I have mailed all pending poster orders, and better yet, I have found my supply of poster tubes, which means that I can once again offer posters for sale. These are gorgeous pieces of art, and make great holiday gifts. Also if I sell the last of them, I will get that shelf back, and this is very exciting to me right now.

Behold the poster thumbnail!



You can't really read the text at this size, but it's the full lyrics of "Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves." You can tell that the posters are absolutely gorgeous, thanks to the ever-wonderful graphic skills of my lovely lady Tara. They're 10" by 26", and I couldn't be happier with them.

The posters have a limited run of 500, which sounds like a lot, and yet is shrinking at a truly impressive rate. They aren't programmed into the ordering system on my website, and that's a good thing, since it gives me flow control and allows me to refuse orders when I'm not in a position to take care of mailing. If you wanted to order a poster, here's what to do:

1) Send me an email via my website contact form, telling me how many posters you want. Posters are $20, plus $7 for shipping and handling within the United States ($18 shipping and handling internationally, for which I apologize, but the postage costs are obscene).

2) I can fit up to three posters in a tube, going to the same place. So three to one location is cost of posters + $7/$18, while three going to three locations would be cost of posters + $21/$54.

3) I will email you to confirm the request, and to provide my PayPal information. We can discuss payment by check.

The posters are printed on sturdy, acid-free, recycled paper, and again, gorgeous. They also frame really, really nicely, as my kitchen wall can attest. I'm not currently planning to reprint this design; when they're gone, they're gone, and will be replaced by something else (probably a poster based on either "Follow Me Down" or "Stars Fall Home").

Yay for pretty things!

Here we go again.

So it's no secret around here that I love, love, love my DAW covers, or that showing them off is one of my true pure joys in life. Aly Fell, the artist who does the art for the InCryptid books, has been hugely involved in setting the look of the series, and he just keeps on getting better. Want proof?

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 )

With only five days remaining in the pre-order, I suddenly realized that I had forgotten to post here. I AM SOMETIMES A VERY DISTRACTED BUNNY, OKAY?!

Ahem. Presenting:

The very first ever October Daye T-shirt design, by Unicorn Empire.

These shirts are spectacularly gorgeous, and I am over the moon delighted with how beautifully they've come out. They're available in rust and rose gold (both so appropriate), and on the off chance--far from guaranteed--that the design is added to the shop on a longer term basis, only one of the colors will be available for order. So if one color speaks to you more than the other, you should absolutely order it now.

This a pre-sale, not a sale. Why does this matter? Because before I give you the link for the shirts, I'm going to give you the link for how Unicorn Empire pre-sales work. Please, take a moment to read it. Amber, who runs Unicorn Empire, is a fan running a business for fans, out of her garage. She has help, but she's not a huge operation, and her timelines are thus longer than they would be for, say, Hot Topic. She's being awesome doing this for us, and I don't want to cause her any trouble.

There is no extra charge for plus sizes, because Unicorn Empire is awesome that way. The pre-sale is only open until June 20th, so get your orders in soon! (We know international shipping is expensive, so if you wanted to coordinate a group order for Australia or whatnot, this would be a great place to do it!)

Those of you who snagged a Sparrow Hill Road shirt know how good the quality is, and I hope you're all as pleased as I am.

I'm so excited!

Here we go again.

So it's no secret around here that I love, love, love my DAW covers, or that showing them off is one of my true pure joys in life. Chris McGrath, the artist who does the art for the October Daye books, has been with me since book one, and he just keeps on getting better. Want proof?

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 )

Hello, glorious people!

It is time to tell you of a wondrous thing.

My dearest, most beloved Dr. Mary Crowell, who you have heard on my CDs Wicked Girls and Creature Feature, if not on her own, absolutely transcendent material, is running a Kickstarter right now to fund the production of her new album of amazing, mythological music. Mary is one of the kindest, most utterly generous musicians I know, and her work is well worth your time. Please take a look at her plan, and if you'd like to hear more, well, you know what to do.

But.

For Mary's birthday this year, I wrote her a short story, because sometimes I am less lazy than I am broke, and my friends need things that make them happy. Titled "Scattering Seeds on the Pomegranate Tour," the story is simultaneously our first Rookery piece and our second Rookery piece: an earlier story was written for the PaulandStorminomicon, which has yet to be released, and this story comes before it, chronologically speaking. This is my Secret Urban Fantasy Setting (tm), because the stories about it always seem to be destined for dark and hidden places.

Not this time.

If you back the Kickstarter at any the tiers which include a USB drive, you'll get a copy of the story, along with all of Mary's albums in digital form and all her recordings from the last year of her Patreon. Quoth Mary: "Tiers that include the UBD drive: $70 Digital Plus, $145 The Harold Tier, $350 Almost the Full Tour, $450 The Full Tour, and $1,000 Pas de Deux."

Furthermore, and quoting Mary again: "Only the three highest tiers ($350 Almost the Full Tour, $450 The Full Tour, and $1,000 Pas de Deux) include a chapbook of your story, 'Scattering Seeds on the Pomegranate Tour.' By chapbook, I mean small hard bound book, because Wesley. (These are limited. He will make no more than 29 of these total. You-Seanan and I-Mary each get one, leaving only 27 to be acquired by pledging to this Kickstarter.)" Wesley, Mary's husband, is a craftsman and a scholar, and the pictures she's shared so far of the books in progress are positively gorgeous (you can see pictures as a part of this update). Basically, after I have been eaten by genetically modified banana slugs, this chapbook will be an incredible collector's item.

Kickstarter!

I'm getting ready for some pretty major life changes, and part of that process involves reducing the amount of stuff currently in my house. I have poster tubes; I have posters; let's see about combining them. So:

Behold the poster thumbnail!



You can't really read the text at this size, but it's the full lyrics of "Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves." You can tell that the posters are absolutely gorgeous, thanks to the ever-wonderful graphic skills of my lovely lady Tara. They're 10" by 26", and I couldn't be happier with them.

The posters have a limited run of 500, which sounds like a lot, and yet is shrinking at a truly impressive rate. They aren't programmed into the ordering system on my website, and that's a good thing, since it gives me flow control and allows me to refuse orders when I'm not in a position to take care of mailing. If you wanted to order a poster, here's what to do:

1) Send me an email via my website contact form, telling me how many posters you want. Posters are $20, plus $7 for shipping and handling within the United States ($18 shipping and handling internationally, for which I apologize, but the postage costs are obscene).

2) I can fit up to three posters in a tube, going to the same place. So three to one location is cost of posters + $7/$18, while three going to three locations would be cost of posters + $21/$54.

3) I will email you to confirm the request, and to provide my PayPal information. We can discuss payment by check.

