Georgia Mason is fighting hard in this year's Unbound Cage Match, and she needs your help.

It's a simple scroll to the bottom and click to vote, and I really want to see Georgia make the finals. Can you imagine the Georgia Mason vs. Harry Dresden snark party? Because I can. Oh, yes, I can.

Please vote if you have a second.

I (as Mira Grant) was asking to put together a list of potential pandemics for Buzzfeed. I like anything that gives me an excuse to wallow in delicious virology, so...

http://www.buzzfeed.com/orbitbooks/10-epidemics-waiting-to-happen-that-you-wonat-e-16hk

Enjoy, and remember, medical science is more interested in keeping you alive than it is in cutting you up and reassembling you as a shambling horror.

Most of the time.

Happy Superbowl Sunday, if you like the sports, and happy Superb Owl Flight Day, if you don't like the sports. May your favorite team do the thing and win the points, and may the Superb Owl soar above your home without pausing to claim tribute in His mighty talons. It's random crap time!

So I realized that I never posted this awesome photo set by my darling Ryan. He took many, many awesome pictures of my custom Alice Price-Healy doll, repainted by the incredible talent over at Retrograde Works. I cannot praise either of their work highly enough. The pictures take my breath away. So does the doll.

Here is an old but beautifully informative post on word counts and how long your novel should be. Naturally, there will always be exceptions, but this is a good way to make yourself pause and go "why is my YA really 120k?" or "is my epic fantasy really done at 75k?" Fun for writers of all ages!

I genuinely want this board game to exist. Except for the part where all play sessions would end with hysterical sobbing and a mysterious lack of alcohol. WHERE HAS THE RUM GONE?!

If you're reading this today—yes, today, the day I posted it, not some weird day in the future that has become "today" through the alchemy of time—you should know that Feed is a daily deal on Amazon. You can get the eBook for $1.99, which is pretty damn amazing. If you've been waiting to pick it up, now's the time!

And that, as they say, is that. Hope you're all well. Hope the Owl doesn't carry you away.

Because the Owl just might, you know.

...a copy of Carniepunk!

Welcome to the fourth of the Twelve Days of Hogswatch. I am starting a new giveaway every day between now and January 6th (the day after my birthday). Each giveaway has different rules, and a different deadline, although all prizes will be mailed on January 9th, because I am bad at going to the post office.

The fourth giveaway is for a shiny new copy of Carniepunk, an awesome anthology I participated in this summer. This is going to be a random number drawing with a twist, because I am sleepy (that's been happening a lot lately) but still silly. So...

1. To enter, comment on this post.
2. If you are international, indicate both this and your willingness to pay postage.
3. Tell me what position you are applying for on the Midway. Impress me.
4. That's it.

I will choose the winner at 1PM PST on Monday, December 30th.

Game on!

...a copy of Velveteen vs. The Multiverse!

Welcome to the second of the Twelve Days of Hogswatch. I will be starting a new giveaway every day between now and January 6th (the day after my birthday). Each giveaway will have different rules, and a different deadline, although all prizes will be mailed on January 9th, because I am bad at going to the post office.

This giveaway is for a shiny new copy of Velveteen vs. The Multiverse, the second volume in the adventures of Velma "Velveteen" Martinez, crankiest superheroine this side of the Mississippi. This is going to be a random number drawing with a twist, because I am silly. So...

1. To enter, comment on this post.
2. If you are international, indicate both this and your willingness to pay postage.
3. Explain your superpower. What is it? How does it work? What are your strengths and weaknesses?

I will choose the winner at 1PM PST on Monday, December 30th, by randomly selecting two heroes and deciding the outcome of a fight. (Note: "my superpower is I can do anything" means you will inevitably be defeated by Squirrel Girl. That's what she's for. Remember that in the Velveteen-verse, cunning and treachery often defeats raw strength.)

Game on!

...an ARC of Half-Off Ragnarok!

Welcome to the first of the Twelve Days of Hogswatch. I will be starting a new giveaway every day between now and January 6th (the day after my birthday). Each giveaway will have different rules, and a different deadline, although all prizes will be mailed on January 9th, because I am bad at going to the post office.

The first giveaway is for a shiny new ARC of Half-Off Ragnarok, the third InCryptid adventure and the first starring Alex Price as our narrator. This is going to be a random number drawing, because I am sleepy. So...

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

I will choose the winner at 1PM PST on Monday, December 30th.

Game on!

Hey, San Francisco peeps: tomorrow night is the first ever Shipwreck event at The Booksmith in San Francisco, and I'm one of the competing authors. What's a Shipwreck? Well, to quote the website:

"Good theatre for bad literature? Marital aid for book nerds? Competitive erotic fan-fiction at its finest? Shipwreck is all of these things.

Six great writers will destroy one great book, one great character at a time, in service of the transcendent and the profane (and also laughs). Marvel as beloved characters are plucked from their worlds and made to do stuff they were never meant to do in places they were never meant to see."

Our inaugural book is The Great Gatsby, and uh. We surely have fucked things up. It's competitive erotic fanfiction, which is 1000% as horrifying as you think it is, and you're going to need to be there to believe it. (For the six or so of you who have read my entry, the competition part of things is blind, for the sake of fairness, so please don't comment revealing which character I was assigned.)

If you're in the Bay Area, it's just $10 to suffer indignities that none has ever suffered before, and to hear some hysterically filthy stuff read by a Shakespearean actor. Come for the LOLs, stay...well, stay for the LOLs, and the booze.

Shipwreck!

I'm doing an AMA (Ask Me Anything) tonight on Reddit. The link is here:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1aqoy0/hello_im_seanan_mcguire_i_write_urban_fantasy_and/

We're taking questions throughout the day, and then I'll be answering them at 7PM CST tonight. Please swing by and contribute some witty, insightful, interesting questions. Or, you know, ask me about the X-Men. Whatever makes you happy.

See you tonight!

This is one of those days that calls to mind the opening line of Clive Barker's classic The Thief of Time: "The great gray beast February had eaten Harvey Swick alive." February is a monster, and we're all being digested. In an effort to slow the process, here are a few interesting things from my link file.

Susan, who is splendid, and who makes amazing hand-crafted leather goods, is making leather wrist straps with the Ashes of Honor ding bat on them (with my permission, naturally). That's not all she has to offer (my cats love her catnip toys, for example). Check her out!

Here are some rejected warning signs for you. I basically want to put these all around my house, especially "Annnnnnnnd...you're infected." That, and "We Apologize For What is About to Occur," which may eventually be the title of one of my books.

