So it turns out that there are some admin tasks that I was really good at when I had a day job, but am not so good at when "wander away from the computer and watch an episode of Law & Order" is on the table. The review roundup is one of these tasks. I will strive to do better, if only because my notes file is becoming impossible to navigate. This is the first step toward doing better.

Brewing Tea & Books has posted a review of Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots, and says, "This book is in one word: Fun." The review goes on to say "But if I have to write a bit more, since one word reviews aren’t very interesting now are they. The book is not only very entertaining and funny, it is also very intelligent and thought-provoking." (Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots is available now from ISFic Press, or via Borderlands Books in San Francisco; they should be getting a shipment soon, and books ordered from them can be signed or personalized.)

Jennifer Brozek has reviewed Half-Off Ragnarok, and says, "Half-Off Ragnarok is my favorite book in the InCryptid series thus far. I thought Verity was interesting but I’m half in love with Alex. The whole Price family is a hoot and Shelby is an interesting wild card in the mix. If urban fantasy, intriguing animals, and fast-paced adventure is your thing, you’re going to love Half-Off Ragnarok. Highly recommended." Woo!

Vampire Book Club has reviewed Ashes of Honor, and says, "Let’s cut to the chase. Ashes of Honor is THE book." I'm...just going to leave that there and wander off. Because dude.

Amazing Stories has reviewed Chimes at Midnight, and says, "Urban fantasy novels are big right now and it’s hard not to love Toby Daye, the unlikely knight and changeling protagonist of Seanan McGuire's popular series set in magic-rich San Francisco. Chimes at Midnight is book seven in the on-going series and, now we’ve met the characters and had hints dropped about the history of the Kingdom in the Mists, the story is getting fascinating." Woo!

Finally for today, Whatchamacallit Reviews has reviewed Games Creatures Play, and had this to say about my story: "Seanan McGuire takes readers into her Incryptid world. Fans of the series will enjoy reading a fun roller derby story from the youngest sibling (and only sibling not to get a book yet) Antinomy’s POV. Readers who have not read the series should read the series, not because they need to in order to understand this short story, just because it this is a fun and entertaining series."

That's all for now: more to come, including a focused roundup about Sparrow Hill Road, shortly.

Whee!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

...someday.

Ahem:

"This installment bumped this series up to the top of my urban-paranormal series list! I am so invested in the world building and the characters now, and the looming sense that something bad is around the corner. At the same time the romance is real and awesome, but doesn't overshadow the adventure. October is such a great heroine, she's come a LONG way from the first book in the series, that's for sure! Highly recommend it, can't wait for the next! Of all the "Faerie" urban fantasy series out there, I enjoy this one the most. If you like the Dark Fever series or Kate Daniels series, you'll def like this one."

From FELICIA DAY. ZOMG.

I win at everything. I will now eat some pilfered Halloween candy, and rejoice in finally feeling like this cold is going away.

Happy Halloween!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Or the blogging, or the Facebooking, and let's be honest, why would you want to? Except that, if you're me, your link file might try to kill you in your sleep. IN YOUR SLEEP. So here are some reviews, in an effort to make that file a little less robust and murder-y.

Over at SF Signal, Carrie Cuinn has posted a review of Ashes of Honor, and says, "These books are like watching half a season of your favorite television series all at once. Because the author's conversational writing style doesn't make you work too hard to get into the novel, you can easily sit down at the start of an evening and get to the end before bedtime. More than anything else, though, it's the fun of it all that's kept me returning to McGuire's books, and to this series, long after I've stopped reading other mainstream titles. Right now, she's the only urban fantasy writer whose books I will pick up as soon as they're available, and Ashes of Honor proves that I'm right to keeping doing it." Dude, awesome.

Sigrid Ellis has posted a review of Ashes of Honor, and says, "I really, truly, love these books." (Really, you should read her whole review, which is lovely. It just doesn't lend itself to long pull quotes.)

Stochastic has posted a guest review of Ashes of Honor at On Starships and Dragonwings, and says, "You can gauge an author's skill by just how tightly they can paint their protagonists into corners, while still leaving unexpected and often totally insane escapes, and by this measure, Seanan McGuire is a fantastic author." Win!

Fantasy Book Cafe has posted a review of Ashes of Honor, and says, "Ashes of Honor is yet another exciting, funny, and emotional installment in the October Daye series. It further develops the world and characters while maintaining the right balance between a fast-paced story and character development. Furthermore, it makes Toby deal with tough issues without making these tough issues a stumbling block for story progression. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book." Rockin'.

Tome Tender has posted a review of Ashes of Honor, and says, "Love this book, I literally did not want to put it down! Toby seemed to take front stage while her supporting characters all played a vital roles and kept this brilliant story flowing. The witty banter and perfect amount of humor added the extra kick to make this story extraordinary." Yay!

And finally, for today, I'm just going to set this fun interview about my urban fantasy work down over here, where you can pick it up if you want to. It's worth reading.

And that's a roundup.

I am...really, I am overjoyed, and staggered, and a little bit dizzy over this:

Ashes of Honor is #16 on the New York Times Bestseller List for September 23rd, 2012.

This is the first time I have appeared on the print list (i.e., "the top twenty") under my own name. Late Eclipses and Discount Armageddon both made the list, but they were in the 30s, not the teens.

I am on the print list.

I am a New York Times Bestseller.

I am having real trouble not informing everyone I meet of that fact, including the guy at Starbucks who fixed my pumpkin spice latte. This isn't bragging. It's shock and delight and bafflement and awe.

Thank you all.

Thank you all so much.

Wow.

It is with great pleasure that I remind you all that the latest iteration of the Traveling Circus and Snake-Handling Show will be assembling this Saturday at San Francisco's own Borderlands Books. We'll be getting underway at 6pm, and rocking the roof until closing time comes and they kick us all out! Why are we partying?

