Con or Bust is a project of the Carl Brandon society, which is, to quote their website, "a 501c3 not-for-profit organization whose mission is to increase racial and ethnic diversity in the production of and audience for speculative fiction." To help this mission happen, Kate Nepveu administers the Con or Bust auctions, which help fans of color get to conventions. It's an awesome cause, and it delights me.

This year, Orbit and I have donated two signed sets of the Newsflesh series to the auction. They're being mailed by my publisher, so will not be personalized...but they're being mailed by my publisher, which means there's no chance the mail sack gets forgotten next to the front door for three weeks when there's a new Pokemon release. Everybody wins!

Especially our community. Because what Con or Bust does is make our community better by making it more awesome.

So take a look, and check out the rest of the offerings while you're there.

...a copy of Blackout, by Mira Grant (US edition).

Welcome to the tenth of the Twelve Days of Hogswatch. I am starting a new giveaway every day between now and my birthday. Each giveaway has different rules, and a different deadline, although all prizes will be mailed on January 9th, because I am bad at going to the post office.

The tenth giveaway is for a copy of Blackout. This is going to be a random number drawing. So...

1. To enter, comment on this post.
2. If you are international, indicate a willingness to pay postage.
3. That's it.

Please remember that all giveaway rules are non-negotiable. Failure to follow the rules of a giveaway will mean that you cannot win, even if the RNG picks you.

I will choose the winner at 1PM PST on Tuesday, January 7th.

Game on!

...the German editions of Deadline and Blackout, by Mira Grant.

Welcome to the seventh of the Twelve Days of Hogswatch. I am starting a new giveaway every day between now and my birthday. Each giveaway has different rules, and a different deadline, although all prizes will be mailed on January 9th, because I am bad at going to the post office.

The seventh giveaway is for the German mass-market paperbacks of Deadline and Blackout. This is going to be a random number drawing. So...

1. To enter, comment on this post.
2. If you are international, indicate a willingness to pay postage.
3. That's it.

Please remember that all giveaway rules are non-negotiable. Failure to follow the rules of a giveaway will mean that you cannot win, even if the RNG picks you.

I will choose the winner at 1PM PST on Tuesday, January 7th.

Game on!

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

Best Novel.

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

Best Novella.

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

Best Novelette.

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

Best Short Story.

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

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

Best Related Work.

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

Best Graphic Story.

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

Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form).

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

Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form).

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

Best Editor (Short Form).

John Joseph Adams
Neil Clarke
Stanley Schmidt
Jonathan Strahan
Sheila Williams

Best Editor (Long Form).

Lou Anders
Sheila Gilbert
Liz Gorinsky
Patrick Nielsen Hayden
Toni Weisskopf

Best Professional Artist.

Vincent Chong
Julie Dillon
Dan Dos Santos
Chris McGrath
John Picacio

Best Semiprozine.

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

Best Fanzine.

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

Best Fancast.

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

Best Fan Writer.

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

Best Fan Artist.

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

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.

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

Zen Cho
Max Gladstone
Mur Lafferty
Stina Leicht
Chuck Wendig

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I am about to leave for Worldcon, which means my brain is like a mutant gerbil running on a wheel that powers a nuclear reactor. It's a little painful. Anyway, in an effort to keep the gerbil busy (and thus keep it from accidentally melting the West Coast), where is a file-clearing review roundup. (Hint: the file is not actually clear.)

Mike Jones, who has known me since I was fourteen, reviewed Deadline and Blackout for Tor.com, and says, " Bottom line: you're not going to find a better political thriller/science fiction/post zombie apocalypse adventure out there. If you do, tell me so I can read it!" Aw, yay.

Little Red Reviewer actually reviewed my short story, "Crystal Halloway and the Forgotten Passage," and said, "As I am quickly learning, Seanan McGuire is pure magic." I AM A UNICORN OF GOODNESS AND JOY. And zombies.

Journey vs. Destination has posted a review of the Newsflesh trilogy, and says, "The zombie book got me on the first page. It sucked me in so much that at the end of the first chapter of my free book, I went back to the first book in the trilogy, bought it, and devoured it. Then back to the Hugo packet to read the second. Then bought the third." Best recommendation ever.

Let's mix it up a little: Leigh Caroline has posted a review of Discount Armageddon, and says many things, although there are no good pull quotes. Check it out.

Geek Speak Magazine (to which I am an occasional contributor) posted a review of Blackout, and says, "Mira Grant's finale to her trilogy is among the more satisfying conclusions to a series I have ever read, one where even the dreaded coda to the tale (and believe me, I usually hate anything smacking of an epilogue) does not detract from the overall feeling of triumphant, if a tad bittersweet, closure." I am well-pleased.

And finally for today, Read This Book Damnit has posted a review of Discount Armageddon, and says, " In short Seanan McGuire has done it again. From fae in San Francisco, to a post-apocalyptic zombie future, and now a tango dancing cryptozoologist, she has entertained me with every book I've read to date. I hereby formally suspend any future disbelief in her choice of subject matter to write and will, instead, just shut up and read." VICTORY!

With that, I take the gerbil for a walk.

You know the drill by now. This is me, trying in vain to clean up the file a little bit before the Ashes of Honor reviews start to appear in earnest. I will fail, but still, I will strive.

