urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:seanan_mcguire The Journal of Seanan McGuire Seanan McGuire 2010-05-20T02:08:02Z urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:seanan_mcguire:238330 2010-05-20T02:08:02Z 2010-05-20T02:08:02Z Glee, "Hello." The mail at my house tends to arrive in the late afternoon. Once I judged that the mailman would have had sufficient time to navigate the horrifying suburban wasteland in which I live, I opened the door...and stopped.<br /><br />Even around here, it's not every day that a big blue biohazard bag hits my porch. I'm just saying.<br /><br />I picked up the bag, checking the tags in the vague hope that it had been mis-delivered to my house, and was actually intended for the mad scientist down the way. Nope; there was my name and address, along with the ominous routing tag for Sweden. Yes, Sweden, land of chocolates and, quite possibly, human organs and anthrax. I mean, why else would it have been secured with two heavy plastic zip-ties?<br /><br />Lacking anything better to do with the bag, I took it inside, cleared the cutting board, and put it down. Then, after a quick check of my time zone-based options, I called Cat. "I have a big international biohazard shipping bag in my kitchen," I informed her, without preamble.<br /><br />"What?" She was laughing. This is because humor is the best defense against me sometimes.<br /><br />"Big international biohazard bag. I need you to call the CDC if I start screaming and drop the phone."<br /><br />"Um...okay."<br /><br />It took several minutes with the industrial-grade scissors to work my way into the bag, which kept producing more and more ominous routing stickers as I ripped my way inside. Finally, I ripped away the last layer, and shrieked happily.<br /><br />Cat did not hang up and call the CDC. All those of you not currently trapped in the blasted quarantine zone that used to be California, you can thank her.<br /><br />"It's the British edition of <i>Feed</i>!" I told her exultantly.<br /><br />"Oh, good."<br /><br />I have the UK copies of <i>Feed</i>! They're so pretty! They're only subtly different from the American edition&mdash;redder blood, because presumably the Rising is still fresher in England's memory; the word "bloggers" is actually on the back cover; no number "one" on the spine; a quote from Publishers Weekly on the front&mdash;but having them fills me with deep, atavistic satisfaction. This is the first British edition of one of my books. I am PUBLISHED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, yo. The cast of <i>Doctor Who</i> could wander into a Waterstone's and just pick up one of my books, without worrying about the import sticker. I'm global. And stuff.<br /><br />This is even better than illegal human organ trafficking. I'm just saying.