To celebrate the release of Ashes of Honor, naturally.

There will be cupcakes! There will be music and a raffle and reading and some Q&A, and it will be a hootenanny of a good time, with a whole lotta hoot AND a whole lotta nanny! Bring your kids! Bring your siblings! Bring your slime monsters! We totally hope to see you there.

Oh, and: Richard Kadrey, who is so awesome that they had to invent new swear words to describe him, will be at the bookstore before the Circus comes to town! His event starts at three. Come early, and make a day of it!

Remember that Borderlands does take telephone and email orders, and would be happy to send you books signed by any of the lovely authors who will be haunting the store that day. Get a book already touched by pure awesome. Or, you know. Ink. The party starts Saturday at 6pm!

Cheese! And! Cake!

To celebrate the release of Ashes of Honor, here. Have an open thread to discuss the book. Judging by the comments I'm seeing, you've had time.

THERE WILL BE SPOILERS.

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

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

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

I have once again promised to make five posts answering questions about Toby's world to celebrate the release of an upcoming book. This is the last time I'm going to do this for Toby: the questions are getting too character and book-specific, which trends into spoiler territory. So if you had a burning world question, now would be the time to scroll back to my original entry and ask it.

This is post #4. I will make post #5 tomorrow.

enigmoid asks, "How do the fae remain hidden from the human world from cameras recording devices, and satellites? It only takes one mistake."

Ah, but you see, there are two assumptions here.

1) That fae illusions do not work on recording devices. They do.
2) That anyone would believe what they saw.

Mistakes have been made in the past, and I mean the recent past, not the old, dark, pre-hiding past. Illusions have slipped, things have been seen that shouldn't have been seen...and you know what? People shrugged it off. For every "I WANT TO BELIEVE!", there are ten "I do not want to live in a world where that is possible, and thus it is not possible." Consider the zombie walks, LARPs, comic book conventions, real-world superheroes, and Bigfoot seekers in our real, known world. Consider how few of those are reported as proof of the supernatural.

Now consider what an excellent source of camouflage they are.

Satellites are a different can of worms, and one with potentially more issues, since if the military spots a pod of Merrow, they're likely to respond...badly. But at the same time, that's where the fae predilection for hanging out in the Summerlands comes in handy. Most fae, if they're not indoors or playing human, are in knowes or the Summerlands. Why? Because they feel safer there, where there are no satellites.

So yes, it's a concern, and a good one. But willful blindness and basic caution do a lot to minimize it.

I said that I would once again answer five questions about Toby's world to celebrate the upcoming book, and this is question #3. scorbet asks, "Do the Fae have their own language or do they just adopt the language of where they are?"

Great question!

So the fae, insofar as anyone knows, basically just started one day, when Oberon, Maeve, and Titania came strolling out of wherever it is they came from and said "Yeah, this'll do." They did say it. The three of them began with a common language, which we can call, for lack of a better word, "Fae." They spoke the language of the fae, and that's not what they called themselves in that tongue, because "fae" is a loan word. They didn't call themselves by name, either. They were the only three things that mattered in the entire world, and when you have a population of three, you don't so much need proper names.

Now, creating a language is hard. There's a reason that most of us are pretty relieved when we discover that hey, there's a word for that. As the Three wandered around, encountering people and making trouble, they began acquiring words for things. Tree. House. Car. Uncivilized behavior. Frog. Witch. Spell. Humans turned out to be incredibly useful in the "naming things" department, and the Three wound up being called things other than "one I'm with" and "one I'm not."

When it became apparent that whoa, hey, all their kids were totally radically different from one another, and so were their children, humanity stepped up to the plate again, slapping all kinds of names on them. (This is why so many fae races have names that translate as either "funny-looking people" or "kinda like a whale/horse/tree/whatever, only not.") The fae, lacking any better ideas, sort of rolled with it. This is why a) so many fae races have names from so many different languages, and b) fae pronunciation and grammar is a little...questionable. They're literally their own messed-up polyglot linguistic drift.

That's where their consistent vocabulary (race names, etc.) comes from. There are regional variations (Kitsune in Japan don't call Firstborn "Firstborn," they have a local name that I can't spell), but for the most part, those pieces will remain consistent. As for conversational "I can talk to you, you can talk to me" speech, that tends to fit whatever the local language happens to be. So Toby speaks mostly English, as do coastal Undersea fae. Li Qin speaks both English and Mandarin. The Luidaeg speaks about eighteen languages fluently, and can tell you to go fuck yourself in any and all of them.

Fae who have been isolated from humanity for any length of time will tend to develop their own language, although the anchored "root words" will remain, as artifacts to facilitate communication with other races. The deep Undersea has its own language, as does the Oversky. Some fae are not equipped to speak human words, and find other forms of language. Dryads are fluent in wind, for example. But when it comes to the spoken word, the fae are thieves, and they don't give a damn about your grammar.

So there.

I promised you a treat to celebrate the impending release of Ashes of Honor, and here it is:

A brand-new story about the Luidaeg, "In Sea-Salt Tears," has been posted on the equally brand-new Toby Daye short fiction page. It is available in ePub, MOBI, and PDF formats, and is free for download. (So far, this is the only free Toby-universe short story. We'll be adding listings for the published-in-books shorts in a little while, but it's not hyper-high priority.)

This story is best read after One Salt Sea, and it further details the relationship between the Luidaeg and Elizabeth Ryan, the Selkie clan leader we met at the very end of the book. Please download rather than trying to read locally; my server will thank you.

Cover graphics are by Tara O'Shea. All short story electronic conversion thus far has been done by scifantasy. As both of them are awesome, we applaud them now.

Go forth, read, and please feel free to use this as a discussion post, which means there may be spoilers in the comments. Tread carefully.

Enjoy.

Since I have a book coming out in fifteen days, I figure it's time to once again offer to answer your questions about the world. So...

