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!

It's almost time for Marcon, Columbus, Ohio's own genre extravaganza! I'm their Author Guest of Honor this year...but where can you find me? Well.

Friday.

5:30PM, Union C: "Writing Non-Human Characters."

7:00PM, Union E: "You Got Your Song in My Book! You Got Your Book in My Song!"

Saturday.

1:00PM, Battelle South: Seanan McGuire in concert, featuring Dead Sexy! This is one of my favorite iterations of my ever-shifting backing band, and we are going to blow your socks off. Like, seriously, if you only come to one of my events this weekend, this should be the one.

5:30PM, Fairfield: "In Conversation With Seanan McGuire." It's the usual gig: you ask me questions and I will answer them, which means the quality of the event is entirely up to you. Show up, ask me stuff, and find out what kind of ridiculous reptile stories I'll tell while in the grips of an adrenaline crash after my concert.

Sunday.

11:30AM, Regency Ballroom: Autograph Session.

ISFIC will have copies of the new Velveteen book for sale, along with everything else they have to offer; we'll have CDs and some of the remaining T-shirt stock (rarities all!) at the concert merchandise table.

Hope to see you there!

This weekend I'm pleased to be appearing at CONtraflow 5/DeepSouthCon 53, alongside Julie Dillon, Robert Sawyer, and many others—including one variation of my musical swarm: Dr. Mary Crowell, Bill and Brenda Sutton, and more!

My schedule is as follows:

Opening Ceremonies, Friday, 5pm, Event 1
The Scariest Movie I've Ever Seen, Friday, 10pm, Panel Room 2
Saturday Concert, Saturday, 12pm, Event 1
In Conversation..., Saturday, 5pm, Panel Room 4
Speculative Poetry, 8pm, Panel Room 3, Saturday
Good Habits of Successful Writers, 12pm, Event One, Sunday
Writing Urban Fantasy, Sunday, 3pm, Panel Room 4

I don't have panel descriptions, but those seem pretty self-explanatory, and it should be a rousing good time. Plus, New Orleans! Who could ask for anything more?

I hope to see you there!

FRIDAY.

I'm Sorry, I Haven't A Clue, 4:00 PM, Lilac C. The antidote to panel games. Two teams enjoy a battle of wits and are given silly things to do by the moderator. Come and place your bets on SF Squeecast versus SF Squeecast. With game host Heath Miller. Me, Heath, Lynne and Michael Thomas, Catherynne Valente, all the fucks I have to give. ALL THE FUCKS.

Opening Ceremonies, 7:00 PM, Junior Ballroom BC. Quote, "Don't miss out on this rare chance to see all of our Guests together in one room! Join us as we kick off the convention weekend!" So, you know, there we shall be.

ISFiC Press Book Launch Party , 9:00 PM, ISFiC Suite. Come by for the official release of the SF Squeecast's new anthology from
ISFiC Press, Harvest Season. The authors will be there and there will be cake. What's not to like? Also, this is the best place to obtain our brand new book, with a brand new Fighting Pumpkins story! Hooray!

SATURDAY.

SF Squeecast Podcast, 11:30 AM, Grand Ballroom GH. We're recording the Squeecast! You can come and watch! It'll be fun, we promise.

Reading, 2:00 PM, Boardroom. I'm reading stuff. I'm probs reading from Harvest Season. Come and read along!

Seanan McGuire & Friends Live In Concert, 4:00 PM, Junior Ballroom BC. Did you know I was a musician? Did you know I knew a lot of musicians? Did you know I was dating a musician, who will probably have to fiddle the Devil for my soul very soon? Yeah. Come see the concert, maybe buy some CDs and T-shirts, enjoy music, watch Amy make the fiddle-bliss face. It'll be fun! It will also be followed immediately by Bill and Brenda Sutton in concert, so hey, you don't have to move again until it's time for Barfleet!

SUNDAY.

Autographs, 11:00 AM, Autographing Tables. I am signing! I am signing with P.D. Anderson, J.L. Nye, and M. Resnick. Yay!

Closing Ceremonies, 2:00 PM, Junior Ballroom BC. Again, to quote: "This is your last chance to see all of our amazing guests. The party award winners will be announced, and you will find out what we have in store for you next year!" See you there!

Amy and I left France on Thursday morning, following a ride in a cab operated by a surly but talented driver (we didn't die!), and some exciting airport escapades that I have already detailed in the "Paris" post. Our flight, operated by Aer Lingus, was short and pleasant, although I had never encountered "pay for your soft drinks" on a plane before (I prey Southwest never starts doing that). We landed in Dublin a little early, and made it to the car park with the assistance of a very nice local wheelchair operator. (Airport wheelchair services, for those who've not used them, generally consist of young, athletic people who are willing to push people who need it from one terminal to another. We tipped well, and everything was lovely.)

