counting Crows," "Mama Said," "Mother of the Crows," "The Ghost of Lilly Kane," "My Story Is Not Done," and "Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves" are on Wicked Girls. "Evil Laugh," and "Still Catch the Tide" are on Stars Fall Home (out of print). "Dear Gina" and "Silent Hill" are on Red Roses and Dead Things.

Again, I am so very grateful to the GaFilk concom for having me. I had a wonderful time, and I can't wait to go back.

(*Dave Rood was actually moving around behind me quite a lot, so if I accidentally left him off something, or added him to something incorrectly, please let me know. Assuming you know. Which you may not.)

Okay! So here, in conveniently numbered form, is the status on the mailing of Wicked Girls CDs, and the ordering thereof.

1. All paid-for pre-orders have been shipped.

2. Because of high holiday traffic at the post office, it is entirely possible for you to have received your "it has been shipped" email during the last week of December, and then for your CD to have not been sent until the first week of January. This is because "it has been shipped" really means "it has been stuffed into an envelope and also we were able to find it on the checklist."

3. Ironically, since I'm still working my way through the checklist, this also means you could have your CD well before you receive your "it has been shipped" notice. Sorry about that.

4. I do not have tracking information on any of the CDs. They were all sent either first class or media mail (whichever was cheaper for that specific package), with no bells or whistles of any kind. Why? Because confirmation would require another dollar per package, and a lot more time per package, at which point I sadly don't have time to mail more than three at once, and you're still receiving CDs into 2012.

5. There's an awful lot of weather hitting North America right now, and this, unfortunately, means that quite a few packages are being delayed. I do not control the weather. I mean, besides the rain. I control the rain. But it's not the rain that is causing mail stoppages and slow deliveries. So please have patience until the horrific weather stops keeping you apart from your precious CD. Waiting makes the payoff all the sweeter, right?

6. If you need to verify the address your CD was sent to, you can email me. I will then grumble at you for making me remember where I left the database, and go and look it up. I do not have a time machine, so I can't change where the CD went, so please don't tell me today that you meant to get me an address correction last month. I can arrange to re-ship the CD when the post office returns it to me, but I'll have to ask you to pay postage again.

7. If your CD has absolutely, positively, "it's been a month and I have nothing" gone missing, email me, and we'll see what we can do. I don't control the mail, but that doesn't mean it should be messing with people, either.

8. Right now, you can obtain copies of Wicked Girls from either Southern Fried Filk or from Bill Roper (at-con sales only). I'll be getting the album up on CD Baby sometime in the next month or so; there just hasn't been time, and I wanted to make sure that all pre-orders were sent out before I started supplying the vendors.

9. No, I really can't take direct sales until then.

10. No, I am not recording a fifth CD. Yet.

If you have any other questions, comments, concerns, or cuckoo birds, feel free to share them here. I just wanted to try to get the big ones out of the way in a centralized manner, because I am currently crap at answering my email.

The pre-order period for my third studio album, Wicked Girls, will officially be closing at the end of this week, as we are basically ready to go to the printer—I just need to get the final liner note files and contact my project manager at Oasis, and we're in business. For details on the album, please check out my albums page, where you can find the track list, lyrics, some details on our featured performers, and the truly kick-ass cover art.

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. Please be aware that if you order two CDs at the same time, they will be sent to the same address.)

Since we also need to pay mixing costs, we're taking album sponsors; you can submit sponsorships through the order form. 285 pre-orders have been sold out of a possible 300, meaning that 15 pre-orders remain. All pre-ordered CDs will be signed and numbered. Because it is so late in the year, only pre-ordered CDs will have a chance of arriving before the holidays. I can't make any promises, but I'm going to try to do the majority of the mailing in time for Christmas. I will not be getting stock to filk dealers or CD Baby until after the first of the year.

Questions? Comments? Glee!

While there will be a slightly more detailed con report later, right now I'm too tired for anything but the standard "here is my set list, isn't it beautiful?" I had some incredible backing musicians: Tony Fabris on guitar, Vixy on vocals, and Sunnie Larsen on fiddle. Autumn signed pretty much the whole thing, and added a beautiful dimension to the performance. Thanks to all of them, and I am so very grateful to have been OryCon's Music Guest of Honor. As is the standing tradition around here, I now present my concert set list, including annotation and lyric links, because that's what makes it useful.

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

1. "Counting Crows." (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony guitar.)
2. "Mama Said." (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony guitar.)
3. "Preston Miller" (Dave Carter cover). (Seanan, vocals; Vixy, vocals; Tony guitar.)
4. "Carnival Glass." (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar.)
5. "Dear Gina." (Seanan, Katie vocals; Tony, guitar; Vixy, creepy demon vocals we're all gonna die.)
6. "Paper Moon." (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Sunnie, fiddle.)
7. "Evil Laugh." (Seanan, vocals; Tony, guitar; Vixy, backing vocals.)
8. "Tanglewood Tree" (Dave Carter cover). (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Sunnie, fiddle.)
9. "Still Catch the Tide" (Talis Kimberley cover). (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar.)
10. "Archetype Cafe" (Talis Kimberley cover). (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar.)
11. "Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves." (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Sunnie, fiddle.)