Publishers Weekly did a profile on me and it's pretty much amazing. I'm just saying.

Also I went on the SF Signal Podcast and spent like, an hour talking about television and how the Syfy Channel Saturday night movies have lost their integrity. You can listen to the whole thing here. Warning: It turns out I swear a lot. Who knew?

In other news, I really need to do a couple of mega review round-ups; my link file is currently threatening to eat my soul in the night, and that would be bad.

Happy Wednesday!

A wonderful fundraiser has been put together in the name of my beloved friend, Jay Lake, who is currently battling a recurrence of his cancer. The fundraiser is at http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/Sequence-a-Science-Fiction-Writer/38705

To quote the description text:

"Jay Lake is an award-winning American author of ten science fiction novels and over 300 short stories. He is also one of more than a million Americans who have colon cancer. Diagnosed in April, 2008, Jay's cancer has progressed from a single tumor to metastatic disease affecting the lung and liver, recurring after multiple surgeries and chemotherapy courses, and multiplying from single tumor presentations to multiple tumors presentations. Jay is now in his fourth round of chemotherapy, but it's not clear that it's working, and his doctors have little to go on in terms of advising further courses of treatment for him. In short, things are not looking good for Jay. Not at all.

However, a new technology is becoming available—one that may offer his doctors a better option for treating the cancer. We're trying to raise funds to allow Jay to have whole genome sequencing. There is a small possibility that the results of such a test, which is more comprehensive than conventional genetic testing of tumors, may suggest a treatment path that Jay's doctor's may not have considered, and that could be life saving. It's a really small chance, and Jay knows that.

For this fundraiser, we have asked some science fiction and fantasy writers to donate an "Act of Whimsy" which they will share with the community as we reach milestones in our fundraising."

My act of whimsy? DISNEY MAGIC, BITCHES. I have promised an undisclosed act of filking, and here it is: I, and an assortment of the ever-rotating members of my mix and match band, will perform and record a cover of the Disney song of your choice in honor of Jay Lake. Animated movie? Musical? Live action classic? Phineas and Ferb? The possibilities, and the horrors, are endless. "Wreck It Wreck-It Ralph," "Age of Not Believing," "Rollercoaster," "That's How You Know"...whatever.

But first, we gotta pick a song. So! If you have donated ANY AMOUNT, go ahead and comment here with the name of the Disney song YOU want to hear. If the song you want has already been commented, do it again, as I will be using the random number generator to pick a song tomorrow afternoon at 5pm PST. I will NOT tell you what song has been chosen. ONLY TERROR WILL TELL. (Actual recording will have to wait until this cold gives me back my voice.)

This is honor system, guys; please only comment if you've donated, but I won't chase you down demanding proof.

GAME ON!

My foot's giving me trouble again, which means I'm hopped up on painkillers and not the best judge of what does and does not make sense. To celebrate this legally altered state, here. Have a review roundup.

Well, this is sort of a review and sort of an ongoing game of verbal volleyball, but here: have the long-belated link to the Babel Clash I did with Devon Monk. I really miss the Borders Blog. It was a great community, and they rustled up some excellent postage. Plus they let me talk about the cold dead eyes of Care Bears.

Random Reads posted a review of Feed and Deadline, and says, "Grant constructs a very detailed and well researched world with wonderful, sympathetic characters. The action starts immediately and once it hooks you in, it doesn't let go. The pace is unrelenting, climaxing in a tragic denouement, with a scenario that I've never before seen an author attempt. I could not put this book down." Awesome.

Russ Allbery has posted a review of Feed, and says, " I utterly fell in love with this book; the world is a better place because it exists." Awwww. (The review also contains some absolutely fair criticisms, and I salute the reviewer for offering them.)

Blogcritics has posted a review of Deadline, and says, "Grant takes the political intrigue of Feed and ratchets it up to 11 to a stunning conclusion in Deadline." Victory!

And now for something completely different: Reflections on Reading Romance has reviewed Home Improvement: Undead Edition, and says, of my story, "Despite the absence of my favorite, hottie Cait Sidhe king Tybalt, the story is a delight and a great example of McGuire’s style. Definitely recommend this one!" Also: "For me the Patricia Briggs, Melissa Marr, and Seanan McGuire stories were definite highlights of the collection and more than made the purchase worth the price." Win.

I am well-pleased.

At last it has come; the final round of the Ranting Dragon cover battle is upon us. On one side, the armies of Chuck Wendig. On the other, the armies of my own. What do we fight for?

We fight for the title of Best Cover of 2012. The entrants, Blackbirds, and Discount Armageddon. The prize? INFAMY.

Chuck is a dear friend of mine, at whose head I often hurl foul profanities. This is the basis for our relationship. And Blackbirds is a truly gorgeous cover; if I lose to it, I will feel that my battle has not been in vain. (It's also a truly gorgeous book, which you should totally read, assuming the phrase "foul profanities" is not your kryptonite. He has swear words like I have talking mice, and it is awesome.)

Chuck has said a few words about his cover, and I thought I should say something about mine. Here's something you may or may not know: I begged my publisher to give me Aly Fell. Literally begged, along with mailing my editor half of his publicly available images, while going "see? He has the right quirky cheesecake feel, he would be amazing." When they said he'd agreed to do the book, I cried.

I cried again when I got his roughs for the cover. Literally hand-over-mouth, can't-see, sat at my desk and sobbed, because it was perfect. It managed to be quirky, almost ironic cheesecake: perfectly Verity, perfectly sincere, perfectly Price. This is a series that's aimed at a very strange sort of demographic, almost like Adventure Time meets Sanctuary meets Leverage. I needed a cover that got all those things across, and Aly Fell did it magnificently.

It still makes me tear up when I remember seeing the cover for the first time. I cried again when I got the cover for Midnight Blue-Light Special. Just, "Oh, there you are Verity," and all the tears. All the tears, always.

I love both these covers, and while I would of course appreciate it if you voted for me, I will not feel slighted in any way if I don't win; it's apples and oranges at this point, and Chuck and I have one thing in common. We both won the cover artist lottery.

My darlingest dearest Paul Cornell asked me to write a post about one of the twelve days of Christmas for his blog, and because he has a newborn son and thus gets to ask me for free content without being looked at sadly, I wrote a post about the hidden blackbirds that come on the fourth day. Four colly birds for all of you!

Jennifer Brozek had a lovely dream and I was in it and it was wonderful, and now you can see it in illustrated, murderous form. Happiness and joy.