I will make five blog posts detailing aspects of Toby's universe. Ask me anything! I will not answer every question, but will select the five that I think are the most interesting/fun/relevant, and will detail them to my heart's content. There's a lot to learn and know, and asking loses you nothing.

Leave your questions on this post. I'm declaring comment-reply amnesty for any that I choose not to answer this time, since otherwise, my wee head may explode.

Game on!

ETA: Things covered last two times we did this: inheritance, fosterage, madness, historical records, Cait Sidhe court structure, the Changeling's Choice, locational biology, where fae races come from, shapeshifters, and merlins.

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

From the United States of America, huggebear and junebug130!

From the United Kingdom, _the_firedancer!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You guys! Publishers Weekly has reviewed Ashes of Honor!

You can read the full, spoiler-free review by clicking this link, but I wanted to direct you to the following AWESOME quote:

"McGuire applies a hard-boiled mentality and a keen appreciation for mythology to a blend of politics, magic, and romance to make this the most entertaining series installment to date."

AWESOME!

This is the best review of a Toby book I've had from PW since Rosemary and Rue. I am basking. Basking, I tell you.

Glee.

(As a side note, there's a small factual error in the review, which implies that Toby can teleport. She can't teleport. Please don't email either me or Publishers Weekly going "ZOMG ERROR!!!!", because I know about it, and I'd rather not flood legitimate review outlets with fiddly comments. Not that this will actually prevent it, it's just, you know. Polite.)

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

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

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

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

Pretty!



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

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

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

Game on!

1. First off, for those of you who may have missed it yesterday, the cover of Ashes of Honor has been posted for your viewing pleasure. Chris McGrath has done it again, and I am totally overjoyed by the ongoing evolution of Toby. (Also by the fact that I am now six books into an urban fantasy series, and the most sexualized my protagonist has been was on the cover to book five, where she had no pants on. She was also a fish at the time. I am overjoyed.)

2. I am home from Emerald City Comic Con! Yay! I am too tired to die, and there's a very good chance that I am going to bed without any supper tonight because I will be herded by the cats (to my doom), but it was a great weekend, I got many, many hugs, and I am now safely back in the Bay Area. Life is good.

3. Welcome to all the new people who got linked here via my post on diversity in fiction! I'm thrilled that you're here, and promise not to be upset when you realize that I'm rarely that intellectual and go off to do something more useful with your time. I hope you enjoy us while you're at the party. We are already enjoying you.

4. Speaking of not being intellectual all the time...If anyone out there is collecting the blind bag My Little Pony figures, I have all of them except for the basic, non-glittery Rainbow Dash. I have many doubles I can trade, including the special edition Twilight Sparkle. Inquire within. Please.

5. Shirt post coming this week.

That is all. Now I must nap.

Psst. C'mere. Wanna see something really pretty? I mean, really pretty? I'll give you a hint: if you're a Toby fan, it's something you've been waiting for ever since the cover to One Salt Sea was released. I think you'll be pleased. I know I'm pleased.

Go ahead. Take a peek.

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

It's the 15th of the month, and that means it's time for the February 2012 current projects post, in which I tell you what I'm working on, and you finally understand why I don't have time for tea. To quote myself, being too harried to say something new: "These posts are labeled with the month and year, in case somebody eventually gets the crazy urge to timeline my work cycles (it'll probably be me). Behold the proof that I don't actually sleep; I just whimper and keep writing."

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

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

1. I'm currently running an ARC giveaway for Discount Armageddon, and will be choosing a winner via random number generator tomorrow morning. US addresses only for this particular giveaway. I'm leaving the state very shortly, and I don't have any customs forms, so I have to limit the entries if I want to be sure of mailing out the book.

2. Speaking of mailing things...I sent a massive batch of shirts this weekend, and will be preparing another batch to go out at the end of this week. The "I do not have any customs forms, and neither does my local post office" issue means I'm only sending US orders right now, but hopefully they'll have more customs forms soon. The shirt shop finally sent me the last of the shirts, so if your order was skipped before due to me not having your actual shirt, I should now be able to package it. (Yes, this is taking a long time. I can only send what I can hand-deliver, and that sort of complicates things.)

3. Why am I leaving the state? Because I am going to DISNEY WORLD!!!! More specifically, I'm going with my mother, my youngest sister, and vixyish, who has been drafted into the role of "person who keeps Seanan from killing her family." We're meeting up with hsifyppah and sweetmusic_27 in Florida, along with Amy's friend Patty, and then we're going to spend NINE DAYS enjoying the glories of Orlando. I'm the only person in my group of four that's ever been before, and I can't wait.

4. This does mean, however, that I won't be online for over a week. No email, no LJ, nothing but Twitter from my phone. So please don't email me and then get upset if I don't answer. (I mean really, don't do that anyway, I beg of you. I am unable to promise a swift reply for anything sent in my email. I'm even retooling my website in a vain attempt to reduce the amount of email coming my way. Have mercy.)

5. Which brings us to release dates. All books and stories with confirmed release dates that I can say "yes, it comes out on that day" about are listed on my bibliography page. Please check there before you ask me when something is coming out. It's unfair, I know, but I get asked that question so often that it makes me cranky, and I hate being cranky at people who don't deserve it.

6. I am currently trying to either write or revise ALL THE THINGS, and will be doing another inchworm post shortly, because that has turned out to be a distressingly good way of staying on top of things. Thanks, Bear.

7. So The Agent returned her editorial notes on Ashes of Honor, and as always, has proven to be incredibly good at identifying the major structural flaws that all the rest of us mysteriously missed. I'm currently fourteen chapters in on the editorial rewrite, after which the book can go off to The Editor, and I can forget about it for a little while. And by "forget about it," I really mean "start The Chimes at Midnight." I think there's something wrong with the way my brain works.