Carrie S. has posted a guest review of Discount Armageddon at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, and says, "There's nothing particularly new here. Thanks to my beloved Joss Whedon, the idea that a petite girl in cute clothes can take down monsters is pretty standard stuff. However, what the story lacks in originality it makes up for with wit, great descriptions, engaging characters, fast pace, and a whole lot of energy." Joss comparisons also aren't new, where this series is concerned. Great review, and I love the amount of "wait and see" that it allows me.

Dark Faerie Tales has also posted a review of Discount Armageddon, and says, "Overall, Discount Armageddon is a fascinating take on a whole new Urban Fantasy series. If you don’t like books with quite a bit of info dumping and long expositions then you may not care for this book but if you like sarcastic women, sexy men and interesting creatures then I would say give this book a try. I can’t wait to see what is next for Verity Price and Dominic De Luca." Fortunately, I love books with quite a bit of info dumping.

Let's mix it up a little: The Midnight Garden has posted a review of Blackout, and says, "Blackout seamlessly combines medical thriller, political intrigue, and pulse-pounding action sequences with unforgettable human drama." Happiness, joy, and fluffy kittens for all! (Well. Not for Grignar, devourer of all flesh. He knows what he did.)

...and we're back to Discount Armageddon with The Book Bundle's lovely review of the book, which says, "Discount Armageddon is a really fun read. I was very quickly pulled into Verity's world, and I loved each new cryptid she met. I can't wait to see more of the world in the following books." I like it when people are excited about sequels.

Book Banter has posted a review of Blackout, and says, "Blackout is the perfect, satiating finish to the trilogy, making the three-book series feel like one long, epic story. No reader will be disappointed, with a worthwhile ending that will leave him or her sad that the wonderful journey is now over...but just like when the end of Harry Potter was reached, or the final page of Stephen King's Dark Tower series, how many of us turned back to the first book and started reading that first page once again. Having reread the first two books, this trilogy will be one I will continue to reread constantly throughout my lifetime." ...wow.

Finally for today, Reading After Midnight has posted a review of Blackout, and says, "You know what?...If you want to know how this all ends you’ll just have to read the story and find on your own. What you’re reading now is my heart bleeding all over my keyboard, because this is how it feels letting this story go." That may be the nicest thing anyone has ever said about my work. Thank you.

Thank you all.

...merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream.

Today's first review comes from libris_leonis, who has posted a review of "Countdown", and says, "This is a grim, compact little story that works really well, but also really grimly; not uplifting, but certainly excellent, although it does require knowledge of the Newsflesh world to really work to its full effect." Yay!

You know, that review was so nice, let's visit the reviewer twice. libris_leonis has also posted a review of "San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats", and says, "Overall, "San Diego 2014" showcases Grant's best talents; emotionally resonant and effective work, drawing out similarities between characters and readers, and the occasional (more common here than across the rest of the Newsflesh cycle) reference to modern geek culture. A very nice novella." Hooray!

Sadly, one reviewer does not a full roundup make, and so we move on. The Mad Reviewer has posted a review of Blackout, and says, "Funny, dark, suspenseful and full of plot twists, Blackout was no disappointment. And it even had a satisfying, if not entirely happy, ending. What else could I really ask for?" A pony. You can always, always ask for a pony.

Persephone Reads has posted a review of Late Eclipses, and says, "For every knock she takes—and this installment’s knocks would make a heavyweight prizefighter proud—Toby finds a way to get back on her feet. She’s not invincible; she sways and stumbles, but she stands when others might fall. In these pages, Toby’s brand of strength and vulnerability found its sweet spot. It’s no great shock that I continue to be a pom-pom wielding, card carrying member of her cheer squad." Go Fighting Pumpkins!

The Family Addiction has posted a fun, and funny, review of Discount Armageddon. There are no really good pull quotes this time, but it's definitely worth clicking through.

A Modern Hypatia (love the name) has posted a review of Deadline, and says, "Deadline is also an amazingly strong second book—often the weakness of trilogies. There are some places that's obvious (especially the end), but the beginning does a great job of easing you back into the world and reminding you how things work before the story accelerates (which it does quite rapidly.) And then there's a solid plot that both serves this book, but is clearly laying down foundation for a powerful conclusion." Victory is mine!

Finally for today's extremely random review roundup, Monsters and Critics has posted a review of Home Improvement: Undead Edition, and says, "This collection is a treat; the stories are strong and most reward the reader with a pleasing plot twist. The paranormal element added to the mundane yet trying experience of home or business renovation was an inspired theme certain to strike a cord with anyone who has lived the experience. Just the thing to enjoy on a languid summer day with a tall glass of cold lemonade." Works for me.

So that's me purging a little more of the link file. Look for more of these in the next few weeks, as I struggle to get things under control before Ashes of Honor hits shelves.

Evil pie!

We open today with Paul Goat Allen's review of the entire Newflesh trilogy, which he calls "an instant classic." He also says, "The narrative supremacy of this trilogy is unquestionable: both Feed and Deadline were nominated for the Hugo Award (in 2011 and 2012, respectively)—and Blackout is arguably the strongest of the three!"

I do not have words for how happy this review makes me. It...if just one person feels this way, I did it right. And that's amazing.

Meanwhile, Calliope's Domain has posted a review of Discount Armageddon, and says, "The writing of this book definitely had a lighter, funner tone than Ms. McGuire's October Daye series that, in my opinion, really let stand out. Heck, if not for her name on the cover, I never would have guessed the same author wrote both series; a true accomplishment, I think, for any author writing multiple series." That is a huge compliment. Thank you so much.