This Etsy store has the best handmade catnip eyeballs in the world. There is no joy like watching a cat gleefully maul a giant human eye. NO JOY IN THIS WORLD. Plus we've sold out their stock like, twice since I discovered them. Let's do it again.

I have a Tumblr now. Tumblrs are cool. And while this won't be true for long, if you go there right now, you'll actually get a lovely graphic illustration of how many fucks I have left to give. Hint: not many.

In limited edition news, A Fantasy Medley 2 and When Will You Rise remain available from Subterranean Press, and Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots remains available from ISFIC Press. Velveteen is available in hardcover and ebook formats, the others are hardcover only.

Now, this is important: all three of the books listed above are limited edition, and the print runs are really small. So while they're available now, they won't be available forever. Please keep that in mind, because I will just look sad and shake my head if asked in six months whether I have any for sale. Also, you can get When Will You Rise and Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots signed and personalized for the holidays by contacting Borderlands Books.

And that's the news.

I have been tagged by the ever-lovely NK Jemisin to do the "next big thing" meme that has been floating around, and as I am an amenable soul (when I want to be), I thought I'd give it a go. So...

1. What is the working title of your next book?

Midnight Blue-Light Special. Which is probably the final title at this point, since the ARCs have been printed and I don't enjoy having things thrown at me by my publisher. They're generally amiable over at DAW. I try not to push it.

2. Where did the idea come from for the book?

At the end of Discount Armageddon, Verity was in a pretty good place as re: basically everything. She defeated the bad guy, solved the mystery, kissed a pretty boy, and pretty much won at life. So I started from the position of "how can I ruin her day?", and it all went downhill from there.

3. What genre does your book fall under?

Urban fantasy, with just a hint of paranormal romance. The CW, rather than HBO.

4. What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

Can I have a TV show instead? If I could have absolutely anyone, no barriers, I'd cast Alona Tal (Jo from Supernatural, Meg from Veronica Mars) as Verity, and Ryan Cartwright (Mr. Nigel-Murray from Bones, Gary from Alphas) as Dominic. And I think Amber Benson would make an amazing Sarah.

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

When cryptozoologist Verity Price finds herself dealing with a Covenant purge of Manhattan, she quickly has to redefine her idea of "bad situation."

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I am represented by Diana Fox, of Fox Literary. Midnight Blue-Light Special will be published by DAW Books.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

About six months, give or take a trip to Disney World.

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

It has a similar structure to Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld, and a similar snappy feel to Tanya Huff's Keeper Chronicles or Gale Girl books.

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Honestly, Verity did. The character has a lot of momentum behind her. At this point, I just point her at things and watch what happens.

10. What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?

Talking pantheistic cryptid mice worship the main character as a living conduit to the gods. And also to the baked goods section at Safeway.

I have been doing stuff! On the internet! With people!

Have you ever wondered whether I had guilty pleasures? Well, I don't actually believe in being guilty about the things that bring me joy, but that didn't stop me from appearing on My Countless Lives to talk about my not-so-guilty pleasures. Looking at this list, I believe I can say, without reservations, that I'm a little weird. But I'm also super-fun to go to Disneyland with, so it all balances out.

Orbit asked me to write a thing about fictional politicians. So I wrote a thing about fictional politicians. Being as I am me, it's a pretty eclectic list. I kept it short by leaving off people who inherited their titles and became kick-ass royals, because yes, Neo-Queen Serenity is awesome, but that would have been the point at which things got completely out of control.

Oh, hey, I did an interview (as Mira Grant) for the Examiner. So that's a thing and you should totally read it.

Oh! Also! I did a sort of micro-interview with Romantic Times, also as Mira Grant. Not many questions, but the ones they asked were fun, so that works out.

Also, this one time, at band camp, I interviewed Mira Grant, and things quickly got really weird. So that's a thing which I have done on the internet.

And those are things and stuff what I have done on the internet.

Doobie-doo.

I believe we've discussed this before, but: in the filk community, there is a man by the name of Bob Kanefsky. He is also a verb. To "be Kanef'd" is to have one of your songs gripped in the white-hot maw of his evil genius, chewed up, and spat out as something entirely different. If he and Weird Al Yankovic got into gonzo parody battle (probably in an abandoned warehouse somewhere, with lots of exposed beams and weirdly good lighting), Kanef would win with subtlety and horrifyingly accurate internal rhyme.

To be Kanef'd is a rite of passage in the filk community. It is the announcement that yes, you have made it as a songwriter; yes, you have created something good enough to be worth tinkering with.

The first time I was Kanef'd, I like to've died. Literally—I couldn't breathe. And as with most creative people, he's only improved since then. At the Circus on Saturday night, he launched a new parody at me, using Vixy and Tony as his delivery mechanism.

"I get paid to write a fairy tale:
Tinkerbell’s detective daughter,
Fourteen years of unread mail,
Like a fish out of the water..."

Oh, yeah. He went there.

"Deadline: About the Author" is set to the tune of "My Story Is Not Done," and contains spoilers for/references to the Newsflesh trilogy, the Toby Daye books, and Discount Armageddon. And it is hysterical.

Bob Kanefsky, I salute you.

I shall have my revenge.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It's been a while since we've had a good fantasy casting thread, and this promises to be a crazy week at work, so I figure it's time to have a pretty party. This week, we're casting Feed. Feel free to cast other works in the Newsflesh universe as well (so if you want a high-profile actress for Becks, when it's essentially a cameo in the first book, explain how you'll use her in the second). Pictures are a plus!

A few things to keep in mind:

There is absolutely no reason, by the text, that the actors cast for Georgia and Shaun need to be white. George is described as "pale" after she's been inside for a long period of time, but that's it. The only characters that really need to be cast Caucasian are Buffy and the older Masons (Stacy and Michael). Buffy because she's blonde, the Masons because they're a very specific sort of suburban archetype gone horribly wrong.

Your Shaun and Georgia should be similar in age, because they're going to be playing off each other a lot.

Explaining your casting/supplying pictures is a big, big plus.

At the end of the week—well, Thursday; I'm on a plane all day Friday—I'll pick the dream cast I like best and send them a signed copy of Blackout. Because I hate the post office but hate thinking about addresses more, this is open to everyone.

Have fun!

Thomas says that it's time for an open thread, because I have used up all of my erudite and coherent, and have been staring at my screen, not actually doing anything, for hours. This time would be better spent petting the cat, ergo, it needs to stop. So here is a picture of Thomas cuddling his beloved plush Perry the Platypus to get you started. Nothing starts a conversation like a Maine Coon hugging a secret animal agent.