The posters are printed on sturdy, acid-free, recycled paper, and again, gorgeous. They also frame really, really nicely, as my living room wall can attest. I'm not currently planning to reprint this design; when they're gone, they're gone, and will be replaced by something else (probably a poster based on either "Follow Me Down" or "Stars Fall Home").

Yay for pretty things!

Hey, y'all.

I try not to post too often about things for sale: given that the majority of my blogging is about books or conventions, I already feel a little more like a billboard than I like, and I never want you to feel like you're just being shilled to. That being said, when something has a limited period of availability, there's a little more urgency to the repeated reminders. So:

The Unicorn Empire pre-sale for the current Sparrow Hill Road shirts is currently scheduled to end tomorrow. There's a small chance it will be extended, depending on order volume, but that's never something to count on. If you were waffling over whether or not to get a shirt, now is the time.

If you are also a Steven Universe fan, be aware that there is also a pre-sale going for an amazing two-color Garnet design, and that ordering it means you can use a code for free shipping (US orders only, I'm afraid).

I am so excited about these shirts, and about supporting an amazing fan-owned business doing incredible, unique art. I hope you're excited too, and I can't wait to work with Amber and Unicorn Empire again!

You may remember that back in December, I ran a poll to determine the level of interest in Sparrow Hill Road shirts printed and sold by Unicorn Empire. The end result was a definite level of interest: enough that we decided to go ahead and open up the pre-sale! Woo hoo!

Now, this a pre-sale, not a sale. Why does this matter? Because before I give you the link for the shirts, I'm going to give you the link for how Unicorn Empire pre-sales work. Please, take a moment to read it. Amber, who runs Unicorn Empire, is a fan running a business for fans, out of her garage. She has help, but she's not a huge operation, and her timelines are thus longer than they would be for, say, Hot Topic. She's being awesome doing this for us, and I don't want to cause her any trouble.

Without further ado...

The Pre-Sale Is Now Live!

Based on your votes, we made both one and two-color versions of the design, available on T-shirts and tank tops. There is no extra charge for plus sizes, because Unicorn Empire is awesome that way. The pre-sale is only open until February 9th, so get your orders in soon! (We know international shipping is expensive, so if you wanted to coordinate a group order for Australia or whatnot, this would be a great place to do it!)

I'm so excited!

We've talked about Unicorn Empire and how awesome their stuff is. Now let's talk about why it may be relevant to you.

Here is the design I commissioned from Amber for Sparrow Hill Road. A very limited number of shirts were printed, for conventions I was attending. Some people have asked me what they'd have to do to get one. I've spoken to Amber about whether she'd be willing to do a small run, and she's agreed, as long as there's enough interest.

So this is me, checking interest. Note that if we were to move forward with this, all ordering and fulfillment would be done by Unicorn Empire; no waiting for me to go to the post office or fear of cats in boxes. I would also not be the one handling the money. It will go through her store, as with a normal order. This makes me very happy.

And now...the poll. If your answers are conditional, "IE, I will only order if it's not pink" or whatever, please indicate in the comments.

Psst. C'mere.

So it's no secret around here that I love, love, love my DAW covers, or that showing them off is one of my true pure joys in life. Aly Fell, the artist who does the art for the InCryptid books, is incredible at capturing and presenting these characters. Want proof?

Go ahead. Take a peek.

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

I have poster tubes! It's time to get rid of poster tubes! So:

Behold the poster thumbnail!



You can't really read the text at this size, but it's the full lyrics of "Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves." You can tell that the posters are absolutely gorgeous, thanks to the ever-wonderful graphic skills of my lovely lady Tara. They're 10" by 26", and I couldn't be happier with them.

The posters have a limited run of 500, which sounds like a lot, and yet is shrinking at a truly impressive rate. They aren't programmed into the ordering system on my website, and that's a good thing, since it gives me flow control and allows me to refuse orders when I'm not up for mailing. If you wanted to order a poster, here's what to do:

1) Send me an email via my website contact form, telling me how many posters you want. Posters are $20, plus $6 for shipping and handling within the United States ($15 shipping and handling internationally, for which I apologize, but the costs are obscene).

2) I can fit up to three posters in a tube, going to the same place. So three to one location is cost of posters + $6/$15, while three going to three locations would be cost of posters + $18/$45.

3) I will email you to confirm the request, and to provide my PayPal information. We can discuss payment by check.

The posters are printed on sturdy, acid-free, recycled paper, and again, gorgeous. They also frame really, really nicely, as my living room wall can attest. I'm not currently planning to reprint this design; when they're gone, they're gone, and will be replaced by something else (probably a poster based on either "Follow Me Down" or "Stars Fall Home").

Yay for pretty things!

Psst. C'mere.

So it's no secret around here that I love, love, love my DAW covers, or that showing them off is one of my true pure joys in life. Chris McGrath, who designs the covers for the October Daye books, has been everything I could have hoped for in a cover artist. He's incredible. Want proof?

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 )

There are people in the world with tattoos inspired by my words. This will never fail to amaze me.

But this is the first time someone has tattooed me and Vixy on their body.

Look at this beautiful ink. What an amazing honor.

I am amazed.

Psst. C'mere.

So it's no secret around here that I love, love, love my DAW covers, or that showing them off is one of my true pure joys in life. Aly Fell, who designs the covers for the InCryptid books, has been everything I could have hoped for in a cover artist. He's incredible. Want proof?

Go ahead. Take a peek.

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

I have mailed ALL THE POSTERS! (I am in the process of mailing ALL THE THINGS, but that's taking more than one trip to the post office.) Any and all "Wicked Girls" posters which have been bought and paid for have been mailed and received, and I still have poster tubes! So:

Behold the poster thumbnail!



You can't really read the text at this size, but it's the full lyrics of "Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves." You can tell that the posters are absolutely gorgeous, thanks to the ever-wonderful graphic skills of Tara O'Shea. They're 10" by 26", and I couldn't be happier with them.

The posters have a limited run of 500, which sounds like a lot, and yet is shrinking at a truly impressive rate. They aren't programmed into the ordering system on my website, and that's a good thing, since it gives me flow control and allows me to refuse orders when I'm not up for mailing. If you wanted to order a poster, here's what to do:

1) Send me an email via my website contact form, telling me how many posters you want, of which kind(s). Standard posters are $20, plus $5 for shipping and handling within the United States ($13 shipping and handling internationally, for which I apologize, but the costs are obscene).

2) I can fit up to three posters in a tube, going to the same place. So three to one location is cost of posters + $5/$13, while three going to three locations would be cost of posters + $15/$39.

3) I will email you to confirm the request, get your address, and provide my PayPal information. I can only take personal PayPal (no credit cards), although we can discuss payment by check.