MiB Reviews has reviewed Blackout, and says, "One of the great assets that the Newsflesh trilogy has is the way that every book is a different type of story. Atop the overused backdrop of the zombie apocalypse, we have a novel about a conspiracy to sabotage a political campaign by a fanatic from the point of view of a calm, seasoned journalist; an action-packed romp against impossible odds where the villains just can't help but to blow everything up; and now we have a story where simply surviving and living in peace requires helping genetic experiments escape from labs and uncovering the biggest government conspiracy in US history. There might be another author who's blended zombies and one of these genres together so seamlessly, but I doubt that anyone else has done so as well, or done so three times." This is what winning looks like!

Sigrid Ellis has posted a review of Wicked Girls that calls the album "Hugo-Award-worthy" and says "This is the engagement that makes our beloved fantasy and science fiction world bigger, braver, and stronger for the future. And it’s a good album, besides. Making comparisons to other artists is tricky, because not everyone likes the same things I like. But I found—and this is high compliment—that the lyrics reminded me of a sort of cross between the poetry of John M. Ford and the lyrics of Stephen Sondheim. Bleak and cynical and stupid-stubbornly hopeful, my favorite kind of thing." I...oh my sweet Great Pumpkin. I am so touched.

Tom Knapp rounds out today's roundup with a review of When Will You Rise?, about which he says, "Grant, in just over a hundred pages, creates a fully realized disaster, and readers will understand the science behind it. It's a short, punchy book that makes you want to read more." Everybody dies!

That's it for right now. Thank you to all readers, and all reviewers, whether I find and link your review or not. I am so honored.

Life is good.

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

dimestore_romeo!

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

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

I am home from the memorial, and I am exhausted. Plus my link file is (still) exploding. So here: have a review roundup, and I'll try to produce some actual content for you soon.

This YouTube video gives five reasons to read the Newsflesh trilogy, and it's brilliant. I salute the guy who made it, even as I quail in fear at what he's willing to do to himself.

The Quiet Voice has posted a review of Blackout, and says, "Mira Grant does not lose any steam in this final installment of the Newsflesh trilogy. She continues the story seamlessly from the chilling ending of Deadline, and grabs readers all the way to the gripping finale." Woo!

RA for All has posted a review of Blackout, and says, "Blackout, as the conclusion of this well plotted and entertaining trilogy, did not disappoint." Works for me.

The handsome, debonair, and all-around sexy gentleman in charge of Schlock Mercenary, Howard Tayler, has posted a review of Blackout, and says, "Mira Grant sticks the landing." That is, as a writer, all I ever wanted. I just wanted to stick the landing.

Mini Love Notes has posted a review of Blackout, and says, "Here marks the end to hands-down one of the best series I’ve read since The Hunger Games trilogy." Oh, very nice.

And now for something completely different: Great Books for Horse Lovers has posted a review of Rosemary and Rue, and says, "Half riotously funny, half darkly suspenseful, Rosemary and Rue will beguile and enchant older teen and adult fans of Celtic myth and urban mysteries. With at least six more books in print and to come in the October Daye series, hopefully, more kelpies will follow for horse-lovers, too!" Hee!

Like, seriously. How else do you explain Blackout being the first of my books to make the print New York Times list (in position #15 on the Mass Market Paperbacks sub-list) and now making NPR's list of the best science fiction and fantasy of the summer?

In other news, HOLY CORN MAZES, YOU GUYS, BLACKOUT IS ON THE NPR LIST OF THE BEST SCI-FI OF THE SUMMER!!!!!!!

Ahem.

I am very, very excited, as is only natural when INCREDIBLY AWESOME THINGS of INCREDIBLE AWESOMENESS decide to happen. This is so amazing. I am so amazed. Also, there have been confirmed sightings of the Newsflesh trilogy at WalMart, and no matter what you think of WalMart, that's a lot of eyes potentially falling on (and maybe even buying) my books. Dear world: please buy my books. I have a lot of cats to feed.

NPR! NYT! OMG!

Squee.

It's time a "please help me, I can no longer find anything in my rolling note file" review roundup. Always fun!

As an aside, before I get to the notes, I have learned something about myself with Blackout. Normally, negative reviews are interesting and even a little educational for me. They help me learn what I can still improve in a series, even though I cringe a little whenever says something in Book #2 is an "obvious reaction" to criticism about Book #1. (By the time I see reviews of Book #1, I'm working on Book #3, if not Book #4.) But with Blackout, my experience has been very different, because the series is over. I already know what I need to work on as a matter of improving as an author, and I don't want to hear people criticize this story. It's done; my imaginary friends are gone; they're not coming back. It's made collecting reviews a much more careful process this time, as I get way more upset about even mild negativity.

(Please note that I am not saying "No one gets to negatively review the final book in a series/trilogy." I'm saying "I do not benefit from reading these reviews, and they make me sad, so I'm trying not to do it." Honestly, you can, and should, review anything you want, any way you want.)

And now...reviews:

Bea's Book Nook has posted a review of Blackout, and says, "Blackout is a roller coaster ride, with emotion, action, character growth, more action, quirky characters, and not a lot of zombies. I actually would have liked more of them (and I'm not a zombie fan), but when they do appear, watch out!" Hee. She also says that I "take chances," and that makes me happy.

A Reader of Fictions has posted a review of Blackout, and says, "Blackout has the humor and intelligence of the prior books (plus a ZOMBIE GRIZZLY), making a pretty satisfying conclusion to the series. I say 'pretty' satisfying because I really want more. Like right now BUT IT'S OVER. Well, except for some novellas." Any review that gives a shout-out to the zombie bear is awesome by me.