Gareth from Shamrokon met us at baggage claim, and loaded us into his car for the first of our odd transits. See, Sheila—my editor—and Betsy—my publisher—had both come to Dublin, and Thursday night was the only night that was really good for us to have dinner together. So Amy and I needed to be dropped off at the restaurant, while he took our luggage on to the hotel. Good thing he's a good sport! We wound up in a Michelin-starred French restaurant attached to their hotel, where we spent four and a half hours eating, drinking, talking, and enjoying cheese. So much cheese. It was a really divine dinner, and I completely understand why people make such a big deal about the place.

So much cheese.

Friday kicked off the convention. I had a panel with Tim Griffin and Jordan Kare, during which we talked about filk and how to be comfortable in the filk community; Kathy Mar attended, as did Teddy and Tom, and we had a lovely time making them do the heavy lifting for us. After that was opening ceremonies, and then, concert prep!

Yes, we did a concert, largely due to the tireless efforts and incredible talents of Dr. Mary Crowell, who herded all the cats so that I could look good. She is amazing. My band consisted of her, Amy McNally, and the Suttons, and everyone was splendid. We did basically the same set as Loncon, which was fine, because there wasn't that much audience overlap between the two cons, and it was really lovely. Brenda sang my part on "Wicked Girls," while I sang Vixy's, and a good time was had by all.

The next item was "In Conversation With Seanan McGuire," the solo version of the panel I like to do with Cat, where I will answer everything I am asked. We ran about ninety minutes over, and it was beautiful. Some very serious topics were discussed, like depression and OCD and the difficulty of talking about feeling suicidal. (One well-meaning man asked "Well, have you tried being sad without hurting yourself?", and while I hate the question, it opened the door for some very good discussion.) It was uncomfortable but important, and no one left the room, so I'm calling it a win.

Saturday, I had my Guest of Honor interview, with Janet as my interviewer, who had smartly brought Kinder Eggs. Every time she felt I'd answered a question sufficiently, I got chocolate. A+ interviewing technique, would be interviewed again. My panel on pseudonyms went well, and ended early enough that Amy and I were able to go out and grab dinner before the Doctor Who season premiere at eight, or the filk jam at nine.

I did not stay up to close out the jam. I am weak.

Sunday, I signed stuff; talked about zombies with great enthusiasm; and talked about toys with equally great enthusiasm. Then we closed the con, and I darted off with Amy and Wes to join the fabulous dinner already beginning at the Winding Stair, where the food was traditional and delicious.

Monday was the off-site Dead Dog at the Porterhouse downtown, and Wes and Mary and I had a lovely time, after bidding our beloved friends adieu. We swung by the nearby bookstore, which had my picture in the window, and bought books, before handing me off to the con chair, James, to go back to his place for a week's Irish tourism.

On the whole, Shamrokon was absolutely lovely. A good con, well-run, by extremely friendly people. Would guest again.

Next up, IRELAND.

When I realized that I was going to be staying in Europe between Loncon and Eurocon (I mean, I'm staying much longer than that, as witness the fact that I am writing this entry from a kitchen table in Ireland, but that realization came later), I immediately turned to Vixy and went, "Let's go to DISNEYLAND!"

Yessssssssss.

Brooke, who is a genius of travel planning, used Air B&B to find us a glorious Parisian apartment with four bedrooms, disturbing murder art on the walls, a full kitchen, a hot tub, sauna, and steam room, and wifi, all on the ground floor, which meant I had zero obligate stairs. It was perfect. Vixy and I checked in first, on Sunday, to be followed by the rest of our party (Brooke, Amy, and the Crowells) on Monday.

Sunday was the Eurostar, followed by checking in, a wander around our temporary neighborhood, and dinner at an outdoor cafe, where I had a ham and mushroom pizza that had been very generously outfitted with ham. We showered in The Serious Shower, which I think I will dream about for the rest of my life, and planned our adventures to come. I misidentified the train station we'd need to get to Disneyland Paris. This will be important later.

Monday, we decided to take the train to Disneyland Paris and wander around the Disney Village (their equivalent of Downtown Disney) for a few hours, just to get the lay of the land. We were not going to go into Disneyland that day, and indeed, we didn't. Instead, we walked roughly a mile in the wrong direction in our attempts to find the right train station, and when we arrived, we visited all the shops. I traded pins with a bunch of cast members, who viewed my single-minded approach with amusement and bewilderment. Vixy bought things. I did not. A good time was had by all.