The bridge for "Wicked Girls" was...

"Now Lauren's a ninja, and Torrey weaves silk shrouds for faeries.
Angelica pours you red wine pressed from sweet poisoned berries.
Autumn signs secrets, and Amy plays tricks,
While Sunnie calls music from wires and sticks,
And the rules that we live by are simple and clear..."

As always: "Counting Crows," "Mama Said," "Carnival Glass," "Tanglewood Tree," and "Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves" will be on Wicked Girls. "Paper Moon," "Evil Laugh," and "Still Catch the Tide" are on Stars Fall Home. "Dear Gina" is on Red Roses and Dead Things.

This was a very cover-intensive set. "Archetype Cafe" appears on Talis Kimberley's CD, Archetype Cafe. "Tanglewood Tree" appears on Dave and Tracy's CD, Tanglewood Tree. "Preston Miller" appears on Tracy Grammar's CD, Flower of Avalon.

Two quick CD notes: I actually did fine a mis-shelved box of Stars Fall Home...and after this weekend, it's all gone. Most filk dealers still have a few copies left in stock; CD Baby has three. I have about eight, and they're all going to GaFilk with me, since I'd like to have them when I'm Guest of Honor. So that's it. Get them before they're gone.

We have sold 258 of a possible 300 pre-orders for Wicked Girls, leaving 42 pre-order slots remaining. I'm hoping to go to print in time for the holidays, but I can't promise anything yet. Please order soon if you were planning to, so I know how many envelopes to buy.

See you next con!

We're almost at the end of the pre-order period for my third studio album, Wicked Girls. Yay! Only 48 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. Please be aware that if you order two CDs at the same time, they will be sent to the same address.)

Since we also need to pay mixing costs, we're taking album sponsors; you can submit sponsorships through the order form. 252 pre-orders have been sold, out of a possible 300, meaning that 48 pre-orders remain. Don't miss your chance to pre-order! All pre-ordered CDs will be signed and numbered.

Questions? Comments? Glee!

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

The Pegasus Awards for Excellence in Filking are given out each year at the Ohio Valley Filk Festival. This the biggest award in the filk world; when trying to explain them to non-filkers (or even new filkers), it's often said that the Pegasus Awards are "the Hugos of filk." This is not inaccurate. It's a major award in the filk world, with a ballot nominated and voted on by the community.

Every year, there are four "standard" categories—Best Song, Best Classic (for songs more than ten years old), Best Performer, and Best Writer/Composer—and two "floating" categories, which change from ballot to ballot. Floating categories can range from general, like "Best Parody" or "Best Love Song," to extremely specific...like this year's floating categories, "Best Magic Song" and "Best Mad Science Song."

I was at the Skin Horse volume two release party when Amy and Vixy both sent me text messages to inform me that "What A Woman's For," my song about the virtues of being Dr. Frankie's little helper when the world just has to be destroyed, had won the Pegasus Award for Mad Science. Yes. I got an award for Mad Science, at least in song form.

TREMBLE, PUNY MORTALS! TREMBLE, FOR SOON I AND MY GENETICALLY-ALTERED ARMY OF FLESH-RENDING PEGASI WILL COME FOR YOU IN THE NIGHT! THOSE FOOLS LAUGHED AT ME AT THE ACADEMY, BUT THEY'LL PAY! THEY'LL PAY! OH, HOW THEY'LL PAY!

...ahem. And also, thank you to everyone who voted, and squee! Pegasus! Congratulations to all the 2010 ballot winners, especially my frequent musical partner in crime, Paul Kwinn, who won the Pegasus for Best Magic Song. Life is good.

I'm so happy.

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!

You know the drill by now.

First up, a relatively rare pitch for people to pick up my CDs. I'm posting this largely because Wicked Girls is still in pre-order (through my website), and Stars Fall Home is on the verge of going entirely out of print. Seriously. Not joking. So you may want to consider picking these up soon, if you were ever going to.

A review of Rosemary and Rue is up at Genre Reviews, and reads, "I'm sure I'm not really conveying here how awesome I find this series, but discovering what happens next fills me with anticipatory need." Spiffy!

hanabishirecca has posted a lovely LJ review of An Artificial Night, and says, "An Artificial Night provided for me everything I want in a novel. The characters are rock solid. The plot is phenomenal. I even found myself cheering with glee one moment and nearly weeping another. This book was overall superb and is a must read for anyone that finds at least a remote interest in Urban Fantasy." DUDE. That's a win.

Oh, hey, I did a guest post for Marianne de Pierres about writing and being Mira Grant and lots of other fun stuff. You should check it out.