Oh, yay! The Guilded Earlobe has reviewed the audiobook edition of Blackout, and says, "Blackout is full of adventure, betrayal, true love, sacrifice, conspiracies revealed, surprise enemies and allies, fascinating science and of course, zombies. It has everything you want in a series finale, leaving you both utterly fulfilled, and desperately wanting more. Blackout is hands down my favorite Audiobook of 2012, and if it doesn’t top my list at year end, then some miracle of audiobook greatness must have taken place to knock it off its perch." Yeah...that works for me.

Gina Rinelli has posted a review of Blackout, and says, "Do yourself a favor and read these books. I can't say that enough. A couple times during Blackout I stopped and thought I can't believe a person wrote this. It's a level of storytelling that hasn't been matched for me since J. K. Rowling, the way everything fits together to just blow your mind. I may be fangirling at this point. I don't care. You need to read these books." I'm blushing.

Rob Bedford has posted a review of Blackout, and says, "Blackout is both fine novel and a fine conclusion to the Newflesh Trilogy. I enjoyed the random zombie novel here and there, but when I read Feed I was totally blown away, which set the bar high for Deadline. That bar was met and with Blackout and the whole Newsflesh Trilogy, Mira Grant has completed what should be considered the quintessential zombie narrative for the early 21st Century."

On that note, have a great day, and don't get eaten by dead things.

Here's a reminder for all you Mira Grant fans out there:

I, and by extension, she, will be appearing at Borderlands Books this coming Saturday, June 2nd, at 6:00 PM. Why? To celebrate the release of Blackout, naturally! There will be Q&A, cupcakes, and a reading from "San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats."

As an extra added bonus, if you come early, Mary Robinette Kowal, also known as "the voice of October Daye," will be at the story at 3:00 PM, reading from and promoting her awesome new book, Glamour in Glass.

Borderlands events are free of charge, and the store is more than happy to take orders for signed and inscribed copies, if you can't attend.

I hope to see you there!

To celebrate the release of Blackout, here. Have an open thread to discuss the book.

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.)

You can also start a book 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!

Blackout is on store shelves today. After more than six years of work, and after three years of publication dates, the trilogy is over.

I may have seemed a little quiet lately. That's honestly because I'm sort of in shock. I just can't believe it's over. I've been living with these people for so long that knowing that their book is closed is just...it's stunning. It's difficult to wrap my head around.

It's finished.

When I finished Feed, it was the best thing I had ever written, and I truly believe that writing it is what enabled me to grow enough as an author to become publication-ready (the final revision of Rosemary and Rue happened after the first draft of Feed). Each subsequent book has stolen that title from its predecessor. I am proud of these books. I am amazed by them. And no, I am not ashamed to say that. It's my book-day. I get to be proud.

This trilogy has earned me two Hugo nominations (three, if you count "Countdown"), a place on the Publishers Weekly Best Books list, and so much more. It has brought me into contact with amazing people from around the world. It has allowed me to indulge my passion for viruses and pandemic preparedness without freaking people out (too much). It has changed my life forever, and I am so grateful, and I am so pleased that you have all been here with me.

I'll open the discussion thread for Blackout tomorrow or Thursday, after more people have had time to finish the book; please, no spoilers here. But...thank you.

Thank you all so much, forever.

Rise up while you can.

I've spoken before about my love of fanfic, and how it allows you to do things you can't necessarily do "in canon." One of those things, one of my favorite things, is the alternate universe. What would have happened if Toby had never become a fish? If Thomas had convinced Alice to go back to the Covenant with him, instead of leaving it for her?

If someone else had been the first to die?

I have written an alternate ending to Feed, picking up at what was originally chapter twenty-five. It's called Fed, and I'm very pleased with it, in part because it shows that no, the original ending wasn't the worst possible outcome. This was.

Fed is kindly being hosted by Orbit, thus preventing me from becoming a blibbering mess in the week leading up to the release of Blackout, and for right now, you can download and read by liking the Facebook page they've set up specifically for this purpose. (It's getting a one-week Facebook exclusive for marketing purposes, and I surely would appreciate it if you went and hit the "like" button.) This is full of spoilers, so I recommend against reading it if you haven't read Feed.

Rise up while you can.

10. If you read yesterday's post about ebook distribution around the world, you may want to go back and read it again; I made some pretty hefty edits after having a contract discussion with The Agent, and I think it's more accurate now.

9. While I will not say that Joss Whedon is my master now—I remain too critical for that, and still haven't forgiven him for several things—he has made my two favorite theatrical releases of this year, Cabin in the Woods and The Avengers.

8. Although if we don't get another female hero in the sequel, I am going to be one cranky kitty. I knew that would be an issue for me going in; I was not wrong.

7. We're down to three girls on this season of America's Next Top Model, and I don't hate any of them. What? How can this be? I think the world has been intrinsically damaged by the inanity of this season's "US v. UK" concept.

6. You know what's awesome? Disneyland, that's what's awesome. You know what's better? I'm going there in two weeks, with Vixy. Are we now planning to hit every Disney park in the world? Yes. Yes, we are. Next up, Disneyland Paris.

5. Eleven days to Blackout! Who's excited? I'm excited!

4. If you somehow get an early copy, please don't tell me. There's nothing I can do about it, and it'll just raise my blood pressure. But feel free to post a review. Reviews are awesome.