But anyway. Open thread! Say anything! Woo! Thomas says so.



Comment amnesty is on for this post, but I will be reading, and may reply anyway, because I'm wacky like that.

Peace out, y'all.

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

If someone else had been the first to die?

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

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

Rise up while you can.

Now is the time on Sprockets where we continue trying to murder the link file, in part because the remains of this cold have left me cotton-headed and glassy-eyed. Now is not the time for deep thoughts. Now is the time for links and listlessness. And so...

Look! It's the Salon Futura interview I recorded immediately after winning the Campbell! Just in case you were starting to think I was exaggerating about the size of this file. Sniff. I miss my tiara...

And here's another interview, this time with Fantasy Faction. There were some interesting capitalization and punctuation choices made in the transcription of this interview. Read it, and marvel!

The Guilded Earlobe did seven questions with Mira Grant. Thrill as I defend zombies as being for everybody, not just for the boys, and explain why I should have a tank. You think I should have a tank, don't you?

The wonderful Kenda at Lurv ala Mode had me stop by to explain a bit about surviving Faerie; I may eventually use this format again, because it was disturbingly fun. Seriously. Best guest post ever.

Oh, right, I promised you some reviews. Here's Fantasy Faction's review of Feed, which says, "To be blunt, I find Feed to be one of the best novels about zombies that I have ever read." Moving on! To...

The Fantasy Faction review of Deadline, which says, "I don't think that Grant should have done anything differently with Deadline. This book was amazing, and an excellent continuation of the Newsflesh trilogy. I know that I will be reading this book, and Feed, again before Blackout releases next year. Probably a few times, if I'm to be honest. I'm looking forward to the conclusion of the story, but at the same time I'm so sad for it to come to an end."

I am, too.

And that ends this roundup.

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.)

Saturday night was my belated natal day celebration, wherein several* of us gathered at The Mint in San Francisco to get our karaoke on. Now, if you're going to get your karaoke on, The Mint is the place to do it. They have an incredibly large, diverse catalog of songs, and their resident KJ**, Frank, is a snarky miracle. Plus they have pear cider on tap. It's a perfect storm of karaoke awesome.

Because it was my birthday, Vixy actually flew out from Seattle on Friday night, and we were able to spend a good chunk of Saturday ambling around San Francisco. I showed her Toby's new neighborhood, and we ate lunch at the Phoenix. All was well. Our reservation was for six; we reached The Mint about ten minutes early, and secured our tables. Several people were already there, karaoke-ing away. Some of them were even sober.

The rest of our party trickled in by dibs and dabs; you never knew who was going to show up next. Naamen, for example, spent an hour at the wrong bar before he checked his email and realized he was in the wrong place. Oops.

Successful karaoke requires an odd mix of "taking it totally seriously" and "not taking it seriously at all." You either need to choose songs that sound good in your range, or songs that are utterly ridiculous, like our lengthy run of Disney standards (Kate's "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" was awesome). You need to have a sense of humor, but not clown it up so much that it hurts to watch you. Because we are a group of lunatics, we're very, very good at successful karaoke. Not all of us can sing, but we can all laugh at ourselves while still being PROFOUNDLY SERIOUS about the source of our laughter.

We sang rock. We sang country. We sang "Bohemian Rhapsody" en masse. Morgan claimed not to know Melissa Etheridge, so Kate did "Come to My Window"; Morgan allowed that she knew Melissa Etheridge after all. Morgan sang "The Final Countdown," and we were all kazoos. Vixy sang "Barracuda," and I watched all the drunk sorority girls hate her forever (it was adorable). Victor and Lara did "Istanbul," which was hysterical and amazing. Sunil sang "Dragula," JUST FOR ME. In short, we had a seven-hour karaoke party of karaoke party awesomeocity.

At one point, having already exhausted the songs that other people wanted me to sing ("When You're Good to Mama" for Kate, "Raise Your Glass" for Vixy), I decided to do "Independence Day," by Martina MacBride. Only I don't really know her version. I know Talis's version, which has less spousal abuse, and a lot more alien invasions. So I figured what the heck, if the scansion worked, I'd run with it.

The scansion worked. I ran with it. Turns out I know the whole thing! The drunk people looked confused, since they could tell I wasn't singing what was on the screen. The sober people cracked up. One nice man even came up to me after to tell me that I was his favorite performance of the night.

Kate and Morgan saw us out with a duet of "Don't Stop Believing" that got literally the entire bar singing, and then we all limped, exhausted, home.

And that was my karaoke party. We're going to do it again soon. Frank promised me he'd get the new Taylor Swift***, and I need to get my karaoke on.

(*The Mint is not a massive establishment, so "several" was defined by how much space we could successfully reserve. Another party had already reserved most of the seating area for their loud drunk bridal shower. In the balance of things, I wish we'd reserved first, but we live with what we get.)

(**Karaoke DJ. Basically, he's the guy who decides whether you get the song you asked for, or the obscure Swedish cover that's been pitch-shifted up an octave and shifted to a faster tempo. Be nice to your KJ. Tip your KJ.)

(***"I think her ever-present frown is a little troubling. She thinks I'm psycho 'cause I like to rhyme her name with things.")

ME: *asleep*
ALICE: *asleep*
LILLY: *asleep*
THOMAS: "Bluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurgh hack hack hack blurgh bleah puke puke puke."
ALICE AND LILLY: "MONKEY MAKE HIM STOP."
ME: "Huh wha' is it time for school yet?"
CLOCK: *1:45 AM*
ME: "...oh I am going to make slippers."

So that happened. Poor Thomas decided to celebrate my birthday by throwing up all over the hallway shortly after midnight, resulting in my first birthday activity being "mop up all the cat puke." Also, ew. He seems fine, just unhappy, and got snuggles before I went back to bed and dreamt* about being eaten by a giant gar.**

ME: *asleep*
ALICE: *asleep*
LILLY: *asleep*
THOMAS: *sulking*
ALARM: "Good morning good morning good morning GOOD MOOOOOOORNING!"
CATS: "MONKEY MAKE IT STOP."
ME: "I hate everything."
FACEBOOK: "HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROM THE POPULATION OF HALLOWEENTOWN! LIKE, REALLY, THE WHOLE POPULATION!!!!!!"
ME: "...okay, maybe not everything."