Finally for this grab-bag of things I needed out of my link soup, Fantastique Foibles and Fables has posted a lovely review of Feed (which was given an A+!). There are no real pull quotes, but you should definitely take a look.

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!

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!

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 168 pre-orders out of a possible 300, meaning that 132 pre-orders remain. Don't miss your chance to pre-order! All pre-order CDs will be signed and numbered.

Questions? Comments? Glee!

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.

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!

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!

Item the first: I have updated my website appearances. Go, view, and learn where I'm going to be. I have confirmed appearances in Australia, New York, California, and Oregon. Which brings me to...

Item the second: I am delighted and honored to announce that I have been selected as the Friends of Filk Guest for OryCon 32. This year's theme is "the Darker Side of Fantasy," which is something I feel I can work with quite well. I'll be appearing with Vixy and Tony, which always makes me happy, and maybe I'll even have a brand new album by then! The convention will be held in Portland, Oregon, from November 12th through the 14th. I hope you can make it, if it's even remotely local to you.

Item the third: If you ever feel the need to quit your job, this is pretty much the way to do it. Style, a sense of humor, and a great way of making your point. (I do wonder what kind of reference she's going to get, but...) Just don't read the comments. The sexism can get a little scary at certain points. But the facial expressions are twenty miles beyond awesome.

Item the fourth: This is what you've all been waiting for, which is a large part of why I've been keeping you in suspense. I'd say that I was sorry, but you'd all know that I was lying through my teeth. So instead, I shall say LOOK! SHINY! Much more effective.

Icons and Wallpapers for An Artificial Night have been posted on my site.

Tara has really outdone herself with this latest batch, and I am absolutely enthralled by her graphic awesome. Some will make more sense after you've read the book, but they're all fantastic now. Go, look, take, have, and join the flailing excitement as you realize...book three is ALMOST HERE.

Gleh.

My concert at Spocon was just incredible, due, largely, to my amazing assortment of backing musicians. With Brooke Lunderville on banjola, Mike Briggs on guitar, Desiree on violin, and Char MacKay on backing vocals, there was no chance of failure. I am so very grateful to have been their Music Guest of Honor. As is the standing tradition around here, I now present my concert set list, including annotation and lyric links, because that's what makes it useful.

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

1. "Counting Crows." (Seanan, vocals; Mike Briggs, guitar; Brooke Lunderville, banjola; Desiree, violin; Char MacKay, backing vocals.)
2. "Modern Mystic." (Seanan, vocals; Mike, guitar; Brooke, banjola; Desiree, violin; Char, backing vocals.)
3. "Last Call." (Seanan, vocals; Mike, guitar; Brooke, banjola; Desiree, violin; Char, backing vocals.)
4. "Cartography." (Seanan, vocals; Mike, guitar; Brooke, banjola; Desiree, violin; Char, backing vocals.)
5. "Oh, Michelle." (Seanan, vocals; Mike, guitar; Brooke, banjola; Desiree, violin; Char, backing vocals.)
6. "The Black Death." (Seanan, vocals; Mike, guitar; Brooke, banjola; Desiree, violin; Char, backing vocals.)
7. "Dear Gina." (Seanan, vocals; Mike, guitar; Brooke, banjola; Desiree, violin; Char, backing vocals.)
8. "Silent Hill." (Seanan, vocals; Mike, guitar; Brooke, banjola; Desiree, violin; Char, backing vocals.)
9. "Washington Rose." (Seanan, vocals; Mike, guitar; Brooke, banjola; Desiree, violin; Char, backing vocals.)
10. "Evil Laugh." (Seanan, vocals; Mike, guitar; Brooke, banjola; Desiree, violin; Char, backing vocals.)
11. "Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves." (Seanan, vocals; Mike, guitar; Brooke, banjola; Desiree, violin; Char, backing vocals.)

The bridge for "Wicked Girls" was...

"Now Susan's a pirate, and Vixy's run off with the fairies,
And Tanya keeps careful account of the treasure she buries,
Char poses riddles, and Patty plays tricks,
While Brooke conjures music from wires and sticks,
And the rules that we live by are simple and clear..."

As always: "Modern Mystic" is on Pretty Little Dead Girl. "Counting Crows," "Cartography," and "Wicked Girls" will be on Wicked Girls. "Oh, Michelle," "The Black Death," "Dear Gina," and "Silent Hill" are on Red Roses and Dead Things. "Evil Laugh" is on Stars Fall Home.

Two quick CD notes: I am sending my last restock of Stars Fall Home to CD Baby. If you don't order it from them, you'll need to track down a friendly local filk dealer. If you don't have a friendly local filk dealer, you'll probably want to order a copy before they're all gone. Barring sudden discovery of a mis-shelved box, this is it.

I have the final cover art for Wicked Girls, and will be opening pre-orders soon. Because of postage costs, pre-order CDs will be $18 each; I'll see if there's a way for us to combine postage on multiple CD orders, but I don't yet know. International costs TBA. Watch this space for details.