3. You know what makes everything better? Poison dart frickens make everything better. Look at their tiny technicolor deadliness!

2. Jean Grey is still dead.

1. I'm seeing The Devil's Carnival tonight! Yay!

Hope you're all having a great Friday, and are looking forward to an even greater weekend.

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

Please email me. :(

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

cmsieg
amberswansong

The rules!

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

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

Congratulations to our winners, and more giveaways to come!

Submitted for by my publisher for your approval...

***

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

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

( Click here for the party.Collapse )

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.

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.)

Newsflesh trilogy, final stats.

Start date: September 4th, 2005.
End date: September 2nd, 2011.

Volumes: Three.
Words: 455,814.
Pages: An awful lot.

...so yeah. That happened.

Last night, at approximately 9:15PM, I finished processing the last of the editorial changes to Blackout, and kicked the manuscript off to The Agent for a final typo check. She kicked it back to me this morning, and at approximately 5:21AM, I finished correcting the last of the grammatical and typographical errors. The book is back with her for a final final check, and then it's off to The Other Editor, to begin the process of transforming into something you can read.

It's over.

I have other things to do in this universe, other stories to tell and to enjoy telling, but this story, this trilogy...it's over. I am finished with the Masons. Their tale is done.

I've never finished anything like this before. I feel a little numb and a little scalded and a little overwhelmed, all at once.

Thank you. Thank you to everyone who's read these books, recommended these books, loved these books, hated these books, or interacted with them in any way. Thank you to Michael and Amanda, Kate and GP, Spider and Steve, Alan and Jude, Brooke and Vixy and Bill and Mike and Rae and Sunil and Amy and Cat and...and...and everyone. Just thank you.

Thank you for helping me tell this story. I never could have done it on my own.

Alive or dead, the truth won't rest. Thank you for helping me to rise up while I could.

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 )

Date started: September 14th, 2010.
Date finished: July 10th, 2011.

Total words: 165,481.
Total pages: 605.
Total chapters: Forty.

Well, that's that. It's done. Three books. More than three years. My first finished series. And while this is only the first draft, it will go quickly through the next few cycles, becoming a finished book in the time it takes to blink. And then it will be over.

Mira Grant was born after this series. Newsflesh became Feed; a standalone became a trilogy; "that zombie novel Seanan keeps threatening to write" became the book that would get me nominated for a Hugo award. The Masons and their friends and their enemies and the science and the politics and the zombies, it all became...

It became...

It became so much bigger than I ever dreamed it was going to become. I am so grateful. I am so sad that it's over.

Alive or dead, the truth won't rest.

Rise up while you can.

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 )

Words: 4,226.
Total words: 146,291.
Estimated words remaining: 4,000.
Reason for stopping: I am sick even unto death.
Music: really, really LOUD rock and roll.
Cats: Alice, flat on the lower tier of the cat tree; Lilly, on the windowsill; Thomas, on the top level of the cat tree.

As expected, I did not finish the book today. Also as expected, the book is going to run a little over my first draft estimate, putting us, oh, probably closer to 155,000 than 150,000 words. That's fine. Soon, I will finish this draft, process my pending edits, and ship the whole messy thing off to the patient Machete Squad for hacking into bits.

I am truly and genuinely almost done with my first series as Mira Grant. I am getting ready to write "THE END" on this huge, sprawling, amazing story. I am delighted. I am terrified.

I am also sick even unto death, so I'm going to go sleep now.

Words: 7,639.
Total words: 142,065.
Estimated words remaining: 8,000.
Reason for stopping: I'm tired, and it's time for bed.
Music: really, really LOUD rock and roll.
Cats: Alice, eating; Lilly, loafing on the bed; Thomas, eating

On an average work night, I write between 2,000 and 4,000 words, along with assorted edits, emails, and the rest.

I have an estimated 8,000 words to go in this book. That is, essentially, two days of work. Now, I'm not actually going to finish Blackout on Wednesday; I have edits to process, and the first draft will almost certainly run 3,000 to 8,000 words long, giving me lots of room to go back and cut things that are repetitive or turn out not to be necessary. But I'll hit the point where everything becomes gravy sometime this week. Even with the event this weekend, even with Amy and Wes showing up on Friday, I'm almost there.

It's a weird feeling, sort of pride and terror all tangled up together. A lot of people are reserving judgement on the trilogy as a whole based on this book. If it's not good, they're going to be disappointed in me. So I have to stick this landing like it's the fucking Olympics, and I need to do it with style and grace. It's scary. It's amazing. It's the reason I write books, rather than sticking with stories that come out quicker and clearer and don't bleed on my floor quite as much.

We're almost there.

Words: 23,601.
Total words: 134,426.
Estimated words remaining: 16,000.
Reason for stopping: finished chapter twenty-nine/book IV. Now is the time of bed.
Music: random shuffle, lots of Counting Crows.
Cats: Alice, unknown; Lilly, sitting next to the chair; Thomas, sitting in the hall.

Let me make it clear that I did not actually write 23,000 words today. I just haven't managed to make a word count post in a little while, which means I had some catching up to do. There; now consider me caught up. And since I have no further travel this month, I should be able to stay caught up. And that's terrifying.

Not counting the time needed to revise and process edits, I should finish this book in between four and ten days; probably somewhere in the seven to eight day range. It's been harder than I expected, because it's...it's like graduating high school. It's not just math class, it's the LAST math class. It's not just lunch, it's the LAST lunch.

It's not just a zombie. It's the LAST zombie.