When we got home, our housemates were there, and we gloried in the hot tub and not being at a convention. We spend so much of our time traveling to and from cons that sometimes it's nice to just be together, without a program grid dictating what we do and when we do it. Amy was delighted that we had refrained from going into Disneyland Paris without her, meaning that her first time on the Phantom Manor would also be my first time on the Phantom Manor.

Eventually, we slept.

In preparing for this entry, I had time to give a lot of thought to the essential question of whether I wanted to do one big Paris post, or one Paris post and one Disneyland Paris post. The latter won. So here are the Paris pieces:

Tuesday, Amy, Vixy, and I went back to Disneyland Paris, following what I thought was the correct route. It was sort of very wrong, and while we got there just fine, we had a bit of a "tired people navigating places" tiff on the return journey, ending when Amy brilliantly hailed a cab.

Wednesday, Amy went off to see Paris, while Vixy and I finally went to the train station the right way, which was much, much shorter. We also returned home earlier, content and perfectly tired. Vixy and Amy went out with Brooke and the Crowells to have Fancy French Dinner; I stayed home with Simon, the Crowells' teenage son, and had Leftovers and The Internet. Everyone was happy.

Thursday, Vixy, Brooke, and the Crowells went out to a museum, while Amy and I went to the airport. The ladies at the Aer Lingus counter were pleasant, but recommended we call a wheelchair, given the size of the airport. We called a wheelchair. We waited.

And waited.

And waited.

After half an hour, we walked to our gate, since otherwise, we might have missed our flight. We were off and running for Ireland, and our French adventure was finally complete.

When last we left our intrepid heroes, they were arriving at the Aloft, hence to set up base camp for the convention. Hooray! Only...not so much hooray, as my bank had turned my credit card off for fraud after seeing it used at Heathrow Airport and our initial hotel. In England. Where I had told them I would be.

I called the bank and had a borderline hostile conversation, ending when they turned my card back on and I was able to check us into the hotel. Wes and I then went to pick up the wheelchair Amy had booked for me. (My walking difficulties are continuing to improve, but "improving" doesn't mean the same as "better," and we very much wanted to be sure that I would be able to walk both in Paris and at Eurocon the following week.) It turned out that, despite us having put the booking in ultra-early, there were no independent mobility (IE, "big round wheels") chairs left, and I was put into a hospital-style chair that required someone to push me. Not so awesome.

We got me checked in and were off to my first panel, on pseudonyms. While I was there, Wes took the hospital chair back to the mobility desk and got me upgraded to a mobility scooter, on account of I did not have the independent movement I had been promised and no one wanted to have to help me get to the bathrooms. Everybody wins! (Vixy and I did not have a fully handicapped-accessible room, but had decided that parking the scooter in the shower was better than, again, no independence at all.) The panel went well, and we borked off for supper with a lot of my favorite people—Mary and Simon, Talis and Pippa, Brooke and Amy and Vixy and Wes—at the Indian restaurant at the end of the walk. We ran into Wesley Chu on the way back, and a good time was had by all.

That night was I'm Sorry, I Haven't A Clue, hosted by Lee Harris, and we had a splendid time. It was me and Cat "vs." Paul and Emma, and everyone acquitted themselves handsomely. I was still struggling with the tail end of my cold, and so made plans to tap out if necessary (Heath was ready to be our stunt Seanan), but I was able to get through the whole session, and only coughed so hard I stopped breathing once. Meg was seated in the front row, and was able to interpret my pantomime and get me my cough syrup. Life was very good indeed.

Friday passed in a blur. For my reading, I did half of "We Are All Misfit Toys in the Aftermath of the Velveteen War," and followed it up with an impromptu hallway signing that lasted no shit half an hour, courtesy of my not having an actual signing. (This was not the fault of the convention; I was the one who mis-booked the train tickets.) The queue was remarkably orderly, and crowned by Hisham walking over and offering me Pokemon. I LOVE YOU HISHAM. Pokemon: the way to my heart.

Saturday's panel on girl scientists was excellent, and I basically used Amanda as my guide. "Does this piss Amanda off?" I would ask myself, and then ask the question.

My concert was splendid and the filk track organizers were brilliant when they forced me to accept the big room (I had said I would be perfectly happy with the normal filk concert space). It held three hundred people, and we near to filled it. Dead Sexy was wonderful, as always. (Dead Sexy is the version of my backing band consisting of Bill and Brenda Sutton, Amy McNally, Dr. Mary Crowell, and Michelle Dockrey.) We scrapped "What A Woman's For" at the last minute, due to concerns about my voice and our arrangement, and dropped in "Still Catch the Tide," because it's something we can do without lyric sheets or practice. Talis was in the audience.