See you next con!

Last night, in the process of unpacking from Westercon/Conchord, I had cause to return some unsold CDs to the CD storage shelf. I've been shuffling things around recently, preparing for the arrival of Wicked Girls, which means that my stock is about as consolidated as it's ever been. Everything is, within a variance margin of maybe twenty disks, in the same place. Bearing this in mind...

...I now have sixty-seven copies remaining of Stars Fall Home.

Stars Fall Home was my first studio project. I joke that the theme of the album was "holy crap, I'm making an album," but that's not too far from the truth. Songs were being added and dropped right up until the last minute; tracks were recorded everywhere from the United States and Canada to the United Kingdom; for a while there, I really seemed to be doing my best to get everyone I'd ever met onto a single disk. I learned a lot about the recording process from this album. And I learned that I am incredibly blessed in the people who share my life.

Anyway, this is all sort of by way of saying that if you want to own the studio version of "Pretty Little Dead Girl" or "This Is My Town," my cover of "Still Catch the Tide," or any version of "Evil Laugh" or "Earthquake Weather," now is the time on Sprockets when you should probably consider ordering an album. I'm not planning to re-print for some time, if ever, so when they're gone, they're gone. And their shelf space will be given over to other albums, while the remaining copies of Pretty Little Dead Girl mutter about their neighbor who moved away.

It is so weird to realize that I'm almost out of an album. So weird.

As I write this, it's a little after nine o'clock at night. For me, on a weeknight/work night, that's very late indeed. The cats are sitting next to the chair, watching me with annoyed expressions that rather clearly telegraph "C'mon, Mom, get in the bed already." They're going to have to wait a few minutes more, while the air conditioning gets things down to a tolerable temperature in here. I mean, really. If I tried to sleep right now, all I'd do is liquefy myself.

I'm starting to put together my set list for Gafilk in January. It's going to require my usual motley crew of awesome backing musicians to learn some new pieces, as well as requiring me to extensively bribe the less-usual motley crew, so I want to solidify my desires, sit down with Paul, do some chording, and present a unified concept to the team. I think it's going to be really amazing, when it's all done.

Speaking of really amazing things, I went to Kristoph's this afternoon, and did the very very last little bits of my vocal part for Wicked Girls. Specifically, I recorded a counting rhyme for "Mother of the Crows," recorded the end spoken bits for "Tanglewood Tree," and recorded some giggles for "Jack's Place." And then I re-recorded the intro to "Counting Crows," because we had some click track bleed-through, and really, who needs to put up with that shit? I was there, we were already working, we did it, and now we are done. There are some instrumental bits yet to go, and a few vocals from other people, but on the whole, it's finished. Pre-orders are literally only waiting on finished cover art, and we may go ahead and open them without it.

I've been working on the edits and revisions to the final version of Late Eclipses (Toby four). The book is literally improving by the page. It's still a long way from done, but I'm chugging through at a more than respectable rate—which is good, since while I'm working on it, I'm not working on The Brightest Fell or Blackout. Balancing things is hard. I'm pretty good at it, but still. It's hard.

I have had a lovely glass of port (I am out of port again), and done my word count for tonight. Now is the time when I go to bed, and think sweet thoughts of finishing Late Eclipses and my short fiction assignments, thus freeing that slot for working on Midnight Blue-Light Special. I miss you, Verity!

Goodnight, world.

The combination Westercon/Conchord was wonderful, and I had an amazing time, full of joy and delight and wonder. I am so very grateful to have been their Music Guest of Honor. As is the standing tradition around here, I now present my concert set list, including annotation and lyric links, because that's what makes it useful.

The Westercon/Conchord list, with arrangement notes, was as follows:

1. "Counting Crows." (Seanan, vocals; Paul Kwinn, guitar; Maya Bohnhoff, backing vocals.)
2. "Mama Said." (Seanan, vocals; Paul, guitar; Maya, backing vocals; Beckett Gladney, harmonica.)
3. "This Is My Town." (Seanan, vocals; Paul, guitar; Maya, Paul, backing vocals.)
4. "The Snow Queen Dreams." (Seanan, vocals; Paul, guitar.)
5. "Jack's Place." (Seanan, vocals; Paul, guitar; Maya, backing vocals.)
6. "Fox Hunt." (Seanan, vocals; Paul, guitar; Maya, backing vocals; Beckett, harmonica.)
7. "Death Danced at My Party." (Lyrics and music, Talis Kimberley; Seanan, vocals; Paul, guitar; Maya, backing vocals.)
8. "Maybe It's Crazy." (Seanan, vocals; Paul, guitar.)
9. "Vampire Slayer Blues." (Seanan, vocals; Paul, guitar, bastard Watcher.)
10. "What a Woman's For." (Seanan, Maya, vocals; Paul, guitar, innocent scientist.)
11. "Dear Gina." (Seanan, vocals; Paul, guitar; Maya, backing vocals.)
12. "My Story Is Not Done." (Seanan, vocals; Paul, guitar; Maya, backing vocals.)
13. "Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves." (Seanan, vocals; Paul, guitar; Maya, backing vocals.)