8. I am now on season four of Criminal Minds. I'm sorry I started watching so late, because damn. I'm also glad I started watching so late, because it means I've had lots to enjoy. Also, Penelope Garcia for the win.

9. Jean Grey is still dead.

10. Happy holidays! Try not to freak out and bludgeon anyone to death with a fruitcake, okay? Because that would be a horrible way to go.

Words: 113,490.
Pages: 380.
Chapters: 26.

Reason for stopping: draft two is finished.
Music: a lot of fan mixes, actually.
The cats: Lilly, in my tank top drawer; Alice, on the orange cat tree; Thomas, occupying half the bed.

And there we are; draft two is finished, roughly a month after draft one was put solidly to bed. All the edits have been processed, many words have been trimmed, many logic puzzles have been solved, and many more surely remain. The trimmed-down, slimmed-down manuscript is off to The Agent, who will savage it with sharp, sharp teeth and cruel, cruel claws, and it will be a better book as a consequence.

Next up, The Chimes at Midnight, which stands a good chance of losing the "The" before it ever sees print. But we shall see, won't we?

Welcome to the November 2011 list of current projects, because I am the gift that keeps on giving, and time is the gift that keeps on taking. To quote myself, being too harried to say something new: "These posts are labeled with the month and year, in case somebody eventually gets the crazy urge to timeline my work cycles (it'll probably be me). Behold the proof that I don't actually sleep; I just whimper and keep writing."

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

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

Words: 15,820.
Total words: 116,181.

Reason for stopping: draft one is finished.
Music: lots of Counting Crows and modern folk.
The cats: Lilly, in my tank top drawer; Alice, on the cat tree; Thomas, occupying half the kitchen floor.

There we are, then; draft one is done.

I have edits to process, corrections to make, structural elements to adjust, and lots and lots of trimming to do—the book is currently somewhere between five and eight thousand words longer than it needs to be, the length of a short story, if you wanted to write a short story made up mostly of "just," "that," and assorted wishy-washy modifiers. But the words are on the page to be mucked about with. The first draft is finished.

I am so relieved. I will spend the weekend in Ohio working on the page proofs for Blackout, and attach Ashes of Honor with renewed vigor when I return. (Oh, who am I kidding. I'll be editing this puppy all weekend. But I'll also be getting ready to write something new.)

Life is good.

1. I am sick, yes, even unto death. It's this stupid cold. I've been fighting it off since I got home from Conclave, and then yesterday, it just walked up behind me, hit me over the back of the head with a plank, rifled through my pockets, and took all my stuff. I spent all of Sunday on the couch, sniffling, drinking orange juice, and watching Criminal Minds. Oh, and sleeping. I slept a lot. I feel better today, but that's like saying I'm happier now that the lizard has been removed from my ear. Still miserable, just less lizard-y.

2. Yes, I am watching Criminal Minds. But as I have now seen the first three episodes of the first season, please don't ask me if I was crushed when character A died in season three. I haven't been able to be crushed yet, and I'd like the opportunity to mourn when I get there.

3. Assuming this cold backs the hell off, I am still going to be at OVFF this coming weekend. If you're waiting for a shirt from me, and are going to be at the convention, please let me know so that I can package your order for hand-delivery. If you don't tell me, clearly, that you'll be there, your shirt will not be coming with me. I don't have the suitcase space for guesses.

4. I am about 4,000 words from the end of Ashes of Honor, which is good, since I expect to receive my Blackout page proofs any day, and need to be able to focus on going through and writing STET a lot. ("STET" is editorial for "no, do not make this change." I use it to argue against people who don't believe in the Oxford comma, and people who try to standardize my use of "Miss" to "Ms.")

5. I am too sick for a list of ten. Now is when I fall on my face and die.

Catch you when I wake up.

Welcome to the October 2011 list of current projects, because I am the gift that keeps on giving, and time is the gift that keeps on taking. To quote myself, being too harried to say something new: "These posts are labeled with the month and year, in case somebody eventually gets the crazy urge to timeline my work cycles (it'll probably be me). Behold the proof that I don't actually sleep; I just whimper and keep writing."

Please note that all books currently in print are off the list, as are those that have been turned in but not yet printed (Blackout). The cut-tag is here to stay, because no matter what I do, it seems like this list just keeps on getting longer. But that's okay, because at least it means I'm never actively bored. I have horror movies and terrible things from the swamp to keep me company. There has been very little change between this month's list and last month's list, as I've been trying to hammer through Ashes of Honor.

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

Words: 11,559.
Total words: 100,361.
Reason for stopping: I can no longer convince my eyes to focus, which means stopping time.
Music: lots of country and goth.
The cats: Lilly, in a loaf on the bed; Alice, in a loaf on the floor; Thomas, prowling around the hall.

As I work, I am slowly—very slowly, especially for me—dealing with the edits from my Machete Squad. The fact that I'm within 10,000 words of the projected end of the book means that I will soon be able to take a day and process the remaining edits, which will be nice. I really want to get the first draft out of the way, so that we can bend to the more difficult job of beating said first draft into something resembling shape.

This last month has been absolutely grueling. Since Blackout ran so far over, I have been forcing myself to make word count every day, even when I have edits to crunch, because I need those words to be on the page where they can be corrected more than I need to have the space to move at my usual pace. Once I finish draft one, things can return to something a little closer to normal. I can see some of the holes that currently exist in the book, the places where I'm going to need to build some things up and tear other things down. Now all I need to do is get there.

I need a nap. Goodnight, moon.

Words: 16,844.
Total words: 88,802.
Reason for stopping: the book just broke three hundred pages; I need sleep.
Music: mostly Great Big Sea and random country.
The cats: Lilly, in a loaf on the bed; Maine Coons, unknown.