She'd never heard us do it live before.

I made Talis cry.

It was a good night, overall, and I am very glad to have been there.

I stayed on Sunday, just long enough for my panel on fan works, and then it was off to the rail station to catch the Eurostar to Paris. Vixy and I "watched" the Hugos over Twitter from our Parisian apartment (the wireless wasn't good enough to stream), and while I was sorry not to be there, Sunil was so happy to be me that I was honestly glad to have mis-booked the train: he glows in all the pictures I've seen, and I am always happy when I can give good experiences to my friends.

Congratulations to all the winners, solidarity to all the losers (of whom I am one), and I'll see you all next year.

Next up: DISNEYLAND.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...

Tomorrow's Party Schedule!

The Traveling Circus and Snake-Handling Show is returning to our home of homes at Borderlands Books, and we couldn't be happier about it. SEE! The Amazing Mary, imported all the way from Alabama to enchant you with her wicked ways! HEAR! The Incredible Jeff and Maya Bohnhoff, masters of the rocking arts! GAZE IN AWE! At Paul and Beckett, guitar and harmonica, as they ensnare your senses! And I'll be there, of course.

Our evening...

4:00 PM: Setup, sound check, and final details. You can show up, but we may ignore you if you do. Sorry about that.
5:00 PM: Welcome to our party. We're done ignoring you now. Would you like some music?
5:30 PM: Perhaps you would like to win things.
5:40 PM: Now there will be cupcakes and autographing.
6:00 PM: More music?
6:30 PM: More prizes?
6:40 PM: Q&A and book discussion.
7:10 PM: Last music of the night.
7:40 PM: Let's raffle some more stuff off.
7:50 PM: Thanks and final questions before we close the evening.

This iteration of the Traveling Circus and Snake-Handling Show will be in the cafe; the bookstore will be open throughout the evening. The cafe will also be open, and they've promised to have plenty of bread and delicious pastry this time. Raffle tickets will be available through the two standard methods: show up, or buy something from the bookstore.

All performing musicians will have CDs for sale, because we're predictable like that. There may also be T-shirts. There will be cupcakes provided in the bookstore as part of the party, and a whole cafe full of delicious things to purchase and enjoy.

It's gonna be a good night. Hope to see you there.

I am home from Chicago (again), and fighting my way out from the massive piles of paperwork and detritus that built up while I was at Windycon. I had a fantastic time, and I got to rock the house with one of my favorite temporary backing bands, Dead Sexy, which consisted of Wild Mercy, the Suttons, and Dr. Mary Crowell. Seriously, I am the luckiest girl in the world.

As is the custom around here, I now present the Windycon set list, with arrangement notes. It was a great show, and our song choices went as follows:

1. "Counting Crows." (Seanan, vocals; Debbie, Brenda, vocals; Bill, Barry, guitar; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle; Brenda, Sally, Debbie, percussion; Jen, bass.)
2. "The Sealskin and the Story and the Sky." (Seanan, vocals; Debbie, Brenda, vocals; Bill, Barry, guitar; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle; Brenda, Sally, Debbie, percussion; Jen, bass.)
3. "How Much Salt?" (Seanan, Debbie, vocals; Barry, guitar; Mary, piano; Bill, mandolin; Amy, fiddle; Brenda, Sally, percussion; Jen, bass.)
4. "Ten Years." Talis Kimberley cover. (Seanan, vocals; Barry, Bill, guitar; Mary, piano; Jen, harp; Amy, fiddle; Brenda, Debbie, Sally, percussion.)
5. "Fly Little Bird." (Seanan, Barry, Debbie, Jen, Sally, vocals.)
6. "Mother of the Crows." (Seanan, vocals; Mary, piano; Bill, Barry, guitar; Sally, creepy thunder noises; Brenda, percussion.)
7. "Silent Hill." (Seanan, vocals; Mary, piano; Sally, creepy thunder noises.)
8. "Landslide." Fleetwood Mac cover. (Seanan, Mary, Brenda, Debbie, Jen, vocals; Bill, Barry, guitar; Amy, fiddle; Mary, piano; Brenda, Sally, Debbie, percussion; Jen, bass.)
9. "Dare to Dream." (Seanan, vocals; Bill, Barry, guitar; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle; Brenda, Sally, Debbie, percussion; Jen, bass.)
10. "Burn It Down." Vixy and Tony cover. (Seanan, vocals; Bill, Barry, guitar; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle; Brenda, Sally, Debbie, percussion; Jen, bass.)
9. "Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves." (Seanan, Jen, vocals; Bill, Barry, guitar; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle; Brenda, Sally, Debbie, percussion; Jen, bass.)
10. "My Story Is Not Done." (Seanan, vocals; Bill, Barry, guitar; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle; Brenda, Sally, Debbie, percussion; Jen, bass.)