ENCORE: "When I Go." (Lyrics and music, Dave Carter; Seanan, vocals; Paul, guitar, vocals; Beckett, harmonica.)

The bridge for "Wicked Girls" was...

"Now Beckett's an artist, and Vixy's run off with the fairies,
And Kathleen keeps careful account of the treasure she buries,
Sue poses riddles, and Kristine plays tricks,
While Maya sings songs, see which one that she picks,
And the rules that we live by are simple and clear..."

It was a very good set, and I enjoyed it immensely. Thanks again to the sound crew, for keeping everything running silky-smooth, and to my stunt musicians, who went above and beyond the call of duty.

As always: "This Is My Town" is on Pretty Little Dead Girl and Stars Fall Home. "Maybe It's Crazy," "What A Woman's For," and "Dear Gina" are on Red Roses and Dead Things ("Maybe It's Crazy" is also on Pretty Little Dead Girl). "Vampire Slayer Blues" is on Pretty Little Dead Girl. "Counting Crows," "Mama Said," "The Snow Queen Dreams," "Jack's Place," "Fox Hunt," "My Story Is Not Done," and "Wicked Girls" will be on Wicked Girls.

"When I Go" is on When I Go, by Dave Carter and Tracy Grammar. "Death Danced at My Party" is not currently available.

Thanks again to everyone who was there, to Westercon/Conchord for having me, and to Nick, for excellence in cat-herding as he wrangled Kwinns, McGuires, and many, many more.

See you next con!

I am returned from the wilds of Pasadena, where a fantastic time was had by all! I bought shinies from Springtime Creations and books from Book Universe; I ate tasty food and drank a lot of Diet Dr Pepper; I survived an entire convention with my mother firmly in tow, which may well qualify as one of the tasks of Hercules. Things I have learned: If I want to be two hours early for anything, I need to start saying we're late three and a half hours ahead of time. Also, most people consider my idea of "reasonable walking distance" to be entirely insane. But I sort of knew that part already.

My concert was fantastic, thanks entirely to the sound crew, Paul Kwinn, my handsome (and talented) stunt guitarist, and Maya Bohnhoff, my lovely (and talented) stunt...um, well, stunt Vixy. Gosh, I miss Vixy when I have to do a concert without her, but Maya really helped to make that loss a little less sorely felt. My great, great thanks go out to everyone involved with making it an awesome event. I am so honored to have had the chance to perform for you. Also, big thanks to Rebecca, who picked me and Mom up from the airport, drove us back to the airport, and really spent a distressing amount of the weekend in my company.

I'll post the full set list soon, but I just want to note that I covered Talis Kimberley's "Death Danced at My Party," at Paul's request, and it was awesome. Maya found a totally creepy harmony, and I just sang the shit out of that song. I am so happy to know such talented and amazing people.

I met Tim Powers, Todd McCaffrey, Stephen Blackmoore (newest member of the DAW family!), his lovely blue-haired wife Kari, and Ryan's new kitten, Mouse. I ate way too much challah. I came home to blue cats who hated me for about four minutes before snuggling and reassurances became way, way more important.

It was a good weekend.

July.
Okay, so, like, who authorized it being July already? Who said "golly, 2010's been fun and all, but let's go ahead and shift things around so that it'll be closer to being 2011"? Because whoever that is, I am not okay with them. Anyway:

There are five weekends in July, and I have five appearances in July. Funny how that works out. Three of them are conventions, and the other two are book tour events. We begin with Westercon/ConChord over 4th of July weekend. I'm ConChord's Guest of Honor and Westercon's Music Guest, which a) makes this my first Westercon guest appearance, and b) makes this convention sort of a big deal. Paul Kwinn is their Toastmaster, and between the two of us, there's going to be a whole lot of hoot and a whole lot of nanny. Plus it's in Pasadena, land of Disney, where a good time can easily be had by all.

I'll be spending the second weekend of July in Seattle for the Murder and Mayhem Tour with Jennifer Brozek. We'll be reading at Third Place Books, and then heading to the Wayward Coffeehouse for the Serenity Shindig. Will I be joining Vixy and company on stage? Only one way to know for sure, and that's to be there. Jennifer and I will be getting together again in the third weekend of July, when she comes down to the Bay Area for the second stop on the Murder and Mayhem Tour. We'll be at Borderlands Books, home of all good things, and there will probably be cupcakes.

The weekend after that, it's back to Southern California for the San Diego International Comic Convention. Last year when I was there, I didn't have any books in print, and this year, I have three, along with ARCs for the fourth. I'm on amazing panels, and will be posting my schedule soon. I may hyperventilate and die. Only not, because at the end of the month, I have Spocon! In Spokane, Washington, where I'll be the Filk Guest, along with Author Guest Tanya Huff! Ladies of DAW, unite!