Today is my thirty-fourth birthday! Which is pretty awesome, since I, like most nihilistic teenagers, never really expected to live past the age of twenty. I definitely didn't expect to be writing books and snuggling cats and going to Disney World and having amazing friends and basically getting a pretty good score at the game of Life. Even if my little car lacks other pegs (which I never really wanted anyway). Mom is checking up on Thomas throughout the day, but he really does seem to have just eaten a bug that didn't agree with him.

Tonight, there will be writing, and maybe cupcakes, if I'm feeling ambitious and like walking down to the bakery before I go home. And this weekend, there will be blessedly nothing. I will rest, and it will be glorious.

Happy birthday to me.

(*Dear spellcheck: screw you, that is the correct past tense of the word "dream.")
(**It's a kind of fish. With bonus teeth.)

Today is November 30th. For those of you who have been busting your asses to survive National Novel Writing Month, this is it; this is where the deadline looms, and you suddenly scream "BUT I'M NOT READY!" as you begin frantically paddling your boat backward up the stream.

...or maybe that's just me when I see a deadline looming. We all react differently. Now, I didn't participate in Nanowrimo; it's always Nanowrimo at my house, and to avoid wear and tear on the Machete Squad, I'm usually rotating two to four projects at any one time, allowing me to deliver them the next segment for review in a convenient 10,000 to 30,000 word chunk, rather than dropping a complete unedited novel on them every few months. But I respect the people who decide to find out first-hand how difficult it is to write a single full-length work. And in honor of your efforts, here are some links you might find helpful.

First off, here are my fifty thoughts on writing, many of which have been turned into essays. Some of them may strike you as useful. And if you're really morbidly curious, here are fifty more thoughts on writing, bringing it to an even hundred. I am not currently planning to turn the second set into essays. That way lies madness.

Now that you're living in Writerland, you may want to reference this handy phrasebook to help you get around. If you've been here before, this more advanced phrasebook may be what you're looking for.

And of course, wear sunscreen, and do research. (I don't care if "Sunscreen" parodies are no longer cool. I am not fixated on cool.)

Happy writing!

I have once again contributed Epic Silliness to the Orbit blog to celebrate a holiday.

Annabel Lee, After the Rising.

Go forth and be amused. And remember, once she's dead, she is no longer your girlfriend.

I am still sick, which means that my attendance at this weekend's OVFF may be in question. I'm still planning as if I'll be better in time, and so I have a very important question to put to the floor:

Which of my two otherwise identical dresses should I pack for the Pegasus Banquet? The orange, or the green?

Lilly says that it's time for an open thread. Obey the Siamese. (Lilly also says that whomever caused her monkey to leave the house for an entire weekend will face her wrath. This is because Lilly is secretly a tiny medieval warlord in a fuzzy, soft, pettable coat. Who's the cutest destroyer? IZZIT YOU?!)

But anyway. Open thread! Say anything! Woo! Lilly says so.



Comment amnesty is on for this post, but I will be reading, and may reply anyway, because I'm wacky like that.

See y'all next week!

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

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

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

Game on!

ETA: Things covered last time we did this: inheritance, fosterage, madness, historical records, and Cait Sidhe court structure.

I was asked to write a fragment involving a) Toby and b) a traditional folk or fairy tale for the blog Dark Faerie Tales. Being the easily amused soul that I am, I obliged by combining Toby Daye with the tale of Katie Crackernuts. You can read the original post here, and enter to win a Toby book by leaving a comment.

Unfortunately, somehow, the way the text was posted stripped out the special characters, like quotation marks. So I am posting it again here, for your amusement and edification. Free Toby past the cut-tag!

( Click here for antic silliness, Tybalt, and Toby hating her footwear. Again.Collapse )

Since website issues are thankfully limited, I'm going to kick off a second ARC giveaway. This one will be open until Monday, and is one of the ones that requires actual effort (sorry about that). This time, we're going visual! Make icons, do a photo manip, draw a picture, grab some friends and pose, whatever makes you happy. The rules:

1. The image must relate directly in some way to one of my available works. Meaning that both Velveteen and the Rose Marshall stories are eligible. Stage a hitchhiking ghost! Draw a bunny superhero! Or stick with Toby, or the Masons, and have a blast!

2. LOLcats are also eligible.

3. Once your submission is prepared, link or post it on this entry. Feel free to explain what's going on.

4. That's all.

The winner will be chosen Monday, August 15th, via random number generator.

Who wants to win an ARC of One Salt Sea? Good. I'm going to make it easy on you, because I'm feeling mellow that way. To enter...

1. Comment on this entry. Be sure you're commenting on the entry, not on someone else's comment; only comments left on the actual entry will be eligible.
2. Tell me one thing you think will happen (or hope will happen) in One Salt Sea. You don't have to be serious! Make something up if it amuses you. I love me some silliness.
3. Wait.

I will choose a winner, using our old friend, Random Number Generator, on Monday, August 1st. So yes, this is a very short contest, and you should get in while the getting is good.

Game on!

I am currently trying to transform my place of residence from a welter of stuff* into something halfway functional. I have a lot of motivation. I not only want to have a viable idea of what I have, thus telling me what I need to acquire if I want to finish various collections, I want to get rid of things that I don't really want. That way, I can pack with more assurance. Every move is focused on that sweet eventual goal: Seattle. I want to get out of the Bay Area, and after co-habitation with The Housemate for over a decade, my extraction has to be slow and careful, lest we wind up going to war over who owns that battered old paperback book.**

Some of the de-cluttering efforts are obvious. For example, I am putting books in boxes, indexing their contents, and putting the boxes in a big stack of boxes (also filled with books). I am putting things I have no emotional attachment to/desire to keep in other boxes, and sending them away on a regular basis. I am freely giving things to strangers. Other efforts are less obvious. I bought two new cat trees, because cats knock stuff over, thus creating more mess than they will when given places of their own. I've been saving boxes, which makes more mess, at least until the boxes are filled and put away. And so on.

My brain is no tidier. In trying to clean up my link list, I found things that have literally been waiting for their shining moment for up to two years. Will I ever really get around to some of these? No. No, I will not. That makes me sad, but I'd like to see the floor in my rotating "to do" file someday, just like I'd like to see it in my kitchen, and so away they go. Farewell, sweet links. I hardly knew ye.

Still. Once, Feed was a best-selling title in an Australian bookstore. I was nominated for a Romantic Times award. Apex put out an anthology with my wacky Fighting Pumpkins alien invasion story in it. And I needed to take a nap.

I will probably do some really random review posts in the next few days, just to clear out some links that have waited long past their best-by date. This has never been a judgment on those reviews in specific; it's just how out of control the file has gotten. I need a maid to go with that nap, I swear.