The bridge for "Wicked Girls":

Brenda beats bodhrans and Vixy's run off with the fairies,
And Debbie will pour you red wine pressed from sweet poisoned berries.
Jen poses riddles and Mary plays tricks,
While Sally makes music by banging with sticks,
And the rules that we live by are simple and clear...

As always: "Counting Crows," "How Much Salt?" "Mother of the Crows," "My Story Is Not Done," and "Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves" are on Wicked Girls. "Silent Hill" is on Red Roses and Dead Things. "Fly Little Bird" is on Pretty Little Dead Girl (out of print).

"Ten Years" has not yet been recorded, but you should check out Talis Kimberley's latest album, Queen of Spindles. "Burn It Down" has not yet been recorded, but you should check out Vixy and Tony's latest album, Thirteen.

"The Seal Skin and the Story and the Sky" and "Dare to Dream" have not yet been recorded.

Huge thanks to the sound crew, to the Windycon filk programming department, and to all my wonderful musicians, who uplift me to a level I could never reach without them. I am honored, I am grateful, and I am going back to bed.

I'm a little under the weather (and totally exhausted) following Chicon 7, the 2012 World Science Fiction Convention, but that doesn't mean that I get to neglect everything forever. More's the pity. I had a wonderful time, when I wasn't a giant vibrating ball of stress, and I am remain honored and delighted by all the great things people said and did in my presence.

As is the custom around here, I now present the Chicon set list, with arrangement notes. It was a great show, and our song choices went as follows:

1. "The Sealskin and the Story and the Sky." (Seanan, vocals; Vixy Dockrey, vocals; Tony Fabris, guitar; Mary Crowell, piano; Betsy Tinney, cello; Amy McNally, fiddle; Brenda Sutton, bodhran.)
2. "Counting Crows." (Seanan, vocals; Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Mary, piano; Betsy, cello; Amy, fiddle; Brenda, bodhran.)
3. "Mama Said." (Seanan, vocals; Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Mary, piano; Betsy, cello; Amy, fiddle; Brenda, coconut shells.)
4. "The Ghost of Lilly Kane." (Seanan, vocals; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle.)
5. "Dear Gina." (Seanan, creepy vocals; Vixy, extra creepy vocals; Mary, creepy piano; Betsy, creepy cello; Amy, creepy fiddle.)
6. "Still Catch the Tide." Talis Kimberley cover. (Seanan, vocals; Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Mary, piano; Betsy, cello; Amy, fiddle; Brenda, bodhran.)
7. "Dare to Dream." (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Mary, piano; Betsy, cello; Amy, fiddle.)
8. "Tanglewood Tree." Dave Carter cover. (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Betsy, cello; Amy, fiddle; Brenda, bodhran.)
9. "Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves." (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Mary, piano; Betsy, cello; Amy, fiddle; Brenda, bodhran.)
10. "My Story Is Not Done." (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Mary, piano; Betsy, cello; Amy, fiddle; Brenda, bodhran.)

ENCORE:

1. "The Seal Skin and the Story and the Sky." Arrangement as above; we did it again for Cat Valente, who had missed the start of the set.
2. "Archetype Cafe." Talis Kimberley cover. (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Mary, piano; Betsy, cello; Amy, fiddle.)

I did not actually get a written copy of the "Wicked Girls" bridge. I'm sorry! But I'm sure it was lovely.

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

"Archetype Cafe" appears on Talis Kimberley's album of the same name, currently available on CD Baby. "Tanglewood Tree" also appears on the Dave Carter and Tracy Grammar album of the same name, currently available from retailers everywhere.

"The Seal Skin and the Story and the Sky" and "Dare to Dream" have not yet been recorded.

Huge thanks to the sound crew, to the Chicon 7 filk programming department, and to all my wonderful musicians, who uplift me to a level I could never reach without them. I am honored, I am grateful, and I am going back to bed.

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.

I'm trying not to be the all-Hugos, all-the-time channel right now (believe me, it's hard), but there is something I really wanted to talk about, and that's my nomination in the Best Related Works category. Wicked Girls, the CD I released in January 2011, has been nominated for the brass ring. This is the first time a single-artist filk CD has been nominated for the Hugo Awards...except for where it's not a single-artist CD. My name may be the only thing on the cover, but it's not the only name that was involved with the project. And that's what makes this so amazing. Because Wicked Girls is the thing I did with some of the people I love best in all this world, and I think that it shows. I really do.