August.
Australia awaits. I am so nervous, and so excited.

September.
The release of An Artificial Night! The return of the Traveling Circus and Snake-Handling Show!

October.
In October, I will be flying to New York for the New York City Comic Convention (my first one!), to Ohio for the Ohio Valley Filk Festival (not my first one!), and to Alabama for my annual pilgrimage to the haunted corn maze (mmmmmmmm, corn). It's a good thing I can sleep on planes, right? Also, I may be releasing my fourth album...

November.
Sleep.

December.
Seattle, and sleep.

January.
Gafilk! I am the Guest of Honor at Georgia's own filk convention, and I'm bringing my Vixy, and we are going to BLOW THE ROOF OFF, YO. Details to come.

The year is filling up fast, and more things are bound to appear as the months draw closer—look at how detailed the next few months are compared to the later ones. If you want me, book early, book often, and bribe.

Whee!

1. Only four hours remain to enter my random drawing for an ARC of An Artificial Night! It's probably the simplest contest I'm going to have, so what have you got to lose, right? Besides, they're pretty. I like pretty things. I am a simple soul.

2. Speaking of pretty things, remember that the ALH pendant sale will be starting today at Chimera Fancies. I cannot possibly overstate how much I love Mia's pendants. If I were a wealthy woman, I'd just pay her to sit around and make them all day, and keep the bulk of her output for myself. Again, simple soul. Also, occasional magpie.

3. Leverage comes back this weekend! So You Think You Can Dance is back on the air! Cartoon Network has Unnatural History and Total Drama World Tour! Oh, I love you, summertime television. I love you so much, forever.

4. Tomorrow is my last pre-Westercon rehearsal with the fabulous Paul Kwinn, renowned in song and story, master of the meaningful look while wearing a gaudily-patterned shirt, husband of Beckett, whom I love beyond all reason. I'm very excited, despite the fact that I'm still occasionally coughing like I'm on the verge of actual death. It's gonna be awesome.

5. I have my editorial notes for Late Eclipses, and I'm busily incorporating them into the finished manuscript...while, possibly, fixing a few little language issues at the same time. It's been long enough since I touched this book that it appears to have been written by an alien, which is the best time for doing editorial. It's still my baby. It's just my weird alien baby, and that makes it more fun to autopsy.

6. Zombies are still love.

7. It's June already. That means we're getting closer and closer every day to my departure for Australia, LAND OF POISON AND FLAME, which I have only been dreaming about for most of my life. I'm so excited it's scary, and not just because I'm on the ballot for the Campbell (although that remains a constant GOTO loop at the back of my brain). I get to go to Australia! I get to breathe Australian air! My life is awesome sometimes.

8. We've entered the final stages of recording Wicked Girls, and it should, I hope, I pray, be able to make the October release date that I so optimistically set for myself. I'll be announcing the pre-orders soon, since that's how I finance mixing and mastering, and I'm really, really happy with this album, as a whole. It's just...it's what I wanted. And that's incredible.

9. I think the cats are stealing my will to leave the house. I just want to sleep.

10. I need more ARC contests! Suggest something. Be silly, be serious, request that I do your favorite all over again, whatever. I need ideas, and so I turn to you, the glorious Internet, to give them to me.

It's Friday!

I have finally managed to stagger home from Marcon, where I had a wonderful time as their Music Guest of Honor, only to get stranded overnight in Chicago (more on this later). As is the standing tradition around here, I now present my concert set list, including annotation and lyric links, because that's what makes it useful.

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

1. "Counting Crows." (Seanan, vocals; Tom Smith, guitar; Amy McNally, fiddle.)
2. "The Ghost of Lilly Kane." (Seanan, vocals; Dr. Mary Crowell, piano.)
3. "Another Mad Science Love Song." (Seanan, Tom, vocals; Tom, guitar; Mary, Amy, minions.)
4. "What A Woman's For." (Seanan, Mary, Amy, vocals; Mary, piano.)
5. "Missing Part." (Seanan, vocals; Tom, guitar; Amy, fiddle.)
6. "The Black Death." (Seanan, vocals; Tom, guitar; Amy, Mary, eager students.)
7. "Silent Hill." (Seanan, vocals; Mary, piano.)
8. "Dear Gina." (Seanan, Mary, vocals; Mary, piano.)
9. "In the Foam." (Seanan, vocals.)
10. "Mother of the Crows." (Seanan, vocals; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle.)
11. "Still Catch the Tide." (Seanan, Judi Miller, vocals; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle.) Talis Kimberley cover.
12. "My Story Is Not Done." (Seanan, vocals; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle; everybody, last chorus vocals.)
13. "Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves." (Seanan, vocals; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle.)

The bridge for "Wicked Girls" was...

"Now Debbie's a pirate, and Vixy's run off with the fairies.
Diana keeps careful account of the treasure she buries,
Kate poses riddles, and Mary plays tricks,
While Amy calls music from wires and sticks,
And the rules that we live by are simple and clear..."