I can look at what I just wrote and already start to say "this paragraph is repetitious, this scene is too long, this scene is too short, fix it fix fix it." But because I have dealt with my internal editor for years now, I am putting that little voice aside and moving on, moving toward a point where I can apply that urge to the entire manuscript. And that time is getting closer every day. I'm shaving days off my estimated time of completion with every session like tonight's, which went over 800 words past where it "needed" to go (and even that "need" is currently 2,000 words ahead of my estimate chart, because I got a lot of work done over the weekend).

This is all good. I do my best work, structure-wise, when I'm moving so fast that I'm tripping over my own feet. Also, and this is a big, big also, this level of completion means that I'm getting the space I need to work on some other projects, and that's a good thing. I'm at my sanest when I'm skipping between worlds every night, spending Mondays with Toby, Tuesdays with the Price family, and Wednesdays with someone else altogether. Soon, the world will go back to normal.

And I can't wait.

So we survived another iteration of the Traveling Circus and Snake-Handling Show (always a risky proposition, what with all those snakes), and now it's time to get back to normal, everyday life. Naturally, for me, this means "now it's time to start packing for Michigan." Because nothing says "restful" like jetting straight off to another convention, right? Right?!

Ahem. A few snapshot statuses, for the interested and alert:

"Wicked Girls" shirts.
Yes! They have arrived! Well...mostly. It turns out the shirt shop was out of certain size/style combinations, so my order was short about fifty shirts, which will be coming along later. How are we finding out which size/style combinations are missing? By trying to pack orders and being unable to find the associated shirts. Naturally. So shipping is being a little bit odd at the moment, and I'm filling as many complete orders as I possibly can. Feel free to email the merchandise address (the Gmail.com account that contacted you for shipping and payment) if you have questions about your specific order, or need to update your address in any way.

Ashes of Honor progress.
I now have approximately 86,000 words written on Ashes of Honor, which means I'm on target to finish my first, deeply flawed draft of the book by the end of October. At which point, the flensing will begin. The flensing has already begun, on a localized level, but the deep flense requires a wider audience. I'm actually pretty happy with the shape of this book. I finally got to bring back a lot of the cast from A Local Habitation, some questions are getting answered, and Toby eats Pop-Tarts. Life is good.

Discount Armageddon approaches.
According to my planner countdown, Discount Armageddon will be released in one hundred and fifty-five days. But, you know. No pressure or anything. I am deeply excited and deeply terrified, and getting ready to rearrange things on my website to make the InCryptid section easier to find and navigate. This means the Field Guide will also be going totally live. You, too, can live in fear of the Apraxis Wasps.

Zombies.
Are love.

Albino banana slug.
ALBINO BANANA SLUG!!!!!! He's like vanilla soft serve with eyes, and I want to love him forever, even though this picture was taken a year ago and so he's probably been eaten by an owl by now. (I know slugs are hermaphrodites. I don't care. I want to name this particular slug "Geoff," and have grand adventures with him. He is my beloved squishy friend.)

HAIL FROGLORD!
This Questionable Content strip speaks to the depths of my soul.

And that's me. What's new with you?

Words: 17,558.
Total words: 71,958.
Reason for stopping: chapter seventeen is done, and I need to pack for Seattle.
Music: mostly Great Big Sea and random country.
The cats: Alice, sneering at the contents of her food dish; others, unknown.

So, um. That happened.

We've hit the all-important middle section of the book, where I throw things at the wall just as fast as I possibly can, and then go back to sculpt and scrub them until they resemble something that's actually shaped like the story I want to tell. It's a lot of "three steps forward, two steps back," but every step takes me a little closer to my eventual victory over the troublesome patches in the text. It's awesome.

Also, now that I'm over 70,000 words, I can actually start booking one night a week to work on Midnight Blue-Light Special, the sequel to Discount Armageddon, and a book I've been hugely looking forward to writing. So there's that. I love Toby, and I love InCryptid, and a good mix of them turns out to be an excellent way of keeping myself sane.

It's harder to write these posts than it used to be, because so many people are wonderfully, miraculously invested in this series, and I don't want to give more spoilers than I absolutely have to. But I'm super-happy with how Ashes of Honor is coming together, and I think you will be, too.

Yay.

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.

Words: 6,220.
Total words: 54,400.
Reason for stopping: I have finished chapter thirteen. Now is the time of sleeping.
Music: an awful lot of Glee, really.
The cats: Lilly, on the bed, Thomas, on the orange tree; others, unknown.

If I did not have a bedtime enforced by biology and my need to get up at five o'clock tomorrow morning to go to work, I would have broken two hundred manuscript pages tonight. Since I have this thing, I have stopped at the end of the chapter, which should make the Machete Squad happy. They get a little cranky when I drop eight chapters on them in a single fell swoop. Something about the way where I still expect my comments just as fast...

This was a pretty easy chunk to write, and the next chunk is likely to be the same, since it has characters I adore (and am pretty good at writing for), fun things to do, and lots of running down corridors (which Doctor Who has taught me is a necessary part of all stories). I'm starting to feel pretty darn good about this book. Better yet, I have this entire weekend to work, with the exception of a few podcasts and a trip to the Farmer's Market on Saturday.

Life is good. Goodnight, world.

Welcome to the September 2011 list of current projects, because I am the gift that keeps on giving, and time is the gift that keeps on taking. To quote myself, being too harried to say something new: "These posts are labeled with the month and year, in case somebody eventually gets the crazy urge to timeline my work cycles (it'll probably be me). Behold the proof that I don't actually sleep; I just whimper and keep writing."

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

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

Wow, it's been a while since we've had one of these, hasn't it? The proofer spotlight is my way of publicly of thanking the tireless workers in the Machete Squad, who go through endless reams of bad prose and bizarre typos so that you won't have to. Seriously. I would have a lot more problems on the publisher end if I didn't travel with a trained squad of comma-killing, modifier-munching bad-asses. Hail to the Machete Squad!