The posters are printed on sturdy, acid-free, recycled paper, and again, gorgeous. They also frame really, really nicely, as my living room wall can attest. I'm not currently planning to reprint this design; when they're gone, they're gone, and will be replaced by something else (probably a poster based on either "Follow Me Down" or "Stars Fall Home," depending on whether I can find someone who does a graphic design I like).

Yay for pretty things!

Psst. C'mere.

So it's no secret that I love the covers DAW gives me, and that showing them off is one of my true pure joys in life. Chris McGrath has been designing Toby covers for eight books now, and he's amazing. Like, seriously amazing. Want proof?

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 )

The bad news: I leave for New York first thing tomorrow. I can leave books with my mother to be mailed while I'm away, but they will only be signed, not personalized, and I will need mailing addresses (via my contact form) by 10pm PST tonight. I'm so sorry. This was always going to be a tight turn, and time just got away from me.

The winner of the RNG/art giveaway is...AKinzelman.

The winner of the RNG/poetry giveaway is...thedragonweaver.

Please, visit my website ASAP and send me your addresses. If I get them soon enough, I may have time to personalize before I shove things into envelopes.

Thanks, all.

As promised, here is the Half-Off Ragnarok art and pictures giveaway!

How to enter:

Post a comment either containing or linking to fan art, photography, or other visual awesomeness inspired by or related to this series. Because LJ lists all links as spam, your comment may appear to disappear. I will be manually unspamming all these comments, have no fear.

Please link only to your own work, not to Aly's awesome covers or to someone else's fan art (it does exist). Please indicate in the original comment whether you're in the US or international.

How to win:

I will be using the RNG to choose a winner at noon PST on Monday, February 10th. Please watch this space, as I will be requesting that you send me your address pretty quickly, so that your prize can be mailed before I fly to New York for the remainder of the month.

Game on!

I admit it: I messed up.

The initial assets from Tara (who is amazing in all ways) were missing the .GIF files that allow for previews, and I didn't tell her, because I was stressed out. And then I told her, and she got them to me, and I still didn't post, because I was still stressed out. And now, almost a year later, here they are:

The Midnight Blue-Light Special wallpapers.

Enjoy! Adorn! And eagerly anticipate the coming flood of awesome graphics for Half-Off Ragnarok and Sparrow Hill Road.

Fun for the whole family.

1. So I already wrote this entry once, and it was long and chatty and fun, and then I hit a button I didn't even realize existed and it all went away. I am thus suddenly grumpy, and my original tone may have changed a bit. Stupid buttons.

2. Amy Mebberson made a thing and you should all go admire it. I ordered mine so fast when it went up for sale that I actually got #1 of 50. That is love.

3. If you don't have a budget line item for Amy's art (which, let's face it, is a weird line item to have in a budget, and yet), take a look at Renee Nault's incredible watercolor mermaids. She has prints and calendars for sale, and has an incredibly diverse undersea world waiting for you to dive in. So pretty. So cool.

4. Starting Christmas Day, and continuing all the way through my birthday festivities, I will be doing a chain of twelve giveaways, for everything from ARCs and printed books to cover flats, posters, and special surprises. Each giveaway will have its own rules; watch this space for details.

5. Omnivoracious posted a super-fun thing about books at San Diego Comic-Con, including a picture of me in my Umbrella Corporation blue dress, standing in front of the Umbrella Corporation red cover for Parasite. I look very smug. You would, too, if that were your cover.

6. Alice and I did the Macarena this morning. I enjoyed it more than she did.

7. The year is almost over, but there are still some fun surprises to come: watch this space for details, and watch the sky for alien invasions. Darn those alien invasions.

8. Zombies are love.

9. I will be making my last pre-Christmas stop at Borderlands Books this afternoon. At this point, anything ordered won't reach you before the holidays, but you can still get signed and personalized books if you contact them before 2pm PST. After that, I don't guarantee another swing-through until sometime in January.

10. Finally for right now, Jill is still accepting donations to fund her surgery. As I said when she first started this campaign, we could buy her a future for Christmas, and that's amazing. If you've been looking for a tip jar to shove a couple of dollars into as a karmic investment for the year to come, please swing by and take a look at her plea.

I hope that you're all having the merriest holiday possible; I hope you're warm and safe and content, even if you're not in a place where you can be happy; I hope you're taking care of yourselves.

Let's get through these holidays together.

Psst. C'mere.

So it's no secret around here that I love, love, love my DAW covers, or that showing them off is one of my true pure joys in life. Aly Fell, who designs the covers for the InCryptid books, has been everything I could have hoped for in a cover artist. He's incredible. Want proof?

Go ahead. Take a peek.

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

I have mailed ALL THE POSTERS! (I am in the process of mailing ALL THE THINGS, but that's taking more than one trip to the post office.) Any and all "Wicked Girls" posters which have been bought and paid for have finally, finally been mailed, and I still have poster tubes! So:

Behold the poster thumbnail!



You can't really read the text at this size, but it's the full lyrics of "Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves." You can tell that the posters are absolutely gorgeous, thanks to the ever-wonderful graphic skills of my lovely lady Tara. They're 10" by 26", and I couldn't be happier with them.

The posters have a limited run of 500, which sounds like a lot, and yet is shrinking at a truly impressive rate. They aren't programmed into the ordering system on my website, and that's a good thing, since it gives me flow control and allows me to refuse orders when I'm not up for mailing. If you wanted to order a poster, here's what to do:

1) Send me an email via my website contact form, telling me how many posters you want, of which kind(s). Standard posters are $20, plus $5 for shipping and handling within the United States ($13 shipping and handling internationally, for which I apologize, but the costs are obscene).

2) I can fit up to three posters in a tube, going to the same place. So three to one location is cost of posters + $5/$13, while three going to three locations would be cost of posters + $15/$39.

3) I will email you to confirm the request, and to provide my PayPal information. I can only take personal PayPal (no credit cards), although we can discuss payment by check.

The posters are printed on sturdy, acid-free, recycled paper, and again, gorgeous. They also frame really, really nicely, as my living room wall can attest. I'm not currently planning to reprint this design; when they're gone, they're gone, and will be replaced by something else (probably a poster based on either "Follow Me Down" or "Stars Fall Home").

Yay for pretty things!

Psst. C'mere.

So it's no secret around here that I love, love, love my DAW covers, or that showing them off is one of my true pure joys in life. Aly Fell, who designs the covers for the InCryptid books, has been everything I could have hoped for in a cover artist. He's incredible. Want proof?

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 )

So I know you've all been waiting anxiously to see the cover of Velveteen vs. The Multiverse, and I am delighted to finally be able to oblige you. But! Nothing beautiful comes without a cost, and so I must regretfully inform you all that, due to production issues, Velveteen vs. The Multiverse has been delayed slightly, and will not be available at Musecon. Believe me, no one is more disappointed than I am.