Anybody want to come over and help me index stuff?

(*Let's be clear here: most of it is good stuff. That's why it's there. But not all of it is good stuff. Some of it is bad stuff. Some of it is the kind of stuff that seemed like good stuff six years ago, when I was a different person, or when I really thought that someday I, too, would be a world-class guitarist. And some of it, sad to say, is crap.)

(**If you don't think this is something worth going to war over, you're either not a bibliophile or have never had someone try to take one of your best-beloved books away from you. Not being in the mood to start global thermonuclear destruction, I am doing my best to avoid this.)

Well, it's time; time to vote. Five entries have been selected by the random number generator, and five entries have been selected by me. Now it's in your hands. Choose your favorite, shill for your favorite, whatever works for you. The poll will remain open until Friday afternoon, at which point I will announce who gets an ARC of their very own.

Game on!

My part of Northern California is currently experiencing its first really serious heat wave of 2011. I know better than to whine about this too much; by this point in the year, in a normal year, we'd be on heat wave three or four, and temperatures would be trending substantially higher than they are.

That being said, Thomas is only eleven months old, and this is actually the first really serious heat wave of his life. My house has air conditioning, but it doesn't run twenty-four hours a day, which means that it can get warm inside during the gaps. (Never dangerously warm. I am a good cat owner who does not bake her babies. But there's a big difference between "springtime cool" and "what is this shit?", especially when you've been genetically designed to go tromping around in heavy snow, mocking Jack Frost for his inability to nip at your nose.) Alice and Lilly are quietly miserable, but Thomas? Thomas is distressed.

Monday night, I got home from a hot, sweaty day at work, and promptly jumped into the shower, because sometimes, that's the only solution available to you. The Maine Coons thought so, too. In short order, I was joined in the shower by both Alice and Thomas, who splashed around in the water, got thoroughly drenched, and then took turns sitting on the plug so as to create a puddle for the other to swim in. Yes. My cats cooperatively filled the bathtub in order to have swampy funtimes.

After our shower, they squelched around the house like extras from Sigrid and the Sea Monsters until I chased them down and toweled them off. I think they're still annoyed about that. Sadly, their inability to understand "don't walk on keyboards while wet" is why they can't have a wading pool.

Heat wave with cats. It's going to be a long July.

Item the first: remember that I currently have a random-number giveaway for Deadline and some swag gathering entries. I'll be picking my three winners tomorrow. For details on how to enter and what you can potentially win, please see the post I've linked above. Go ahead. I can wait.

Item the second: this has literally been sitting in my link soup for a year, waiting for me to find something that makes it topical. As I have failed, I am now providing the link in isolation, because it amuses me. Moshez comments on zombies and weapons, and why my Horror Survival FAQ is sometimes sub-optimal. Join me in giggling.

Item the third: while I'm linking to random crap that makes me smile, here. Have the Animal Review review of the deep sea anglerfish. They give the anglerfish an overall F for being horrifying and upsetting and not really very friendly at all. Amusingly enough, these are all the reasons I give the anglerfish an overall A. For AWESOME.

Item the fourth: I can't remember if I ever actually linked to these, despite their being, you know, mad awesome, so here. Have a link to some absolutely gorgeous icons that were made using lyrics from my latest album, Wicked Girls. The icons, which are by snowishness, cannot help but make me happy, and so I am sharing them with you.

Item the fifth: Megan Lara's art is pure hammered awesome.

Item the sixth: I managed to find the Dead Tired Frankie Stein doll last night, which means a) I now have all the individual Dead Tired dolls except for Cleo De Nile, who I'm hoping to find this weekend, b) everyone at my local Toys R Us knows me on sight, and c) I am a total nerd. I am, thus far, a total nerd who has managed to resist the lure of the ball-jointed Soom doll, however, so I'm calling this a win for me, even as I call it a loss for my shelf space.

Item the seventh: I am so tired it physically hurts. I have to sleep tonight, or I'm just going to dissolve off my own bones like an overcooked chicken or one of those airline passengers in the first episode of Fringe. I didn't sleep at all on Tuesday night, and last night was our first really hot night of the summer, so the cats kept waking me up to freak out. Please play nicely today, as I may start to tremble and cry otherwise.

What's news with you?

Who likes free stuff? I know I do! Plus I just got my author's copies of the North American edition of Deadline, which is gorgeous and makes me happy. Also I have a fantastic book trailer. So how can I combine these things?

Like this.

I am giving away two signed copies of the North American edition of Deadline to people who watch and link to the book trailer. To enter, do the following:

1. Watch the trailer, because it is awesome. If you have a YouTube account, you can also leave a comment to let Lauren, who did the graphic design, know how awesome it is. This is optional.

2. Link to the trailer. Blog, Facebook, Twitter, bathroom wall graffiti (although in that case, I want a picture).

3. Comment here letting me know that you have done both things.

...and that's all. I'll pick two winners via random number on Friday, and then? Wonderful goodness can be arriving in your mailbox! North American entries only, please, unless you're willing to pay some of the postage; shipping books outside the continent is just too expensive for me right now. :( I'm sorry about that.

But wait, there's more. I will pick a third winner, also by random number, and they will receive an exclusive button set—one each of the Feed and Deadline buttons made by Orbit for handing out at conventions. Not sold in any store! Totally spiffing!

Oh, and because this trailer launched last week, step #2 can absolutely be retroactive. So if you already blogged or Tweeted or whatever, just let me know, and I'll enter you in the drawing. Not that I'd object to your doing it again, but my goal here is not spamming the internet, because spamming the internet makes people sad and bitey.

You know what comes next:

GAME ON!

1. It is now twenty-one days to Deadline. I am scrambling to catch up on "Countdown" (the series of little in-universe snapshots has a name!), and writing ahead so as not to get caught flat-footed by my next convention adventure. I'm not certain I'll have internet while at Wiscon, so the last few pieces may be posted a little late, but they will be posted.

2. The cats responded to my going to Leprecon by magically acquiring giant felted mats which should have taken them well over a week to create. Last night's brushing adventure was a lot of fun for everyone involved, let me tell you what. Also, ow. Also, I am so saying "screw this noise" when I get home from BEA/Wiscon, and just taking the pair of them straight to the professional groomer for trimming and mat removal. I am not going through that again if I don't have to.

3. My whole house is clean! Why is my whole house clean? Because my mother is awesome! Why is my mother awesome? Because she cleaned my house! The first rule of tautology club is the first rule of tautology club.