But I shall persevere. The end is in sight, and on the other side of it is revision and rewriting and also buckling down on Ashes of Honor, which will be so refreshing you don't even know. All I have to do is get there.

All I have to do is rise.

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.

Words: 5,544.
Total words: 110,825.
Estimated words remaining: 35,000.
Reason for stopping: finished chapter twenty-four. I now need to get ready for a wedding.
Music: ALL THE LUDO. I seriously have all four albums on loop.
Cats: Alice, sulking by the food dish; Lilly, curled on the bed; Thomas, ditto.

So I set really ambitious word count goals for Friday and Saturday (despite new Doctor Who) in order to be able to take today off and attend a friend's wedding. Only it turns out I don't have to leave for the wedding for another hour, and I got up at seven o'clock this morning, and...

Yeah.

On the plus side, I'm pretty sure this puts me two days ahead on my word count goal, which means I can book tomorrow afternoon for 2,000-4,000 words on "Rat-Catcher." I'm totally going to pretend I did that on purpose, yo. I am ENDLESSLY ORGANIZED. And if you believe that, I've got a bridge I'd like to sell you.

Now I'm going to put on pants, send the newest chapters off to the machete squad for review and abuse, and take a walk before it's time to get moving.

Happy Zombie Day, everybody!

Words: 15,445.
Total words: 105,281.
Estimated words remaining: 40,000.
Reason for stopping: finished chapter twenty-two. It's time for dinner and Fringe and breathing.
Music: The Hazards of Love, by the Decemberists.
Cats: Alice, being a loaf on the floor; Lilly, being a loaf on the bed; Thomas, trilling and pluming his tail.

Well.

That's that, then.

I need a hug.

1. The Roseville event was awesome, and the store now has autographed copies of all five of my currently published books. A Local Habitation is naturally in the shortest supply, so if you'd been planning to swing by the store and pick up a set, you should probably do so soon, before everything goes away. Thanks to Alex, for having me, and to Sunil, for bringing me wonderful goodies from England and giving me hugs.

2. In case you missed the announcement, An Artificial Night is in the BSC Review Book Tournament Finals, and Toby could use your vote. Also, once she has conclusively CRUSHED HER OPPONENT, I can stop posting about this, thus freeing up your valuable display space for other topics, like the ever-popular "complaining about my cats."

3. I really enjoyed the newest Disney Channel Original Movie, Lemonade Mouth. I did not enjoy them presenting the first hour of the movie sans commercials without warning me first, as it meant I had not brought a soda, or a blanket, or the paperwork I needed to finish during the movie, before sitting down on the couch. I am told the book is better than the movie. I must now read the book.

4. Served at yesterday's brunch: potato cake. It's cake, made of potatoes, bacon fat, and bacon. HOW CAN THIS BE? The spirit of sweetmusic_27 hovered over my shoulder and watched me eat it, and I now need the recipe, because I must cook it for her. It is a moral imperative.

5. I visited the Sacramento Shirt Shop, and plans for Wicked Girls shirts are now proceeding apace. I should be posting about it soon. Girl-cut shirts are available up to 2x, and we'll be able to do standard-cut shirts up to 5x, as needed, for no additional cost. Baby shirts are a different setup, and so would be a different order. Details will be forthcoming; I don't have them just yet.

6. I am solidly on target to hit 100,000 words on Blackout by Saturday. This is both incredibly exciting and incredibly stressful, since it means I'm coming closer and closer to the point where I have to stop setting things up in favor of knocking everything down. Considering what I have left to do in this volume, I'm starting to worry that the first draft may need more trimming than I thought. Since I am a perennial trimmer (better a late trim than a panicked plumping), this is okay, it's just surprising.

7. Zombies are love.

8. The Cartoon Network schedule for the rest of 2011 has been released, and Tower Prep is not represented. Here's hoping this is either a glitch, or they're about to announce moving Tower Prep to SyFy, where it could find an enormous audience and live forever.

9. I will probably celebrate hitting 100,000 words on Blackout by cleaning as much of my room as is physically possible and then writing the rest of "Rat-Catcher" in one feverish sprint. Don't judge me, this is how writers party hard.

10. Doctor Who comes back on Saturday. Saturday can't come fast enough.

Words: 4,093.
Total words: 89,836.
Reason for stopping: finished chapter eighteen. I require ice cream and Fringe.
Music: Prepare the Preparation, by Ludo.
Cats: Alice, complaining about how I NEVER FEED HER EVER; Thomas, patrolling the shelves; Lilly, asleep on the cat tree.

...okay, so I admit it: stopping myself at a natural stopping point, rather than trying to push it and cross 90,000 words tonight? Kinda hard. I sort of feel like I deserve a cookie, or, barring that, some mint cookie ice cream. Which is why I'm going to go and have some mint cookie ice cream now.

It's increasingly hard to talk about what's going on, because everything is a spoiler. So I just flail and gibber a lot, which works well for me, overall. Soon, the book will be done, and then the Machete Squad can hack it to bits before The Agent and The Other Editor do the same. And about the time it starts hitting shelves, I'll turn off the internet and hide under my bed for a few weeks, before crawling out and resuming work on whatever insane thing is consuming my life by that point.

It feels good to finally have momentum on my side. It feels real, real good...and a little bit frightening, like I'm trying to steer a Doom Buggy down a major highway at rush hour. And this puppy doesn't have any brakes.

When will you Rise?

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.