This was the first time I was able to perform with Tom Smith on stage, and I was honored and delighted by Mary's willingness to pitch in and do rather more piano than she had originally agreed to. This was also the first time I got to sing with Judi, and have an entire concert set signed by her. The way she signs "Wicked Girls" is...magic. It's just magic.

As always: "Still Catch the Tide" is on Stars Fall Home. "The Black Death," "What A Woman's For," "Another Mad Science Love Song," "Dear Gina," and "Silent Hill" are on Red Roses and Dead Things. "Counting Crows," "The Ghost of Lilly Kane," "Mother of the Crows," "My Story Is Not Done," and "Wicked Girls" will be on Wicked Girls.

This was a great set; thanks to everyone who was there, to Marcon for having me, and to Kate, for running the merchandise table with grace and aplomb.

See you next con!

It's time to lock down my set list for MarCon, so as to get chords to Tom Smith and lyrics to Judi Miller. So...

Any requests?

I am currently in studio for my fourth album, titled Wicked Girls. It's my second album recorded at Flowinglass Music, with Kristoph Klover acting as my recording engineer and musical guru. There are going to be sixteen tracks, fourteen original and two covers (one by Dave Carter, one by Brian Gunderson—see if you can guess what they are). Michelle Dockrey appears on thirteen songs. SJ Tucker appears on two. Betsy Tinney appears on three. Amy McNally appears all over the damn place, burning up the floor with her fiddle. And it's going to be...

It's going to be damn amazing.

Vixy was down this past weekend to record her parts for the album, a process that required two days in the studio, and meant I needed to record my lead vocal lines for two songs, to give her something to work against ("Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves" and "How Much Salt?"). Working with her is a joy beyond belief, because we genuinely improve each other. I am a better lyricist for knowing that she's going to play a part in making my work come to life. Several of my better songs—"Wicked Girls," "Missing Part," even "Sycamore Tree"—were written, at least in part, with her voice in mind, either as a lead or backing vocal. I am a better vocalist because I know I have to live up to what she does.

It doesn't hurt that she's, y'know, one of my best friends in the world, and also a good sport about the amount of crazy that Kristoph and I can generate when left to our own devices. We just point her at a microphone and tell her that she's good to go, and wow...wow, does she go. I sit in the booth and I listen, and I rejoice that I have such amazing people in my life.

We listened to the rough playback of "Wicked Girls," totally unmixed, totally raw. Just voices, guitar, cello, fiddle, and djembe wrestling for control. And even without the polish that Kristoph is going to use to turn it into something real, it was...heartbreaking. We both just cried.

I love my recording engineer, and I love my Vixy, and I am going to love this album. I can't wait for you to hear it.

Let me tell you about my friend Tom Smith.

Tom is one of the sweetest, most generous, most giving men I have ever known. He makes music, because he's one of those people who can't not make music, and he shares it, making the lives of others better. He's called "the world's fastest filker," and he's one of the few people who actually filks professionally, which is damned impressive. He appears on my album, Red Roses and Dead Things, as the male lead on "Another Mad Science Love Song." He was one of the first people to welcome me to the filk community, and I love him dearly. When I've needed help, he's been there to help me. When I've needed hugs, he's been there to hug me. He's a class act, is Tom Smith.

Like so many people right now, Tom is running into a patch of trouble. Thanks to slow damage of his bathroom floor, he's about to be hit with, yes, a bill he can't afford. This song sucks, and we hear it way too often these days. So here's a chance to help him out.

If you've been curious about filk music, visit Tom's page and take a look at the albums he has available for sale. He's even taking donations, and offering pre-orders of his upcoming album, Herbert West: The Musical. You can hear sound clips, you can get an idea of what he has to offer, and hey, maybe you can help this iteration of the suck-suck song be a little shorter than it might be otherwise.

It's worth a try, right?

This past Tuesday was my second book release party at San Francisco's own Borderlands Books. The folks at Borderlands are learning to believe me when I say things like "and I'm bringing a snake pit and an elephant and six dozen elvish acrobats," because, well, it's safer than the doubtful alternative. So when I said "I'm bringing Amy 'oh hai I am melting your face off with my AWESOME FIDDLING' McNally, Tricky Pixie*, and my usual cast of thousands, they believed me, and made space accordingly. This is because the crew at Borderlands is awesome.

The party was scheduled to run from five to nine, and they were kind enough to keep the bookstore, which normally closes at eight, open for an extra hour because they knew that we were coming. After mass discussion amongst the Traveling Circus and Snake-Handling Show**, we decided to begin our invasion at four, allowing time for things to be set up, any last-minute emergencies to be resolved, and the adulation of naked cats. Because we are clever. I arrived at the bookstore at roughly four-fifteen, and was promptly beset by a) Amy in a black leather under-bust corset HELLO, b) Ash, younger of the store's two pedigreed Sphynx cats, and c) Jude, with a stack of books to be signed and inscribed. I found all these things to be utterly awesome, and managed to keep myself from stroking the books, signing Amy, and hugging Ash. Barely.