It used to be a lot easier to get new proofreaders, because I didn't need to find people with the time, appropriate skill set, interest, and proven ability to keep their mouths shut until publication. I could literally just throw thirty people at a project, let them winnow themselves out, and keep whoever survived. Now I need to practice care and...gulp...discretion. But once in a while, someone new comes along.*

Enter Lauren and Priscilla.

Lauren has an amazing eye for time. She actually catches flow and logical progression in a way that none of the other currently active Machete Squad members tends to manage, which makes her invaluable to our cause. She also does line edits and presents herself with a dry, entertaining wit (I like funny in my critique). She's worked on Blackout, One Salt Sea, and Ashes of Honor, and she's amazing.

Priscilla is great with dialogue, flow, and detail work. She's one of my Manhattan-area subject matter experts, which is good; she's also a keen eye applied to general editorial matters, which is great. She's fun, she's funny, she's accessible, and she's enthusiastic, which is not something to be overlooked in measuring the value of a proofreader. She's worked on Discount Armageddon and Midnight Blue-Light Special.

And those are my newest proofers. Look upon their works, oh ye mighty, and rejoice!

(*Please do not comment here volunteering to read for me. I just wind up feeling awkward when I have to turn you down. I don't solicit readers in public, and I don't currently have any openings in need of filling. Thanks for understanding.)

Words: 9,843.
Total words: 48,180.
Reason for stopping: I have finished chapter twelve. Now is the time of sleeping.
Music: mostly Pink, Dar Williams, and Ludo. Still.
The cats: Alice, demanding I stop typing and love her. Others, unknown.

...well, that happened. And yes, the temptation to write just another two hundred words and break the 10k barrier was very strong. I have suppressed it by reminding the little voice that asks for such things that we're on track to break 50k on Wednesday (I get Tuesday nights off), and that's pretty damn awesome. Ashes of Honor is projected to be "average length" for a Toby book, which means between 101,000 and 112,000 words. Probably somewhere in the middle. So hey, I have almost half a book! Woo-hoo!

In the text, I can say without spoilers that Toby and Quentin have reached Tamed Lightning, and everything is going about as well as can be expected at this stage in a Toby book. So I get to have April O'Leary-flavored goodness for at least five minutes before everything goes to hell.

Finding the balance between "look, if you're reading book six in the series, I really hope you've read the first five" and "previously, on October..." is fascinating, and incredibly difficult. Every book, I get people who complain that there's too much back story, and people who complain that there's not enough; I have to find the ragged edge between them and skate along it like my life depends on it. I think I'm getting better at it, but there's so much background now that it's still occasionally very hard.

I'm making my goals; the book is moving along at a decent clip; while there will doubtless be extensive rewrites and at least one crying jag, I expect to have a finished first draft by the end of October.

Yay.

Words: 12,669.
Total words: 38,337.
Reason for stopping: I have finished chapter ten. Now is the time of sleeping.
Music: mostly Pink, Dar Williams, and Ludo. Still.
The cats: Alice, eating kibble one piece at a time, like a weird raccoon. Others, unknown.

Before you freak out, no, I didn't write 12k in one night. I just missed a few word count updates, and that means I've recorded all the progress between now and then. On the other hand, the book is over a hundred pages long now, and it looks like I may break 50k by the end of next week. So you can get excited about that, if you want.

Ashes of Honor is starting to find its shape, beyond the necessary "and the plot requires that these seventeen guns be placed on their respective mantles" which always happens in the first few chapters (and gets deleted before the book ever sees a shelf). Characters are behaving in ways that make sense for them, if not for anyone saner, and things are going roughly like I expect them to go.

It's weird not to be thinking in terms of the Undersea, which was a wonderful, incredibly exciting playground for me, but which doesn't fit naturally into every story I tell. I do get to play more with April O'Leary in this book, which makes me happy; I love April. I may also get to introduce January's wife, Li, who was absent from A Local Habitation for very good reasons, but will be important later. It's exciting! I'm excited.

And now I, and my excitement, will go to bed. Later, all.

I am leaving for the WorldCon in Reno tomorrow, and a little bit horrified by how quickly this year has gone by. Maybe if I started sleeping, time would slow down. Do you think? Yeah, probably not. Oh, well. A girl can dream. Anyway:

Welcome to the August 2011 list of current projects, because I am the gift that keeps on giving. To quote myself, being too harried to say something new: "These posts are labeled with the month and year, in case somebody eventually gets the crazy urge to timeline my work cycles (it'll probably be me). Behold the proof that I don't actually sleep; I just whimper and keep writing."

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

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

Words: 8,256.
Total words: 25,668.
Reason for stopping: I have finished chapter seven, and need to finish writing an essay.
Music: mostly Pink, Dar Williams, and Ludo.
The cats: all sacked out on the bed like fuzzy potatoes.

I am...working. I am making progress and I am working and by the standard length of a Toby book (roughly 100,000 to 110,000 words, give or take a chapter), I broke 25% of this book today. Which is incredible.

To be honest, finishing Blackout just killed me. It racked me up one side and down the other, and it's not really over yet; I'm still waiting on the editorial letter from The Other Editor, at which point, the Machete Squad gets to attack the manuscript again while I make the changes he feels are necessary (and he's going to be right, because he's always been right so far, and I trust him, which is wonderful). I was terrified going back into Ashes of Honor. What if I couldn't find my footing? What if I couldn't figure out where I stood?

I didn't need to be afraid. Toby is as natural to me as breathing at this point, and while her stories aren't always easy (on either one of us), they're familiar territory. I like it in her world. I can stay there for as long as I need to. It's comfortable, and it's mine, and it's one of my imagination's true homes.

I think this one is going to be just fine.