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

Words: 15,687.
Total words: 85,743.
Reason for stopping: finished chapter seventeen and book three. Time to work on something else.
Music: random shuffle, with multiple replays of the new Ludo album and The Broken Bride.
Cats: all three are on strange cat errands elsewhere in the house, granting me a rare moment of peace.

As of tonight, the manuscript for Blackout is over 300 pages long, and we've entered Book III, "Foundations," which signals the book coming into the home stretch. I'm already starting to see the parts I'm going to need to tighten up or flesh out in draft two, which is always a good sign. Soon, I'll need to add the "words remaining" line to my word count template for this project. And that is wonderful.

Finishing a series is something totally new, and totally fascinating. I've never had to tie off all the loose ends and cauterize all the wounds like I'm doing right now. There may be other books set in this world (one of them, Rewind, is already in outlines), but there won't be any more about this particular set of characters, or this particular set of circumstances. So a lot of questions have to be answered, and a lot of endings have to be arranged. It's kind of awesome, in a soul-suckingly terrifying sort of a way.

I have loved my time with these people very much. They've taught me amazing things about how to be a writer. But it's time for me to let them finish.

This is where we have to Rise.

1. I have been blazingly ill since Sunday afternoon, and spent most of yesterday and Monday in a cold medication haze. I am thus behind on LJ comments, email, snail mail, passenger pigeon mail, Facebook mail (well, I'm always behind on Facebook mail), sending out the mail, opening the mail, and anything else that required actual effort on my part. If you're waiting for a response from me, please, be patient. If your request is urgent, please, mail again. If I do not consider your request to be actually urgent, like you're asking for kitten pictures or something, I reserve the right to delete your email and scowl in your general direction.

2. Despite being blazingly ill, I managed to make my word counts on Blackout both days, and am on track to hit 100,000 words on April 23rd. This is good, since it means I may actually finish the book, you know, on time. I love finishing things on time. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and slightly less completely deranged.

3. Saturday night was GP's birthday party! I did not come home that night, as it was late and we were all exhausted and sort of drunk (and yes, this may have dealt my immune system the fatal blow). Thomas showed his disapproval by climbing onto my computer desk, gently nudging aside the dolls on the second shelf, pulling down the jar in which I store my earplugs, opening the jar, dumping out the earplugs, and eating half of them. I do not know why he is so obsessed with eating the damn things, but he's why I bought that jar in the first place. Now he shits little pink bullets, and looks smug.

4. My vet has confirmed that this won't hurt him, but is also sub-optimal. I have moved my earplugs.

5. The first draft of "Crystal Halloway, Girl Wonder, and the Terror of the Truth Fairy" is finished and being hacked at by the Machete Squad. This is seriously the most depressing, nihilistic story I think I've ever written. Which makes it appropriate that I wrote it while I was sick even unto death. This thing reads like the prologue to a Vertigo comic series.

6. I am not writing a Vertigo comic series. Unless, of course, DC asks me to.

7. I also got started on the first draft of "Rat-Catcher," a Tobyverse story set in London, in 1662 (yes, only a few years before the Great Fire, and the Great Plague). In it, a young Prince of Cats named Rand must stop playing theater cat at the Duke's Theater long enough to find a way to deal with his father, keep his sister from doing something monumentally stupid, and oh, right, maybe save the Cait Sidhe of London from a fate worse than death. Is this Tybalt's origin story? Why yes. Yes, it is.

8. Things already pulled from my research shelf in service of "Rat-Catcher": The Writer's Digest Guide to Character Naming (second edition), London: A Biography, Sex and Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, and The Wordsworth Dictionary of Shakespeare. Make of this what you will.

9. Being sick did allow me to catch up on some of my cache of SyFy Original Movies, including the second half of Meteor with Marla Sokoloff. This was a disturbingly good, surprisingly high-budget feature, especially for a SyFy Saturday. Also, not only were women competent and realistic characters, they didn't all die. Well done, SyFy. Keep up the good work.

10. Zombies are still love.

What's up with you?

Words: 8,409.
Total words: 70,056.
Reason for stopping: finished chapter fourteen. My shoulders hurt.
Music: random shuffle, lots of loud country music. THE MUSIC OF PAIN.
Cats: Alice, on the guest room bed; Lilly, loafed up on the cat tree; Thomas, on the bed, looking fluffy.

So the manuscript for Blackout is now a) over 70,000 words long, and b) 245 pages long, which sounds very impressive when you put it like that. Given that the book is estimated as coming in between 140,000 and 150,000 words, I'm approaching the point where I can safely say that I'm halfway home. That will be nice. I'll like it when I hit that point.

This book is...interesting. It's been going more slowly than Deadline and more quickly than Feed, as I start paying off the things I've spent two books setting up, and try to make sure that my science, fringe as it is, doesn't have any massive gaping holes that could have somehow been avoided. It's weird to know that this is the last time I'm going to be spending with these people. I mean, I'll have months and months of writing and editing and page proofs and everything, but...this is the last brand-new book. This is where it all ends.

This is where we have to Rise.

Words: 10,842.
Total words: 61,647.
Reason for stopping: finished chapter thirteen. It's time for dinner.
Music: random shuffle, an enormous amount of Glee.
Cats: Alice, on the guest room bed; Lilly, loafed up on the cat tree; Thomas, parts unknown.

So no, I didn't manage to hit 70,000 words before the invasion descended. But I did manage to break 200 pages in the manuscript, a landmark which came solidly in the middle of a very grim, very tense scene that was both hell and extremely exciting to write. All my chickens are coming home to roost, which is exactly what needs to happen with a book of this sort, and yet is still very satisfying to see actually happen.