Pre-orders are available now, and you can find the information here:

http://isficpress.com/multiverse.php

You may notice that the cover price has increased, from $25 for the first volume to $30. Well, that's because this volume is literally twice as long, and thus cost more to print. You are getting so much extra bang for your buck, I can't even begin to express my joy.

And now, behold the pretty:



OH MY GOD YOU GUYS OH MY GOD IT'S THE COVER TO VELVETEEN VS. THE MULTIVERSE AND IT'S GORGEOUS!

All the versions of Velveteen are there, Marionette and Roadkill and everybody! I could not be happier.

What do you think?

Okay, so:

The Kickstarter for Skin Horse, volume 4 is still going, with newly unlocked backer levels, including "Black Ops Foster Parent," which will come with a page of original art from the story "For Always" which I penned for this collection. All pages will be signed by Shaenon Garrity (the artist) and me (the author). Which means that if you want to have something completely unique—a page of original art from my first published comic story—this is the party for you.

(Hey, after they finally wise up and let me write the X-Men, that's going to be worth bank.)

There are six slots left at the Black Ops Foster Parent level, and I can guarantee that Shaenon will not have any pages left for sale after the Kickstarter finishes, as any that are not claimed by backers, I fully intend to buy for my own collection. So this is your one chance to both support an awesome web comic and keep me from adding more crap to the endlessly growing tide of stuff that threatens to consume my home.

Hooray for comics!

The ARCs of Chimes at Midnight arrived last night, and gosh and golly, they are amazing! So pretty. So real and in my hands. I am overcome with delight. And naturally, I am already starting to go "oh jeez get them out of my house, there are so many of them, get them out of my house."

So...

ARC giveaway! This first dance with the free stuff wolves will be the ART CHALLENGE. Post your Toby-inspired art (drawing, painting, manipulated photo, cosplay, animated .gif rendered funny by context, jewelry, anything that is visual and artsy) on this entry, or post links if your material is hosted elsewhere, and indicate whether you are in the US or international (and if international, whether you will pay postage).

On May 28th, having returned from the wilds of Disney World, I will select two winners: one via our old friend, the RNG, and one by going "that one is my favorite, it should have a book."

Game on!

I have mailed ALL THE POSTERS! (Actually, for this brief instant, I have mailed ALL THE THINGS. It's a little weird.) Any and all "Wicked Girls" posters which have been bought and paid for have finally, finally been mailed, and I still have poster tubes! So:

Behold the poster thumbnail!



You can't really read the text at this size, but it's the full lyrics of "Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves." You can tell that the posters are absolutely gorgeous, thanks to the ever-wonderful graphic skills of my lovely lady Tara. They're 10" by 26", and I couldn't be happier with them.

The posters have a limited run of 500, which sounds like a lot, and yet is shrinking at a truly impressive rate. They aren't programmed into the ordering system on my website, and that's actually a good thing, since it gives me flow control and allows me to refuse orders when I'm not up for mailing. If you wanted to order a poster, here's what you'd do:

1) Send me an email via my website contact form, telling me how many posters you want, of which kind(s). Standard posters are $20, plus $5 for shipping and handling within the United States ($10 shipping and handling internationally).

2) I can fit up to three posters in a tube, going to the same place. So three to one location is cost of posters + $5/$10, while three going to three locations would be cost of posters + $15/$30.

3) I will email you to confirm the request, and to provide my PayPal information. I can only take personal PayPal (no credit cards), although we can discuss payment by check.

The posters are printed on sturdy, acid-free, recycled paper, and again, gorgeous. They also frame really, really nicely, as my living room wall can attest. I'm not currently planning to reprint this design; when they're gone, they're gone.

Yay for pretty things!

Psst. C'mere.

So it's no secret that I love the covers DAW gives me, and that showing them off is one of my true pure joys in life. Chris McGrath has been designing Toby covers for seven books now, and he's amazing. Like, seriously amazing. Want proof?

Go ahead. Take a peek.

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

I have mailed ALL THE POSTERS! (Not, mind you, ALL THE THINGS. I have things left to mail, including some of the international T-shirts, which got kicked back to me for failure to correctly fill out the customs forms. But still, it's something.) Any and all "Wicked Girls" posters which have been bought and paid for have finally, finally been mailed. This forced me to assess my postage supplies, and I discovered that I have six poster tubes left. So!

Behold the poster thumbnail!



You can't really read the text at this size, but it's the full lyrics of "Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves." You can tell that the posters are absolutely gorgeous, thanks to the ever-wonderful graphic skills of my lovely lady Tara. They're 10" by 26", and I couldn't be happier with them.

The posters have a limited run of 500, which sounds like a lot, and yet is shrinking at a truly impressive rate. The first 100 are numbered and signed, because it seemed like an awesome thing to do. The posters aren't programmed into the ordering system on my website, and that's actually turning a good thing, since it gives me flow control. If you wanted to order a poster, here's what you'd do:

1) Send me an email via my website contact form, telling me how many posters you want, of which kind(s). Standard posters are $20, plus $5 for shipping and handling within the United States ($6 shipping and handling internationally). The signed/numbered posters are $25, plus shipping and handling.

2) I can fit up to three posters in a tube, going to the same place. So three to one location is cost of posters + $5, while three going to three locations would be cost of posters + $15.

3) Signed/numbered posters are extremely limited at this point, and I make no promises as to the number you will get. If you wanted a signed/numbered poster, I would recommend ordering it sooner than later.

4) I will email you to confirm the request, and to provide my PayPal information. I can only take personal PayPal (no credit cards), although we can discuss payment by check.

The posters are printed on sturdy, acid-free, recycled paper, and again, gorgeous. They also frame really, really nicely, as my living room wall can attest. Because I only have six tubes, I will only be taking the first six orders I receive (which could be for up to eighteen posters, as detailed above). I'll be using the money from this batch of poster sales to buy more poster tubes.

Yay for pretty things!

I love Emma Frost.

I love her characterization, I love that she's never actually changed herself for the sake of the men in her life, I love that she will melt your brain out your ears if you annoy her, and I love that she is completely upfront about how much work it is to look the way she does. Plastic surgery, dieting, push-up bras, and hair dye: check. Painful shoes, fabric tape, and baby powder to avoid chafing: check. Emma is all about appearances, and she never pretends that it's easy.

I also love that she has flat-out said, several times, that she dresses the way she does for the effect it gets. This is a female comic book character who, possibly uniquely in the comic book world, is actually working the male gaze. She wants to be underestimated by opponents. She wants to be taken for a slutty slutty slut slut who can't possibly have earned a damn thing. And when people treat her badly because they don't like what she wears, she calls them on it.

Now, Emma is not always appropriate. Not going to pretend she is. But she's always Emma. Even on the occasions when she's fully clothed. She's a character who makes choices, and sometimes those choices require telekinesis to stay on.