This is the album where half the songs were written specifically so Vixy could sing them with me, or specifically for Amy's fiddle breaks. This is the album where my "I love you more than fairy tales" songs for my friends all got recorded, "Wicked Girls" and "Mother of the Crows" and "The True Story Here" and so many others. It was an amazing experience, recording this. And I credit that entirely to the people who recorded it with me.

Vixy, who sings with me on almost every track. Amy, whose screaming electric fiddle is the first primary instrumentation on the album. Kristoph, who tolerantly listened to me trying to explain what I wanted, and then gave me a hundred times more. Mary, and Betsy, and Sooj, who took the time to come to the studio and make things amazing. They put the heartbeat into the songs. Paul, who I loved first and best as a guitarist. Tony, who makes magic with strings. Margaret, who harps like it's going to be banned tomorrow. And others, and others, and others, forever.

Tara designed the cover; Beckett designed the liner notes. Mia made the pendants that inspired almost half the songs. Deborah listened, and loved, and helped in a thousand ways, as did Kate, and Cat, and all the members of my scattered family.

After more than thirty years, the filk community has representation on the Hugo ballot, and it's for an album that contains members of Southern filk, Midwest filk, Pacific Northwest filk, and California filk. And that is amazing. I am amazed.

I think I'm going to be amazed for a while.

I am fresh home from my appearance at Consonance, where I got to shake my money maker as their Ghostmistress, eat a lot of goat at the Indian buffet across the street—I mean a lot of goat—and generally have a wonderful time. I'll do a bit more of a proper con report later, although since I still haven't done my Disney World write-up, "later" may not be here for quite some time. Anyway, I thought I'd try posting the set list for my concert in a timely fashion for once, just to confuse people. My backing band was epic, and encompassed multitudes. I am so blessed.

I remain totally grateful to have been Consonance's Ghostmistress. It was an honor, and I had a fantastic time. The Consonance set list, with arrangement* notes, was as follows:

1. "The Sealskin and the Story and the Sky." (Seanan, vocals; Vixy Dockrey, Maya Bohnhoff, backing vocals; Tony Fabris, guitar; Brenda Sutton, bodhran; Teresa Powell, bass; Dr. Mary Crowell, piano; Amy McNally, fiddle.)
2. "The Ghost of Lilly Kane." (Seanan, vocals; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle.)
3. "Mama Said." (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Brenda, coconuts; Amy, fiddle; Mary, piano; Teresa, bass.)
4. "Dare to Dream." (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle.)
5. "Small Mended Corners" (Talis Kimberley cover). (Seanan, Mary, Vixy, vocals; Maya, backing vocals; Tony, guitar; Amy, fiddle.)
6. "Rain King/Still Catch the Tide" (Counting Crows/Talis Kimberley cover). (Seanan, vocals; Vixy, Mary, Maya, backing vocals; Jeff Bohnhoff, guitar; Brenda, bodhran; Teresa, bass; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle; Gwen Knighton, harp.)
7. "Landslide" (Fleetwood Mac cover). (Seanan, vocals; Mary, Vixy, Teresa, Maya, backing vocals; Teresa, bass; Jeff, guitar; Amy, fiddle.)
8. "Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves." (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Brenda, bodhran; Teresa, bass; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle.)
9. "My Story Is Not Done." (Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Brenda, bodhran; Teresa, bass; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle.)

ENCORE: "Evil Laugh." (Seanan, Vixy, Amy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Teresa, bass; Mary, piano.)

The bridge for "Wicked Girls" was standard for a change, because we are unpredictable like that.

As always: "The Ghost of Lilly Kane," "Mama Said," "My Story Is Not Done," and "Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves" are on Wicked Girls. "Evil Laugh" and "Still Catch the Tide" are on Stars Fall Home (out of print). "Small Mended Corners" is on Talis Kimberley's amazing Archetype Cafe. "Rain King" is on August and Everything After by the Counting Crows.

"The Seal Skin and the Story and the Sky" and "Dare to Dream" have not yet been recorded.

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

(*It was a big band and a lot of skin-of-our-teeth arrangement, so I may get some of my instrumentation notes wrong. I will fix if this is pointed out to me, and mean absolutely no offense of any kind. I am simply a frazzled blonde.)