I've set up a little tracker in my .txt file, the one that I pass from machine to machine as I track all the junk and links and random things that build up in my life. This one compares my current word count to the "must be at least this tall to ride this ride" word count (IE, "how long the book has to be"). I'm aiming for between 140,000 and 150,000 words. Right now, I'm right on track. That is both amazing and terrifying.

I'm starting to feel like this book may actually put paid to everything. It's crazy, but it's true.

I think I can do this.

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 )

Words: 7,010.
Total words: 50,805.
Reason for stopping: finished chapter eleven. I need to pause.
Music: random shuffle, lots of angry Goth rock.
Cats: Alice, sitting in the hall; Lilly, sleeping in my underwear drawer; Thomas, flat on the bed, cuddling his squid.

Okay, that was...a lull, brought on by needing to hammer my way through the editorial revisions of One Salt Sea. But I'm back on track now, and have broken both 50,000 words and 175 pages. Also, the phrase "zombie bear" is not inaccurate. I'm just saying. And I got to give another example of a weird post-zombie legal decision. It's sad that the legal system of this world fascinates me the way that it does, but imagine being on the Supreme Court when the first of these cases started showing up!

I have the upcoming weekend totally free, followed by a weekend full of book release party chaos. I believe that I can be calm about not doing any work next weekend if I can hit 70,000 words by the end of this weekend. So that's my totally reasonable, not-insane-at-all goal. 70,000 words by the end of the weekend.

There is something wrong with the way my brain is wired, I swear.

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 )

Words: 10,262.
Total words: 43,795.
Reason for stopping: finished chapter nine, and it is so time for bed.
Music: random shuffle, lots of country music. THE MUSIC OF PAIN.
Cats: Alice, a large blue lump on the floor; Lilly, unknown; Thomas, a long blue line on the bed.

So four days ago I went "yay, I'm over 100 pages, yippee for me." Today, I am going "I am now over 150 pages, dude, what the fuck." (153 pages, to be precise.) I have finally hit the point where the book basically writes itself, and I have to type as fast as I can, just to catch up. This is the stage where I make the most fascinating word-substitution typos, the ones my spell check can't catch but my early readers thankfully can. (Tonight's gems include "assistance" for "assistants," and "dune" for "done.") This will last another 20,000 words or so, before I reach the bottom of the hill and have to start forcibly dragging myself upward again. And I can live with that.

In "my brain is an ecosystem" news, I got my editorial letter for One Salt Sea today. I'd been expecting it sometime this month, which is part of why I've been writing with such frantic focus, since Blackout will now need to take a backseat to revisions on the fifth Toby book, at least for a few weeks. But there's no way I'm going to let work stop completely. I couldn't, even if I wanted to; the book has too much momentum, and it's going to drag me along with it, whether I want to go or not.

I'm so amazed that we're finally here. I never dreamed we'd make it this far.

When will you rise?

Words: 9,190.
Total words: 33,533.
Reason for stopping: finished chapter seven/book one. Time to watch some TV.
Music: random shuffle, lots of goth and punk.
Cats: Alice, unknown; Lilly, curled up on my bed; Thomas, curled up behind my chair, making chirping noises. Again.

As of tonight, I am a) done with chapter seven, b) done with Book I, c) officially over 30,000 words, and d) officially over 100 pages. Since this book is projected at 145,000 words (welcome to Stephen King territory, please keep your hands inside the car at all times), this is kinda awesome—I really needed to be moving into these regions. This also means that I am now at the top of the first big hill, and can begin to PLUMMET RAPIDLY DOWNWARD. Woo!

I'm terribly excited about this book, and terribly dismayed about the fact that I can't really discuss it with anyone, beyond "well, there are words on pages, and the pages are turning into a manuscript, and it's all very exciting," since it's basically one big REDACTED FOR SPOILERS at this point. Ah, well. Soon enough.

When will you rise?

Words: 10,302.
Total words: 24,343.
Reason for stopping: chapter five is finished! And everyone rejoices.
Music: mostly my own latest album. I'm not sick of it yet, which is a good sign.
Cats: Alice, eating; Lilly, in my underwear drawer; Thomas, making chirping noises at me.

I'm done with chapter five! More importantly, I've broken 20,000 words, and I'm rapidly approaching the magic 100 page mark! For me, that's when a book stops messing around, and shit starts getting real in a big, big hurry.

This book is moving more slowly than I expected, because it's a big jigsaw of loose ends and necessary connections, and I absolutely want to stick this landing. I don't think I've ever wanted a book to be amazing quite as much as I want this one to be amazing. I want to finish the first draft and go "Whoa, did I write that?" I want to love it, because it's the last block of time I get to spend with the Masons. This is where it ends. This is where I put my huge, messed-up zombies-and-politics epic to bed.

And to think it all started in Micheal's kitchen.

Thanks, Michael.

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: 4,014.
Total words: 14,041.
Reason for stopping: chapter four is finished at last.
Music: everyone else in the house playing Rock Band.
Cats: back in California, one hopes.

I have finished the fourth chapter of Blackout! After cooking a large dinner for everybody, making my Rock Band 3 character, processing some edits, writing two bios, recording a children's show about vegetables, and chopping up ALL THE THINGS. Basically, I am Superwoman.

I am in Seattle. Seattle is a good place to be.

Now, back to Midnight Blue-Light Special!

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 )