4. I get a Cat this weekend! Cat Valente is using my house as her base of operations during the San Francisco Bay Area branch of her tour for The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. She'll be at our best-beloved Borderlands Books this Saturday; there will be cupcakes, and carousing, and all the usual wonderful things. You should totally come.

5. There will be another, probably photo-heavy post about this later, but...I got an Evangeline Ghastly doll! More precisely, I got two; the one I bought, and one that mysteriously appeared on my doorstep in a big-ass box from Wilde Imagination. My squealing, it was vast. Of course, now I have entered the dark realm of the ball-jointed doll, from which there is no returning. Which leads us to...

6. I am allowed to do one fiscally silly thing every time I do certain things, career-wise. As I have done a certain thing (more on this later), I get to be silly, and I've decided that this time, for silly, I want a resin Evangeline doll. They fit more of the clothes, and can wear all the shoes. Specifically, I want the Cemetery Wedding Evangeline, since she has the best face. If you know anyone who might be selling part of a doll collection, please let me know?

7. The new season of Doctor Who continues to delight me.

8. I have finished the Tybalt short! "Rat-Catcher" is 10,000 words long, and has been officially submitted to the market it was written for. If they buy it, I'll announce when and where it will be appearing. If they don't, I'll start looking for something else to do with a story full of Cait Sidhe. Whatever I do, it will probably need to involve gooshy food.

9. Zombies are love.

10. I am hammered enough right now that my response time is slow, and the amnesty on replying to comments on the "Countdown" posts endures. I'll still answer comments on all other posts; it may just take me a little while. Thank you for being understanding.

A kind soul who dislikes my ability to sleep helpfully compiled a list of the weirdest Pokemon ever. And for "weirdest," read "most horrifically fucked-up and likely to cause you to have nightmares which rock the very foundations of your soul. Seriously, Pokemon is totally breeding the horror writers of tomorrow, today. It's awesome.

Speaking of horror, "Everglades" made the Honorable Mentions list for The Year's Best Horror. Yay! Maybe "Pavlov" or "The Box" can make the actual cut in 2011. Hey, a girl can dream, right?

Zombies are the new black. If you've been here for a while, you probably already knew that, but this is a fun article, and I contributed a quote, so hey. No loss here.

Tentacle pot pies. Yeah, you're welcome. I want to make an adorable Lovecraft theme dinner, and have everything be a) cute, and b) horrifying if you think about it too hard.

Speaking of horrifying, this was not designed for me. Or maybe that's not so much "horrifying" as it is "proof that life isn't fair." Woe to me, that I do not have this dress.

And yet Amy Mebberson drew Amy Pond as a My Little Pony to make me happy, so maybe the world isn't such a horrible place after all.

...that's all for right now. I still have roughly a metric ton of links to post, but most of them are reviews or things which require actual thought. So I leave you with this lovely dish o' random to get you through this gloomy Wednesday night.

See you tomorrow!

The 2011 BSC Review Book Tournament is over, and An Artificial Night is the winner, stomping The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack by a mere 5%! Yes, it was 55/45 when the polls closed, and Mark Hodder's tale of gaslight London and the monsters therein came very close to victory. But in the end, there could be only one, and your tireless devotion to clicking little boxes meant that Toby walked away with the gold!

Also, you know. Some heads. Heads are awesome.

Thank you all for clicking, and for putting up with my random fascination with online contests. It was a lot of fun, and I deeply appreciate it. We now return you to your regularly scheduled nonsense.

This is it, you guys. The final round of the BSC Tournament. The time to nut up or shut up.

The time to vote for An Artificial Night, lest it fall before The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack.

We are mighty. We are legion. We have vanquished some amazing books this year, as Toby clawed her way ever closer to victory, and we must STAND UP AND BE HEARD!

So, y'know. Vote, and stuff. Please? Pretty please? I'll be your best friend. Well, okay, I probably won't be, but I'll be really, really happy.

Vote Toby! Vote victory!

And stuff.

We have reached the last round of the BSC Review Book Tournament. It has been a hard battle; Toby has faced both strangers and friends on the road to the finals, and now only Springheel Jack stands between her and victory.

Springheel Jack is technically a monster. Toby knows what to do with those.

So go forth! A vote for Toby is a vote for a world where the monsters don't eat us in our beds!

Seriously, though, if you could take a moment to vote, I would appreciate it. Toby and I are both counting on you, and right now, we're losing.

To victory!

I have a story, "Julie Broise and the Devil," in the book Night-Mantled: The Best of Wily Writers, vol. 1. In preparation for the release, all of the authors included in this book were interviewed by Angel, our editor.

Here is her interview with me.

Learn fun things! Watch me answer silly questions! Enjoy the traditional interview format!

But what's that, you say? You're tired of the traditional interview format? You want to see it mixed up a little bit, rendered new and interesting again? Well, you're in luck, because Erin from Toasted Cheese (and my comics) decided to interview me-as-Mira using a fascinating new format that looks something like the bastard child of a pop quiz and an internet meme.

You can read my Toasted Cheese alphabet interview here.

Go forth, and be amazed as freedom to say whatever I want leads to some things you may not have heard me say seventeen times already!

And that's our interviews for the morning.

Hey-ho! Let's go!

So Toby has managed to rise to the semi-finals, battling strangers and friends alike in her fight for survival. Now An Artificial Night is up against N.K. Jemisin's Hundred Thousand Kingdoms for the right to proceed to the finals and maybe...just maybe...walk away alive.

You know what you have to do.

The tournament semi-finals are here, and are open now for voting.

Shop smart; shop S-Mart. Vote fae; vote Toby Daye.

And now, my horrible horrible cold and I are going back to bed.

Toby has managed to navigate the wilds of the Kingdom of Prestor John, smacking down The Habitation of the Blessed in round three of the BSC Book Tournament and proceeding to the quarterfinals, where it's An Artificial Night against Elizabeth Bear's Chill. Bear and I have been enthusiastically attacking each other on Twitter in anticipation of this match (I have predatory dinosaurs, she has balrogs and the forces of logic), and now it's finally here!

You have what you have to do.

Go ye forth, get thee funky, and vote like your life depended on it! Which, given the number of monsters we have merrily marching around here, it just might. Toby has smacked the crap out of three challengers in three different bouts. This is your chance to help her smack the crap out of challenger number four, and proceed to the semifinals, where she can begin to merrily swing her sock full of butter* at challengers from different brackets.

(*Sock full of butter: makes a great bludgeoning weapon, and when you're done, you have a sock full of nicely softened butter, ready to be turned into cookies. Everybody wins! Except maybe the people you hit with the sock full of butter.)