Psst. Guess where I'm going to be this weekend. If you guessed Consonance, Northern California's very own filk convention, you're right! Here is the website:

http://www.consonance.org/

I am their Ghostmistress! Or maybe their Toastmistress. Hmm. I'm not quite sure, but I guess I'll find out when I get there, since they'll either hand me a proton pack or a microphone (vote ghosts, ghosts are awesome). Regardless, I have a concert Friday night at 9:00 PM! I'm going to be performing with some of my favorite people: Vixy and Tony, Amy McNally, Dr. Mary Crowell, Jeff Bohnhoff, Brenda Sutton...it's going to be amazing. And you will not believe this set list. I barely believe it. It's like whoa.

It's a weekend packed with awesome. Brooke has a concert! And Amy! And the Three Weird Sisters, all four of them (it's a thing)! And I have a signing Saturday morning! You should totally try to be there. It's going to be amazing.

Yay, Consonance!

It's been a week since my guest slot at Conclave—how time does fly!—and I'm almost back to a state of semi-normal. Michigan was beautiful, and filled with cornfields, which is always a good way to endear yourself to me. (Also endearing: the number of truly awesome meals I was taken for during the convention. I usually under-eat at cons, resulting in low blood sugar and a look of puzzled misery. This con had the opposite problem, resulting in the strong desire to take a nice long nap.) This means that it's time to post the set list for my concert, accompanied with lyric links and helpful notations. My backing band was the truly awesome Wild Mercy, plus the lovely Dr. Mary Crowell. I am a very lucky girl.

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

1. "Counting Crows." (Seanan, vocals; Barry Childs-Helton, guitar; Sally Childs-Helton, drums; Jennifer Midkiff, bass; Debbie Gates, piano; Amy McNally, fiddle.)
2. "The Sealskin and the Story and the Sky." (Seanan, vocals; Barry, guitar; Sally, bodhran; Jennifer, harp; Dr. Mary Crowell, piano; Amy, fiddle.)
3. "How Much Salt?" (Seanan, Debbie, vocals; Barry, guitar; Sally, drums; Amy, fiddle; Mary, piano.)
4. "Take Advantage." (Seanan, vocals; Debbie, Jen, backing vocals; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle; Jen, harp; Barry, guitar; Sally, drums.)
5. "Build A Chain." (Seanan, vocals; Debbie, Jen, backing vocals; Debbie, piano; Amy, fiddle; Jen, harp; Barry, guitar; Sally, drums.)

BONUS: "The Ghost of Lilly Kane." (Seanan, vocals; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle.)

6. "Jack's Place." (Seanan, vocals; Debbie, Jen, backing vocals; Debbie, piano; Amy, fiddle; Jen, harp; Barry, guitar; Sally, drums.)
7. "Fly Little Bird." (Seanan, Barry, Sally, Debbie, Jen, Amy, vocals.)
8. "Still Catch the Tide" (Talis Kimberley cover). (Seanan, vocals; Barry, guitar; Sally, drums; Debbie, bass; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle; Jen, harp.)
9. "Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves." (Seanan, Jen, vocals; Barry, guitar; Sally, bodhran; Debbie, bass; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle.)
10. "My Story Is Not Done." (Seanan, vocals; Barry, guitar; Sally, drums; Jen, harp; Debbie, bass; Mary, piano; Amy, fiddle.)

The bridge for "Wicked Girls" was standard, except for...

"Marnie serves scotches, and Mary plays tricks,
While Amy calls music from wires and sticks,
And the rules that we live by are simple and clear..."

As always: "Counting Crows," "How Much Salt?," "Jack's Place," "The Ghost of Lilly Kane," "My Story Is Not Done," and "Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves" are on Wicked Girls. "Take Advantage," and "Still Catch the Tide" are on Stars Fall Home (out of print). "Fly Little Bird" is on Pretty Little Dead Girl.

"The Seal Skin and the Story and the Sky" and "Build a Chain" have not yet been recorded.

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

(*It was a big band and a lot of skin-of-our-teeth arrangement, so I may get some of my instrumentation notes wrong. I will fix if this is pointed out to me, and mean absolutely no offense of any kind. I am simply a frazzled blonde.)

I am home from Reno! Finally. I think I may be half-dead, and I definitely need a lot more of a nap than I'm going to be getting in the near future. Here, then, is my extremely truncated and specialized convention report.

The Good.

* Joe's Diner! Kate, Victor, and I arrived early, and were able to wander around, running errands. This led us to discovering an awesome little diner, just far enough from the convention center to be inaccessible if you didn't have a car (and thus entirely uncrowded throughout the weekend). Cheap, delicious food, real malts, and a waitress who came to know us all by name as we returned again and again for delicious meals. Yay!

* Also during our running around, I found a hardcover copy of Hellspark, one of my favorite hard-to-find books. (Actually, Victor found it. But he is a loving Victor, and he gave it unto me.) I will love it always.