Once I was finished signing at the bookstore, I proceeded next door to the cafe, where industrious setting up was underway. The musicians bustled briskly in all directions, and the entire small room at the back of the cafe became, essentially, our green room for stuff storage and makeup application. Awesome. Alan and Jude were trying to be everywhere at once, getting things into position as they raced in a dozen different directions at the same time. The band was decked out in awesome urban pixie togs (and no one looked at them oddly, proving once again that Toby worries too much). Alan and Jude were in Bookstore Ninja black...and I was wearing electric orange and green.

Um, go Pumpkins?

A raffle table was established next to the cafe's pastry case, and the prizes were arrayed for ooh-ing and ahh-ing: signed books, ARCs, foreign editions, CDs, random goodies, brand new chimera_fancies pendants that no one had ever seen before. Marti and my mother passed out raffle tickets, while I got strips of tickets to Jude (in the cafe) and Kary (in the bookstore). Mom successfully got Alan to provide her with a vase, because Mom is sometimes bad-ass, and we got things underway a respectable ten minutes late.

The first musical awesome of the night was provided by Amy, who did a solo set with grace, aplomb, and amazing fiddling. Betsy joined her for a few songs, on cello, and Alec joined her for one on the drum. Totally rockin'. After that, the first raffle drawing was held, and people won cool things (yay). I signed a bunch of books. I signed somebody's cup. The cafe sold out of pastries and bagels. The cafe made multiple runs to buy more bread. Let me say that again: they had to buy more bread. We ate all their bread.

We rule.

The second set of the night was Tricky Pixie, and they tore it up, with "Dryad's Promise" and "Tam Lin." More raffle. And then...

...Tricky Pixie set three. Which Sooj opened, solo, with a surprise performance of her newest song. "Tybalt." About, um...Tybalt. My King of Cats. I...um...wow. I only cried a little. That means I win, right? (Actually, the song's existence means I win.)

The rest of the set was a whole lot of awesome packed into a remarkably small span of time. Amy and I joined them for the last song: a cover of my own "Wicked Girls." Hearing that whole audience singing along nearly made me start to cry again. Then it was time for the final raffle drawing of the night (our table included donations from both the bookstore and the band, by that point), cleaning up, and heading home.

We got back to Concord way, way past pumpkin-time...and it was so very worth it. So, so very worth it.

I can't wait to do it all again.

(*Consisting of Betsy "I am too awesome to exist in fiction; only reality can contain me" Tinney, SJ "what do I know from alligator I ask you could you die" Tucker, and Alexander James "no, no, that's okay, you can trust me with your wine, women, and song" Adams. Tricky Pixie is twenty pounds of awesome in a ten pound sack.)

(**Sadly, this iteration of the Traveling Circus was missing several members of the sideshow, including Vixy, Brooke, and Tony. Their absence was deeply felt by the remaining members of the Circus, although we soldiered bravely on. We have great hopes for September's Circus, which will be in celebration of An Artificial Night, and will be designed to basically blow the roof clean off the bookstore.)

Well, here we go again: I will be descending on San Francisco's own Borderlands Books, accompanied by Amy McNally, Tricky Pixie, and my usual entourage of deep weirdness. The event starts at five and runs until nine (they've extended the bookstore's hours JUST FOR US), and will include a whole lot of awesome packed into a reasonably small span of time.

The schedule for the evening:

5:00 PM: Welcome to our party.
5:40 PM: Perhaps you would like some music.
6:00 PM: Perhaps you would like to win things.
7:00 PM: More music?
7:30 PM: More prizes?
7:45 PM: Assuming people are not too busy buying books and drinking coffee, Seanan will read something.
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.

Raffle prizes this time include pendants by Mia of chimera_fancies (and they are insanely gorgeous, seriously), signed books, albums, games, the German edition of Rosemary and Rue, and more. Remember that Borderlands will take requests for signed books, so if you can't make it, you can contact the store to request a copy signed for you. I do hope we'll see you there, and if you can't be there in the flesh, the store is astral projection-friendly.

Book release party!

I am pleased and delighted to announce that I will be the Guest of Honor at GaFilk 13 (dun dun DUUUUNNNN) in Atlanta, Georgia. The convention will be held the weekend of January 7th to 9th, 2011, and includes the following exciting guest selection:

Guest of Honor, Seanan McGuire
Toastmaster, Matt Leger
Interfilk Guest, Howard Scrimgeour

This is Georgia's very own filk convention, and I've never been before, so I am like, super excited. It's also going to be the first convention I've attended in Georgia since DragonCon like, ten years ago, and I'm really looking forward to the chance to spend more time in a kick-ass state. Hope to see you there!

Hello, 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 that I get asked on a semi-hemi-demi-regular basis. It may look familiar; that's because it gets 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 )