Which brings me, in a roundabout way, to the cover for Midnight Blue-Light Special, and why I love it so much, and why it's not a better portrayal of Verity. It's just a different one.

Verity Price is a professional ballroom dancer specializing in Latin styles of dance. This means she spends a lot of time wearing outfits that are, as her grandmother puts it, "more rumor than reality." I spent a lot of time hanging out with real ballroom dancers, figuring out how many knives you could conceal under a costume made entirely of fringe (the answer: a surprising number). She can fight in high heels because she can samba in high heels, and once you've done the one, the other comes naturally. This is who she is, as a character and as a person. It's just that she also fights monsters sometimes.

Verity also works as a waitress at a strip club, because something's got to pay for all those bullets. She's wearing her work clothes on the cover to book #1, because it made more sense to put her on the roof in work clothes than in a ballroom costume, and because for Verity, that moment was totally in-character and reasonable. She was, in short, dressed on the cover like she was dressed in the book.

Some people didn't like the cover; that's okay. Nothing is universally liked, not even ice cream and kittens. But some people also got mad on my behalf, because Verity had been "sexualized." And really, she hadn't been. She was presented accurately, as she appeared in the book. It was an accurate portrayal.

Jump forward to the cover for Midnight Blue-Light Special, which I love. Verity is dressed for her other job: monster-hunting. Sensible shoes, sensible trousers, sports bra under the shirt, and look! She's brought a friend! Sarah Zellaby, telepathic mathematician, who is wearing about eight layers of clothing and looks profoundly uncomfortable being even that exposed! Sarah is as de-sexualized on this cover as Verity was sexual on the previous, and again, it's because I asked for it; it's because that's what Sarah is like. She doesn't want you looking at her. She doesn't want to "show a little skin." Bless DAW and my cover artist, Aly Fell, but when I said "Sarah can't be sexy," they didn't try to make her. She's beautiful. She's supposed to be. She's also modest and shy.

Now here's the thing: both Veritys are correct. Both of them look like her. The next time she shows up on a book cover (for volume five, Professional Gore-eography), I'm going to be lobbying for a ballroom dance costume, and she'll probably be accompanied by her heavily-tattooed, cut-off-wearing grandmother (add a giant snake and we'll be able to play urban fantasy cliche bingo with that cover alone). And it will be accurate to the text. And if Sarah ever appears on a cover in a bikini, it'll be because it's somehow accurate to the text (although I can't imagine how).

Making characters like Toby or Sarah dress like Verity is not cool. Making Alice dress like Verity wouldn't be cool, either; she often wears skimpy clothes, but it's for reasons other than "I want to be hot so you'll tip me better." At the same time, assuming that any character who does dress like Verity is somehow being inaccurately represented doesn't seem quite fair to me.

Sometimes a girl just wants to get her Emma Frost on.

Psst. C'mere.

So it's no secret that I love the covers DAW gives me, and that showing them off is one of my true pure joys in life. And this one is really pretty, guys. I mean it's really, really pretty. I could not be happier if I tried.

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 )

Many of you are familiar with the Price Family Field Guide to the Cryptids of North America. (Those of you who are not familiar are like, super-lucky, because now you can experience the whole guide for the first time. Hop over and enjoy the madness of the monsters.) What you may or may not realize (but probably do, I just like to cover my bases) is that all illustrations are provided by the lovely and debonair Kory Bing, who has a real flair for drawing monsters. I first discovered her work through the comic, Skin Deep, which is sort of what you'd get if you crossed Finder, the Toby books, InCryptid, and Blue Monday, then set the blender on "frappe" and blew up the kitchen.

You can, and should, read Skin Deep online by clicking here. It is awesome. I love it so.

Right now, Kory is running a Kickstarter to print the latest Skin Deep storyline in beautiful physical form, with lots of spiffy extras. I cannot recommend this project strongly enough. For details, check her link, here:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/963152868/skin-deep-exchanges-the-secret-lives-of-monster-pe

It's a great project by a great person who has become such an integral part of InCryptid for me that I can't even imagine trying to continue the Field Guide without her. Take a look, and if you like her work, consider tossing in a few pennies!

Yay, monsters!

So y'all may have noticed the epic awesomeness that is the Price Family Field Guide to the Cryptids of North America (slowly expanding into "Cryptids of the World" as more and more critters make their first appearance). If you haven't, go ahead and click on over. I can wait.

So you may have also noticed the amazing and awesome Kory Bing art that makes these cryptids come to fantastic and occasionally gruesome life! Well, it's time for the next batch of cryptids to join the party...and that's where you come in.

Who wants to sponsor a cryptid? There are literally hundreds in the InCryptid world, and I'd eventually like to see them all in glorious color up in the Guide. If you have $35 to spare and want to add a critter or two to the queue, drop me a line, and I'd be absolutely ecstatic to make it happen. Previously sponsored cryptids include the poison dart fricken, and the hitchhiking ghost (still to come to the guide itself).

Make history. Or at least, make pretty things. Either way, life is good!

Click the thumbnail to see the details!

Wicked Girls being nominated for a Hugo Award made me stop and think about just how many wonderful, wicked girls I know. This comic is just a few of them. (Seriously. Every girl I drew, I realized two more I had forgotten.)

Top row, left to right: Seanan, Vixy, Erin, Kate, Amy, Patty.
Second row, left to right: Rachel, Kaja, Brooke, Betsy (with Arial).
Third row, left to right: Devany, Teddy, Kirsten, Morgan, Emily, Torrey.
Fourth row, left to right: Jude (with Frost), Tara, Bear (with GRD), Catherynne.
Bottom row, left to right: Beckett, Teddy, Tara, Vixy, Seanan, Amy, Dr. Mary, Kate.

I am sorry I couldn't fit more people into a single sheet of paper. You are all, forever and always, amazing.

Because nothing says "Seanan has a lot on her plate right now" like me deciding it's time for a project, I am going back to the printer for a second limited batch of "Wicked Girls" T-shirts. How limited? "The number of orders I receive, plus maybe a few extras, but I don't make any promises"-limited.

The design, thanks to the ever-lovely Tara:



This is a mock-up; the actual shirts will use that design, but will vary a little. We are using the same local shop that we used for the first batch, and they are remarkably flexible about everything. I love them so. Here are some real people wearing real shirts:

http://a.yfrog.com/img864/1994/wdmqi.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahandbrian/6879521872/
http://pics.livejournal.com/tithenai/pic/0005p48p
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/402268_10100181507175304_34311648_43656648_461649944_n.jpg
https://twitter.com/#!/gienahghurab/status/183599757132955652/photo/1

We are offering four types of shirt, as follows:

The standard girl-cut T (click here to view the basic shirt) is available in small through 2XL. We can print with visible text on black, dark chocolate, dark gray, heather gray, indigo, kelly, light olive, midnight navy, plum, purple rush, red, royal, scarlet, shocking pink, or turquoise. We cannot promise visibility on any other color, as white text is hard to read on light-colored shirts.