I love doing interviews. It's a really fun, awesome way to interact with people, and sound a little bit less like either a chipmunk on a sugar high or a formal press release (two of my default settings). A good interview is an amazing thing, and even a bad interview is darkly comic, like a barn owl flying into a plate glass window. (Funny for me. Not necessarily so much funny for the owl.) So without further ado, some interviews.

The first, and most recent, is this interview for Fantasy Magazine, conducted by Paul Goat Allen. Paul asked amazing questions, and called me "a force of nature," which is always the way to endear yourself to me. He also seemed fairly sure that I am actually an artist commune. Silly Paul. Hive intelligences from beyond the solar system don't need communes...

Our second interview was actually conducted at SDCC, by the lovely Linda, for Muse Led. She came up to my hotel room while we were all unpacking, and asked lots of fun questions (when we weren't talking about our cats, which happened a lot). She was very sweet, and I had a lovely time. In-person interviews are always exciting.

I was supposed to do an interview with Teen Skepchick during Convergence, but we couldn't get our act together. Luckily for everyone involved, email exists, and we were able to finish the interview anyway. Lots of super-fun questions, most aimed at the interests of teen readers (which I really appreciate).

Finally for now, Jeff Vandermeer interviewed both me and A. Lee Martinez (author of Gil's All-Fright Diner!), which was totally cool. You can click through to his interview from this post...where you can also read a small sample of Ashes of Honor.

Happy Monday!

Words: 5,574.
Total words: 17,412.
Reason for stopping: I have finished chapter five, and now it is time for bed.
Music: totally random shuffle; lots of country music.
The cats: all feline locations are currently unknown, which probably ought to worry me a bit.

So I finally got the chance to return to Ashes of Honor, which is good, since that means everything is going according to schedule. And as expected, I opened the file, looked at the text, squinted a little, and promptly wrote an entirely new chapter one, following it up with a shiny new chapter five (which would have been chapter four, if chapter one hadn't become chapter two). My total inability to write the first chapter the first time I try continues unabated!

I am really, really happy to be back in Toby's head. She's a comforting place for me to be, messed-up and bizarre as she can sometimes be. I've known her for a long time, after all, and this is our sixth book together. That, too, is a little bit strange, and a whole lot wonderful. Six books! Back when this was a short story and I was an aspiring novelist, who would have guessed? It really is amazing.

Next week is the WorldCon in Reno, but for right now, it's me and Toby and the gang, and we're going on a wonderful adventure, again, and I couldn't be any happier. Honest.

Right: this is officially NOT OKAY. I did not sign up for a year that went by so fast that I would blink and be missing a year. I did not approve of the theft of the entire first half of 2011. I would like it back now. I would like it back right now, if you would be so kind. Now gimme.

Please?

...oh, fine. As the universe is not bending itself to my will, welcome to the July 2011 list of current projects, because I am the gift that keeps on giving. To quote myself, being too harried to say something new: "These posts are labeled with the month and year, in case somebody eventually gets the crazy urge to timeline my work cycles (it'll probably be me). Behold the proof that I don't actually sleep; I just whimper and keep writing."

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

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

It wasn't until I went to my "current projects" tag to pull the format for this entry that I realized just how hectic and insane May really was: I didn't do a current projects post. That's like, earth-shaking busyness, and sort of terrifying. Almost as terrifying as the fact that it's June now, meaning that the year is officially half over. Already. Who the hell authorized this?

Anyway. Since I don't control time and hence can't reset us to February, welcome to the June 2011 list of current projects, because I am the gift that keeps on giving. To quote myself, being too harried to say something new: "These posts are labeled with the month and year, in case somebody eventually gets the crazy urge to timeline my work cycles (it'll probably be me). Behold the proof that I don't actually sleep; I just whimper and keep writing."

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

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

Dear Great Pumpkin;

It has been some time since I last wrote to you, but you have never been far from my thoughts. I just thought you might like me to do my own planting for a change. Since our last correspondence, I have not started any political movements or debunked any major scientific theories for my own amusement. I have loved my friends and looked upon my enemies with tolerant disdain, as opposed to reaching for the machete. I have shared my cookies. I have not brought about the end of all mankind, nor lured the unwary into the cornfield. I have continued to make all my deadlines, even the ones I most wanted to avoid. I have not talked about parasites at the dinner table. Much. So obviously, I have been quite well-behaved, especially considering my nature.

Today, Great Pumpkin, I am asking for the following gifts:

* A smooth and successful release for Deadline, with books shipping when they're meant to ship, stores putting them out when they're supposed to put them out, and reviews that are accurate, insightful, and capable of steering people who will enjoy my book to read it, while warning those who will not enjoy my book gently away. Please, Great Pumpkin, show mercy on your loving Pumpkin Princess of the West, and let it all be wonderful. I'm not asking you to make it easy, Great Pumpkin, but I'm asking you to make it good.

* Please let me finish the current draft of Blackout on time and without anything exploding when it's not supposed to, drawing this trilogy to a satisfying conclusion. I've never finished a series before, Great Pumpkin, and I admit, I'm nervous. I want to do this world, and these characters, justice; I want to make the people who've been with me since Feed was a crazy idea called Newsflesh proud. I know it can be done, and that I have the skills necessary for the task. All I ask is that you help me do it.

* And when that is done, o Prince of Patches, I ask that you help me to find my way back into the depths of Ashes of Honor without that changing-genres stumble; let Toby and her world open their arms and welcome me home, that I might transcribe the story that is already making my fingertips ache. There is so much that I want to do in this book, and only so many pages for me to do it in. Please help me find my way, and help me tell this story. It needs telling.

* I thank you once again for my cats, Great Pumpkin, who are everything I could ever ask for in feline companions. Alice is huge, puffy, and utterly without dignity. Lilly is sleek, smug, and satisfied with herself. Thomas is playful, expanding rapidly, and too smart for his own good. I have never been happier with the cats who share my life than I am with this trio, who delight me in all ways. Please, Great Pumpkin, keep them healthy, keep them happy, and keep them exactly as they are.