* I wound up in two hotel rooms, one shared with Kate (and connected via adjoining door to Victor), one shared with Wes, Mary, and Amy. Both rooms were awesome in different ways, and I couldn't have asked for better roommates.

* "Just A Minute," where I not only became the new champion, I got to do it while hanging out with awesome people (including two of my favorite people, Paul and Caroline). Betcha John regrets telling me that lists were legal...

* Lauren Beukes's sloth! I nearly stole that thing. I still want to.

* Delivering an impassioned verbal smackdown during the zombie panel.

* Interviewing Tricky Pixie, Bill Wellingham, and this year's COMPLETELY AWESOME Campbell nominees. All on different panels, but still. I could not have shared a stage with more delightful people.

* Kaja hugs.

* Having a signing line longer than George R.R. Martin. It was bizarre and confusing, and totally fantastic.

* Brunch with Daniel and Kelly.

* Breakfast with Sheila.

* Surprise DDR with Kate and Vixy and Lauren and Amy.

* Dinner with Mike and Marnie and the posse, during which I received my official Barfleet tags. They're orange and green! I am truly loved.

...honestly, there were a lot of amazing people at WorldCon this year, but if I try to list them all, someone will be left off, because I am exhausted, and then we will all be sad. So please believe that I love all my friends, and I am so excited to have seen them, and I would not have survived this convention without them. Seriously. I would be dead.

The Bad.

* The one day when I didn't have, basically, a team of people handling me, I was unable to get any food for eleven hours, was repeatedly grabbed by people I don't know, and was even followed into the bathroom stall. Not the bathroom. THE ACTUAL STALL. Needless to say, I was not left alone again, resulting in my friends feeling put-upon, my feeling like I had to hide in my hotel room to have any privacy, and everyone being tense. Being grabbed is bad. It scares me.

* Smoking is allowed indoors in Reno. We were in Reno. I am not as sensitive to smoke as some of my friends, but I still feel pretty lousy, even after being home for almost two full days.

* The convention center was almost a mile away from my hotel, resulting in lots of walking back and forth in the extreme heat. Also, if I managed to forget something at the room, it stayed gone until I went home in the afternoon. This decentralized layout prevented a single Barcon from coalescing, and I am hence still faintly sad.

* The decentralized layout also meant that I saw some people I really care about rarely, if at all. Kate put it best when she noted that if you weren't part of the amoeba, we barely saw you.

* Finding things was almost impossible. I didn't even figure out where open filk was until Friday night, when I was doing "Whose Line?" across from it (an 11pm to 1am panel, so no, I didn't join the circle afterward). I made it to the dealer's hall twice, both times for under twenty minutes.

The Unhappy.

So. The Hugos. That happened.

You're not supposed to talk about being sad that you lost; it's considered poor form. Unfortunately, in this internet age, it's impossible to avoid addressing it at least a little if you have any sort of decent web presence. Not only is it obvious that you're avoiding an elephant, people keep hijacking other posts and other threads to tell you how sorry they are. That's worse for my sanity than having a few people sigh meaningfully at me, so I'm going to talk about this once, and have done.

Yes, I lost.

Yes, I am very sad about that. I wanted to win. Everybody wants to win. Wanting to win is human nature, and if you don't want to win, you decline the nomination. End of story.

Yes, I am aware that I lost by a very narrow margin. This doesn't make it easier. If anything, it makes it harder; what could I have done to make my book just twenty votes better? Rationally, I know this isn't a quantifiable thing, but, well. Me and numbers. It's a thing.

Yes, I hope that I get another shot next year.

No, I will not be responding to comments directly relating to the Hugos. I hope you understand why not. Congratulations to all the winners, and huge, huge thanks to everyone who voted. I came in second. I beat Bujold in the voting. That's a damn big deal. Maybe next time, we can win.

That was WorldCon, and now it's not. See you next year, in Chicago.

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

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

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

The bridge for "Wicked Girls" was...

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

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

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

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

See you next con!

So Mary and I have found this poem:

Spos'n the witches began to witch,
And you didn't know which witch was witch?
Well, spos'n?

Spos'n a h'ant appeared to you,
An' an old black rooster up and crew?
Well, spos'n?

Spos'n a pump-kin pumped hot flames,
From a place, you know, what nobody names?
Well, spos'n?

Spos'n a great big bug-a-boo
Reached out his long sharp claws for you?
Well, spos'n?

We both believe that we've seen it before, and that it is thus probably traditional, or a very close variant on something that is traditional. Lo, I beg of thee: can you find the source of this poem? We've sought. We've searched. We've...mostly told bad jokes and eaten candy corn.

Help!