The girl-cut T with a shallow V-neck (click here to view the basic shirt) is available in small through 2XL. We can print with visible text on black, dark gray, heather gray, indigo, kiwi, or plum. We cannot promise visibility on any other color, as white text is hard to read on light-colored shirts.

The larger girl-cut T (click here to view the basic shirt) is available in small through 4XL. We can print with visible text on athletic maroon, black, cardinal, charcoal, dark chocolate brown, dark green, kelly, navy, orange, purple, red, or royal. We cannot promise visibility on any other color, as white text is hard to read on light-colored shirts.

The unisex T (click here to view the basic shirt) is available in small through 6XL. We can print with visible text on athletic maroon, black, brown, cardinal, charcoal, dark chocolate brown, dark green, dark heather gray, deep marine, fiery red, forest green, kelly, navy, olive, orange, purple, red, rich red or royal. We cannot promise visibility on any other color, as white text is hard to read on light-colored shirts.

HOW THIS IS GOING TO WORK.

If you want to buy a shirt, comment here with:

a) how many shirts you want.
b) which size and style each shirt should be.
c) which color each shirt should be.
d) an alternate color, in case your first choice is out of stock.*
e) your email address.

(*Colors for which we receive fewer than three requests will be automatically considered "out of stock.")

I will add your information to our ongoing spreadsheet, and Deborah will contact you to arrange immediate payment. Shirts are $20 for sizes S through 2XL, and $25 for sizes 3XL through 6XL. Shipping outside of the United States is an additional $5 per two shirts. (So one size S would be $25, two would be $45, and three would be $70.)

Orders will close on May 18th; the goal is to have the order submitted to the printer by June 1st. Anyone who has not replied to three requests for payment will be deleted from the spreadsheet at that time.

ETA: I understand security concerns, but if you want a shirt, you must provide an email address. The actual spreadsheet is being generated by the lovely Deborah, who cannot access any more private mechanism you may decide to use for contacting me. No email address on the entry, no shirt.

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 been a while since I posted about the "Wicked Girls" posters. As I still have a lot of posters, and a lot of poster tubes, I thought it was time for another go. This is awesome. This will be more awesome if more people order posters, thus getting them Out Of My House. (This is the cycle of stuff, at least with me. I want stuff; I get excited about stuff; I get stuff; I do my best to make stuff go away AS FAST AS POSSIBLE.) Behold the poster thumbnail!



You can't really read the text at this size, but it's the full lyrics of "Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves." You can tell that the posters are absolutely gorgeous, thanks to the ever-wonderful graphic skills of my lovely lady Tara. They're 10" by 26", and I couldn't be happier with them.

The posters have a limited run of 500, which sounds like a lot, and yet is shrinking at a truly impressive rate. The first 100 are numbered and signed, because it seemed like an awesome thing to do. The posters aren't programmed into the ordering system on my website yet, and that's actually turning out to be a good thing, since it gives me flow control. If you wanted to order a poster, here's what you'd do:

1) Reply to this post with your email address, and how many posters you want, of which kind(s). Standard posters are $20, plus $5 for shipping and handling within the United States ($6 shipping and handling internationally). The signed/numbered posters are $25, plus shipping and handling.

2) I can fit up to three posters in a tube, going to the same place. So three to one location is cost of posters + $5, while three going to three locations would be cost of posters + $15.

3) Signed/numbered posters are extremely limited at this point, and I make no promises as to the number you will get. If you wanted a signed/numbered poster, I would recommend ordering it sooner than later.

4) I will email you to confirm the request, and to provide my PayPal information. I can only take personal PayPal (no credit cards), although we can discuss payment by check.

The posters are printed on sturdy, acid-free, recycled paper, and again, gorgeous. They also frame really, really nicely, as my living room wall can attest.

Yay for pretty things!

This one just came in from mimisgrotto, and I wanted to make sure it wouldn't get missed in the grand hullabaloo surrounding the ramp-up to San Diego:

"One from the other side of the tables:

"Please remember that the artists exhibiting are people too, not machines.

"Some artists will fill up their commission lists quickly, others will ebb and flow in waves. We are all trying to be fair and serve people in order they come to us. So if an artist says they're full, don't think that you are any special exception for 'just this one little thing'.

"There are only so many hours in the con day, we need food and bathroom breaks too and some of us actually like to relax and rest after hours instead of be bent over commission art until 3am. If we could accommodate every person who asks for a sketch or a commission, we would. Please understand if we just can't.

"Also, don't use your adorable children to try and get free art. It's awesome that so many parents share the con experience with their kids, but there is the odd entitled parent and we CAN spot you. The denizens of Artist Alley aren't just there to be seen, we've spent lots of money like you to come to Comicon and we're here to earn our living in a very crowded, tough industry.

"So if something free is only an autograph or a quick doodle rather than an hour-long marker sketch, don't get huffy. You get what you pay for.

"Be courteous and pleasant and GET THE HINT that if an artist is REALLY focused on their work rather than enraptured by your verbatim recount of your Favorite Episodes of Dr Who, it's time to move on and leave them to it."

One of my favorite things about attending conventions in person is having the ability to commission artwork from artists I adore. My walls can attest to this habit. But seriously, it's like a win-win party scenario. I get amazing art that no one else has; the artists I love get to keep their lights on; and best of all, by putting dollars in their pockets, I keep them coming to the conventions. I love it! That being said...

Artists are working. You may be at the convention to play, but they? Are at work. Do you want me to come up to Amy's table and distract her while she's trying to draw your awesome Muppet Rose Tyler? No? Then why would I want you to come up and distract her while she's trying to draw my Emma Frost?

Things that are not distractions for most artists:

* Looking through folders.
* Looking at prints.
* Having a brief, friendly conversation.
* Giving them money.
* Asking if the commission lists are open.

Things that are distractions, all of which I have witnessed at one time or another:

* "Can I get a free one? I'll tell all my friends about you."
* "Oh, hey, let me see what you're working on."
* "You're really hot. Do you have a boyfriend?"
* "Oops, sorry, I/my small child didn't mean to rip that." (Not followed by payment in this instance.)
* "Have you seen Firefly? There's this one episode where..."

Visit Artist's Alley! Take this amazing opportunity to see and purchase artwork, some of which can be created just for you. But remember that the artists are there to make a living, and that trying to bargain that $50 sketch down to $20 because you think it's fun is potentially going to get you stabbed with a colored pencil. (Also, I highly recommend visiting Amy Mebberson and James Silvani, who will have EPIC mashups of EPIC EPICNESS.)

See you in San Diego!