* I haven't said anything up to now about what I really want this year, Great Pumpkin, but...you know I've been nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel. You know, because you know everything. You know that if I win, I'll be given a rocket ship in Reno, with my Amy and my Vixy in attendance. Neither of them could be there in Australia, and it would mean the world to all of us if they could be there to see this happen. Please shine your holy candle upon the Hugo, Great Pumpkin, and, if you see fit, I will thank you in any speeches I have to give (you know I'm good for it, I did it last time).

I remain your faithful Halloween girl,
Seanan.

PS: While you're at it, can you please turn your graces on Harvest? I sort of really want to tell this story. It centers on Halloween, you're going to love it.

Pardon me for profanity, but how the fucking fuck are we already at the April list of current projects? This implies that we have somehow already consumed 1/3rd of 2011, and I, for one, am NOT OKAY with this idea. Seriously, I have Shit To Do in 2011, and not enough of it has been finished, which means that it can't be April yet. Okay? Okay. Come on, universe. Fix yourself.

...or not. Since I don't control time, welcome to the April 2011 list of current projects, because I am the gift that keeps on giving. To quote myself, being too harried to say something new: "These posts are labeled with the month and year, in case somebody eventually gets the crazy urge to timeline my work cycles (it'll probably be me). Behold the proof that I don't actually sleep; I just whimper and keep writing."

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

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And now, the moment we've all been waiting for: the one time in the year where I get to intone BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH and be topical, not, you know, weird. So! BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH, and beware also the March current projects post, wherein I will make it perfectly clear why I'm not coming to your birthday party. This is the March 2011 list of current projects, because I am the gift that keeps on giving. And yes, the date is there for a reason. Largely so you can find the right post, if you insanely want to reference them.

To quote myself, being too harried to say something new: "These posts are labeled with the month and year, in case somebody eventually gets the crazy urge to timeline my work cycles (it'll probably be me). Behold the proof that I don't actually sleep; I just whimper and keep writing."

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

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

It's that time again! It's February 15th, and that means I need to write a big long post explaining what all I'm currently working on, just in case you'd started to think that I knew the meaning of the words "free time." This is the February 2011 list of current projects, because I am the gift that keeps on giving. And yes, the date is there for a reason. Largely so you can find the right post, if you insanely want to reference them.

To quote myself, being too harried to say something new: "These posts are labeled with the month and year, in case somebody eventually gets the crazy urge to timeline my work cycles (it'll probably be me). Behold the proof that I don't actually sleep; I just whimper and keep writing."

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

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

Let's get this out of the way right up front: This list is five whole days late. I was at Arisia on the 15th, when the current projects post usually goes up, and too distracted with the convention that ate Boston to realize that I needed to be taking care of business. You have my apologies, although I won't promise that it won't happen again, because I am a little bit smarter than that. This is the January 2011 list of current projects, because I am the gift that keeps on giving.

To quote myself, being too harried to say something new: "These posts are labeled with the month and year, in case somebody eventually gets the crazy urge to timeline my work cycles (it'll probably be me). Behold the proof that I don't actually sleep; I just whimper and keep writing."

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

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

Words: 4,721.
Total words: 11,838.
Reason for stopping: I have finished chapter three, and will now have a shower.
Music: totally random shuffle.
The cats: Lilly, orange cat tree; Alice and Thomas, prowling around the hall.

Chapter three is done! Chapter three is done! According to the usual length of these books, 10% of the finished manuscript is done! Okay, that's...less reassuring than I expected it to be, since that makes me think about the other 90%. Let's focus on chapter three being done, shall we? I've set up everything I need to get things moving, and now it's time to rock and roll.

The initial waves of edits have been coming in, and getting processed, despite the insanity of convention season. February and March are light months for me, if you don't count the part where March contains an actual book release, so I should be able to stay pretty much on top of things. I'm so excited about this book, and about Late Eclipses coming out, as that will bring you all one step closer to my current status quo. Being three books ahead of everyone else is hard.

Alice is now sitting next to my desk chair and glaring loudly. I'm serious, it's impressive how loudly this cat can glare. I think I need to go brush the Maine Coons, lest they elect to smother me to death tonight while I'm trying to sleep.

Next up, more Blackout!

Words: 3,478.
Total words: 7,117.
Reason for stopping: chapter two is done, and it's time for bed.
Music: totally random shuffle.
The cats: Lilly, cat bed; Thomas, sleeping in my laundry; Alice, unknown.

And now, with the completion of chapter two, the good ship Ashes of Honor is ready to set sail for the proofing mines. Oh, the dangers it will face, the flashing machetes, the chomping alligators...but it will sail out the other side divine, filled with properly-placed commas and cars that don't inexplicably disappear in the middle of a chapter. I love the proofing mines so. And I fear them even more.

This has been a crazy-productive week, which is good, since my initial figures for 2011 basically say "write 2,000 words every day OR DIE IN THE PIT OF SNAKES." So every day where I can write more than 2,000 words buys me a little time to myself. Or, you know, time to write something that wasn't on the original list. You know, the usual craziness that goes on around here.

Alice has just wandered into the room and informed me, loudly, that it is time for bed. I'm going to take the cat's word on things.

Goodnight, world.

Well, here we are: the final current projects post of 2010. There are things that have been on this list since January. There are things that have magically appeared, sometimes startling everyone involved (but rarely startling anyone more than me). The year is ending, and for better or for worse, this is what I still have to do before I get to take a nap. This is the December list of current projects, because I am the gift that keeps on giving.

To quote myself, being too harried to say something new: "These posts are labeled with the month and year, in case somebody eventually gets the crazy urge to timeline my work cycles (it'll probably be me). Behold the proof that I don't actually sleep; I just whimper and keep writing."

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

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