I've been thinking a lot about book covers recently. It started when I saw the concept art for the fifth October Daye book, One Salt Sea, which is a big departure, color-wise, from the rest of the series. (One reader actually commented on this, saying they couldn't decide whether they liked it or not, because it was so different.) This, oddly, made me really look at the series covers as a whole. Then I started looking at the covers of other urban fantasies that I've very much enjoyed, and finally realized what it was that made my covers seem so unusual to me. Aside from the part where they're, you know, mine, and hence I emotionally regard them as practically perfect in every way.

The Toby Daye books are getting gender neutral/male covers.

Picture a generic urban fantasy cover. The odds are good, unless you were thinking of the Dresden Files or the Simon Canderous books, that you pictured a woman in tight pants and a skimpy top, probably looking exotic and dangerous at the same time. She may or may not be holding a knife. If she is, it doesn't really look like it would do all that much damage when used to stab someone, although it might use all of its extra flourishes and points to get stuck on their clothing. Despite being in mortal peril, her hair is perfect, and her makeup is expertly applied. She may or may not bear any resemblance to the woman on the other side of that cover, but by the Great Pumpkin, she is Urban Fantasy Babe, and she will cut you with her richly saturated color palette.

(To be clear, I don't think there's anything wrong with these covers, and I'm sort of hoping to get one for Discount Armageddon, since Verity does wear impractical shoes, skimpy clothes, and makeup. Although she wouldn't be caught dead with a knife that couldn't be used to gut a rhino, should the need arise. She is a deeply practical impractical girl.)

Now picture an urban fantasy cover for a book with a male lead. Again, the odds are good that what you're seeing is a man dressed in dark clothing, against a moody, atmospheric background. There is no random lightning; nothing is inexplicably on fire; he's probably not wearing any makeup, and his hair may very well look like he forgot to brush it last Tuesday and hasn't remembered to catch up since. If he has weapons, they're practical ones. Ditto his shoes.

Now take a look at the five currently available Toby covers. In all five, she's wearing dark clothes, including a leather jacket that, while comfortable, doesn't exactly make her look like a bad-ass leather biker babe; more like a girl raiding her boyfriend's closet because it's cold outside. On three of the five, she's wearing jeans. On one, she's wearing a dress that leaves absolutely everything to the imagination, since it's basically full medieval formal gown. On another, she has no jeans because she has no legs, but does have a black top and, again, a leather jacket. In three of the five, she's visibly, and accurately, armed. There are no poses; there are no seductive looks; there's definitely no makeup. If you ignore the fact that Toby is female, they're the kind of covers that usually go on urban fantasies with male leads.

This could not delight me more.

Toby's covers are an accurate portrayal of what you're going to find between them. If she was posed more like our friend, Urban Fantasy Babe, people would be justified in getting annoyed when Toby didn't act like her. Instead, she's posed the way the men of urban fantasy are normally posed, and she acts a lot like them, too. There may be some people who don't pick up the books because they want something sexier, but I think the people who do pick them up get what they're expecting, and I think that helps, in the long run. Truth in advertising is fun!

Thoughts?

As of today, the last of the paid-for "Wicked Girls" posters have gone out in the mail, and I am once again prepared to cope with buckets and buckets of poster tubes. This is awesome. This will be more awesome if more people order posters, thus getting them Out Of My House. (This is the cycle of stuff, at least with me. I want stuff; I get excited about stuff; I get stuff; I do my best to make stuff go away AS FAST AS POSSIBLE.) Behold the poster thumbnail!



You can't really read the text at this size, but it's the full lyrics of "Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves." You can tell that the posters are absolutely gorgeous, thanks to the ever-wonderful graphic skills of my lovely lady Tara. They're 10" by 26", and I couldn't be happier with them.

The posters have a limited run of 500, which sounds like a lot, and yet is shrinking at a truly impressive rate. The first 100 are numbered and signed, because it seemed like an awesome thing to do. The posters aren't programmed into the ordering system on my website yet, and that's actually turning out to be a good thing, since it gives me flow control. If you wanted to order a poster, here's what you'd do:

1) Reply to this post with your email address, and how many posters you want, of which kind(s). Standard posters are $20, plus $5 for shipping and handling within the United States ($6 shipping and handling internationally). The signed/numbered posters are $25, plus shipping and handling.

2) I can fit up to three posters in a tube, going to the same place. So three to one location is cost of posters + $5, while three going to three locations would be cost of posters + $15.

3) If you have a preferred number outside of 1-10, I can try to provide it, although I make no promises. If you give me a range of numbers, you're more likely to get what you want.

4) I will email you to confirm the request, and to provide my PayPal information. I can only take personal PayPal (no credit cards), although we can discuss payment by check.

The posters are printed on sturdy, acid-free, recycled paper, and again, gorgeous. They also frame really, really nicely, as my living room wall can attest.

Yay for pretty things!

So as you know, I really, really love it when I can get artwork to go with my books, whether it be a fabulous cover or illustrations of the characters themselves. It's a silly thing, but it helps me focus. I can't get photographs of the people in my head, so I settle for the next best thing, and regularly bat my eyes pleadingly at artists of my acquaintance. I'm pretty good at it (the fact that I'm willing to pay fair commission rates helps), and so I wind up going back to the same artists again and again. One of my favorite artists is Bill Mudron, who did the cover graphics for my third CD, Red Roses and Dead Things. He's awesome!

Part of what makes Bill awesome is his uncanny ability to take a simple request ("Draw this person who doesn't exist for me, okay? Oh, and make it cool...") and turn it into something amazing. So when I started working with Bill this most recent time, I felt confident in asking for some pretty tricky imaginary people—specifically, Alice Price-Healy and her wayward husband, Thomas Price, and Sarah Zellaby and Arthur Harrington.

Alice is the grandmother of Verity Price, the protagonist of Discount Armageddon; Thomas is Verity's grandfather (naturally). Thomas has also been missing for oh, about thirty years now, thanks to a really poorly-considered energy exchange with one of the nastier local dimensional gateways. Alice refuses to admit that this could mean he's dead, and has been wandering through the various levels of reality looking for him ever since. She's maybe not the most stable cookie in the box.

Arthur Harrington—he usually goes by "Artie"—is Verity's cousin. His mother, Moira Harrington-Price, is the daughter of Alice and Thomas, and his father, Theodore Harrington, is surprisingly good at dealing with his wife's family. This is because Uncle Ted is the most mellow man on the planet (it's a survival trait). Sarah Zellaby is considered a cousin, since she was adopted by Verity's mother's adoptive parents (yes, these books will come with a family tree). She's not human, but no one really holds that against her.

( Cut because posting large graphics without a cut tag is a really good way for me to get smacked upside the head by my friends.Collapse )

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

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

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

Okay, bits and pieces, because I am a crispy, crispy cookie right now. Seriously, I wrote ALL THE THINGS last night, AND indexed half a box of My Little Ponies, AND updated my spreadsheets, AND cleaned up after Thomas, who had inexplicably decided to make a horrible mess in the bathtub (I'm sure I'll be dealing with this more in the days to come, and will spare you any further details; at least he did it on an easy-clean surface). Then, this morning, I got up to discover that my transit card had vanished in the night, leading to a pre-6:00 AM shredding of my bedroom. So I am not the bubbliest bunny in the burrow.

So first, Orbit is giving away poster prints of the covers to Deadline and Feed as part of the Epic Loot holiday series. Details are available at the link above, and they're selecting their winner tomorrow, so you should head over there and sign up if you're interested. They're gorgeous pieces. They'd look amazing on your wall.

The best thing about the people that I love is the way that they make me lizard-happy. I'm just saying. Find something (or someone) that makes you lizard-happy, and hug it a whole bunch. Assuming this won't get you slapped with a restraining order, injected with neurotoxic venom, or just plain slapped.

It's no secret that I'm a My Little Pony nut; see also, "regular references to cleaning and sorting and indexing the collection, so that I can figure out which Ponies I still need to either upgrade or acquire." (Hint: The answer is "quite a few.") Well, I'm also a big My Little Demon fan, and wanted to be sure you'd seen these ultimate expressions of my 1980s horror girl heart. I have Sparkle Plague framed and hanging in my bathroom, and I'm looking wistfully at Toxic Popsicle and Voodoo Vixen. It's possible that my home decor is a trifle unnerving.

(I will be working industriously at making it more unnerving in the weeks to come, as I should be receiving my cover flats for Deadline, have received my art prints for Bill Mudron, unearthed a few old commission and art pieces in a drawer, and have a companion piece to my Princess Alice in production. So eventually, people will walk into my house, look at the walls, and run screaming before something eats them. This is a goal.)

I'm trying to get all caught up with the world, but things are slipping a bit just now. So I beg you, be patient with me, and do not force me to devour your soul to demonstrate the foolishness of prodding tired blondes with sticks.

Happy Tuesday!

Bill Mudron, who is an incredible, amazing artist, and has done quite a lot of commission work for me over the years, has put up some absolutely drop-dead gorgeous prints for sale. Specifically, he's put up a pair of incredible Doctor Who prints themed after the world of Alphonse Mucha, showing Amy Pond and River Song in a whole new light.

You can view and order the prints here, should the desire strike you. I've already ordered mine, and I intend to have them framed and hang them in a place of honor. Assuming a place of honor can still be located on my increasingly-cluttered walls...

Anyway: Beautiful art! Supporting small artists! Absolutely unique gifts! And, you know.

Stuff.

Psst.

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

Go ahead. Take a peek.

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

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

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



Ahem: squee.

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

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

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

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

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

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

And now, the secret project is unveiled, with all associated pomp and circumstance: the "Wicked Girls" posters. Behold the thumbnail.



You can't really read the text at this size, but it's the full lyrics of "Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves." You can tell that the posters are absolutely gorgeous, thanks to the ever-wonderful graphic skills of my lovely lady Tara. They're 10" by 26", and I couldn't be happier with them.

The posters are limited to a run of 500, with the first 100 being numbered and signed, because I can. We don't want to confuse the ordering system by giving it something else to deal with while we're still doing CD pre-orders, so if you wanted one of these, say, for the holidays, here's what you'd do:

1) Reply to this post with your email address, and how many posters you want, of which kind(s). Standard posters are $20, plus $4 for shipping and handling. The signed/numbered posters are $25, again, plus $4 for shipping and handling.

2) I can fit up to three posters in a tube, going to the same place. So three to one location is cost of posters + $4, while three going to three locations would be cost of posters + $12.

3) If you have a preferred number outside of 1-10, I can try to provide it, although I make no promises.

4) I will email you to confirm the request, and to provide my PayPal information. I can only take personal PayPal (no credit cards), although we can discuss payment by check.

North American orders only for right now; I'll go overseas once I've sorted the cost of shipping. Orders will move to my website after the Wicked Girls pre-orders close, since again, trying not to confuse the database. The posters are printed on sturdy, acid-free, recycled paper, and again, gorgeous.

Yay for pretty things!

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

Follow the clicky link to the pretty!

I am delighted beyond words.

Gosh and golly.

I really, really love commissioning artwork to go with my books. Having something to look at helps me focus in a weird way that's difficult to explain without maddened waving of my hands and possibly a few declarations of "Ice worms, dammit!" One of my favorite artists to commission is the ever-lovely Amy Mebberson, who did the art for my 2008 thank you card. She has since gone on to better and brighter things, becoming an artist for Boom! Studios, which doesn't leave her much time for private commissions...so when she opened briefly for specialized commissions to be picked up at the San Diego International Comic Convention, I jumped on it with both feet. Victory!

...of course, now I had to decide what to ask her for. I settled, after much deliberation, on the lovely Miss Sarah Zellaby, arguably the oddest of the current crop of Healy girls. She was adopted by the Bakers (Evelyn Price-Healy's parents) after being orphaned at an early age—if you can call "losing the host family your biological parents brood parasitized you to" being "orphaned." Sarah would. She was too young to know what she was at the time, and she still misses her human family.

Sarah's a cuckoo. A telepathic, ectothermic (cold-blooded) mammalian parasitic wasp with a decentralized circulatory system (she has no heart). She's also a mathematician, and a bit embarrassed about her species, so her cousins try not to give her too much grief about it. Verity would be dead a dozen times over if not for Sarah. This has not helped Sarah in her quest to get a life that doesn't involve textbooks, tomato milkshakes, and apologies.

I give you...Sarah:



Squee.

Today is the official North American release date for Feed [Amazon]|[Mysterious Galaxy]. The Kindle edition will be released on May 1st; if you just can't wait, this is a great opportunity for you Kindle-lovers to pick up a physical copy, read it, and give it to your local library. The UK edition will be out sometime in May (exact date not available to me at this specific moment in time).

This is my third book. This is my first book. This is my second series (although this one is actually a trilogy). This is, at least for the moment, my longest book, and in some ways, my most complex. I am terrified and elated, and, because this is What We Do Around Here, I present our resident little dead ghoul, Mel, all dressed up for the occasion. This is the first time I've cut her hair for the purposes of a pin-up. It's also the most elaborate set of lighting effects I've yet used, and I like it, even if it does leave her looking a little gray (only appropriate).

But yes, it is my release day. I have eaten a cotton candy-flavored cupcake, and tonight I will have dinner with Kate. Amy arrives this weekend. I have not shoved anything into my eye. Now help reward my publisher's faith in me by rushing out and bringing the Masons home with you!