The second round of this year's BSC Book Tournament has closed, and Toby is still standing, since An Artificial Night managed to crush the competition handily. That's good!

Now I am up against Cat Valente's Habitation of the Blessed. That's not so good. Weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth to follow. But still, I entreat that you should vote, regardless of your choice in this round, and hope only that Toby will prevail. Why? Because it amuses the living crap out of me, naturally, and I am a simple blonde.

I'll add the voting link as soon as it goes live. Vote your heart. Vote your champion. Vote for MAXIMUM CARNAGE.

Girl fight tonight!

ETA: As promised, here is the actual voting link for the contest. Now get your smackdown on!

Hello, world! It's the Thursday before Wondercon, and I'm trying to take care of all the little rags and tags of reality that build up over the course of a week like cat hair on velvet pants. So anyway...

1. The fight is still raging in the BSC Review tournament! This round closes Sunday morning, at which point, eight books will be reduced to four, and those four will duke it out for the right to do to the bracket semi-finals. Cat and I both still have horses in this race, so please, help keep Toby swinging!

2. Speaking of Cat, her new book, Deathless, came out this week. Hooray for book release! There's a lot of neat free stuff to have and enjoy and be amazed by; my darling talkstowolves has made a big post collecting it all into one place. I even drew a Pretty Little Dead Ghoul for the occasion. Feel the love!

3. My new phone is lovely, and allows me to do exciting things like "take pictures of my cats" and "access Twitter from the train." It also allows me to answer email when I'm not at home, which is going to be a huge, huge relief as time goes on. It's already taken some of the weight off, since I've been able to respond to things while in transit.

4. Thomas and Alice have started working against me. Thomas jumped onto the back of my knees at four o'clock this morning, jarring me INSTANTLY AWAKE, at which point Alice began pushing their ceramic food dishes back and forth in the feeding tray. Scrape. Scrape. Scraaaaaape. So yes, I got up, and I fed the cats. I am so doomed.

5. The full-length trailer for the new season of Doctor Who has been released, and is so intensely awesome as to cause me to sit, weak-kneed and gaping at my monitor, for several minutes before hitting "play" again. I remain overjoyed and giggly over the fact that this show, my show, is back.

6. Also, there's a new My Little Pony cartoon that doesn't suck. I clearly control the universe. You can place your requests with Kate, who will only allow me to fulfill the ones that don't involve diseases or amphibians.

7. I'm getting ready to do a massive post office run, so I am once again taking orders for "Wicked Girls" posters. According to my files, if it's been paid for, it's been sent out; please email me if you don't have yours. Comment either here or on the original post if you'd like to request a poster, and we'll coordinate.

8. I will be mostly offline this weekend, as I will be attending Wondercon. I'll have my awesome new phone with me, but let's face it, when given a choice between answering email and staring raptly at James Gunn, James Gunn wins without a contest. I'll definitely Tweet my location at various points throughout the weekend, and if you find me, you could win a prize. Or not. I may be out of prizes.

9. Zombies are still love.

10. I get to see Amy this weekend (Mebberson, not McNally)! And Kaja! And Phil! And there will be cupcakes, and hugging, and artwork, and Mom will probably wear her chicken hat, and I'm so excited!!!!!

What's new and awesome in the world of you?

Remember last week, when I was all "let's get ready to rumble," because the BSC Book Tournament was getting underway, and Toby needed help to stay in the game? Well, your help totally helped, because Toby CRUSHED her competition, taking 93% of the vote. Wowie!

That means she's moving on to Round Two in the competition, where she's going up against Imager's Intrigue by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. Again, I haven't read the book she's pitted against, but I'm sure it's awesome if it managed to win its previous round.

So here is my plea: please, go, vote! Keep Toby from getting her ass kicked on the literary playground as things get ugly! Victory is just a (whole bunch of...) click away.

GO TOBY GO!

You know those little things on books that are like, "This book raised my IQ twenty points!" &mdashA. Famous Author, or "The Ikeamancer series just keeps getting better," —Ima Writer? Those are called "blurbs." They're supposed to encourage you to buy the book, since clearly, people other than the author (or the author's mom) think it's good enough to read, and are thus providing valuable perspective.

So let's play the blurb game! You've been asked to blurb an existing book in a way that is honest, accurate, and true to your feelings on the text. Most of these will probably not be used for publication, because when I'm being honest, accurate, and true, there's a lot of swearing.

I'll start:

"This book is like a cozy blanket for my soul. A cozy blanket full of evil clowns and profanity. IT is the most comforting thing I have ever read." —Stephen King's IT.

"Matthew Swift's London crackles with electric fire, neon heartbreak, and all the power and sideways logic of urban sorcery. Kate Griffin is at the top of her game, and she just keeps getting better." —Kate Griffin's Neon Court.

"FUCK YEAH, SEAKING." —Peter Clines's Ex-Heroes.

"It takes a truly great story, and a truly great writer, to make a book about rabbits more true to the human condition than most books about humanity." —Richard Adams's Watership Down.

"Lucy Snyder attacks the page with the raw, manic intensity of an early Sam Raimi. Jessie Shimmer is urban fantasy's answer to Ash from The Evil Dead: ballsy, profane, and too much fun to put down." —Lucy Snyder's Spellbent.

"Hey, look! It's a retelling of 'Tam Lin' that makes me root for Janet! That never happens!" —Pamela Dean's Tam Lin.

"You need to meet the people in this book. They have things to tell you." —Janet Kagan's Hellspark.

"The true power of fairy tale archetypes is the way they let us tell the stories that need to be told while framing them in a veil of the familiar. Jim Hines has created a Cinderella with a future, a Sleeping Beauty with a past, and a Snow White present in more than merely apples. These books are all the stronger for not being 'serious' fiction; by the time you realize that you're learning, it's too late. You've been taught." —Jim Hines's The Stepsister Scheme.

Now it's your turn! BLURB THE WORLD!

It's that time again: that time when the air is sweet, the daffodils are blooming, and a young girl's fancy turns to thoughts of BLOODY INTERNET SMACKDOWNS. Specifically, it's time once again for the BSC Review Book Tournament, wherein books published during the last year BEAT THE HOLY CRAP OUT OF EACH OTHER for your amusement. See how much we love you?

Currently, An Artificial Night is up in the first round of the Westeros Bracket, and Toby needs your help! She's up against Wizard Squared by K. E. Mills (which I have not read, but which I am sure is a fabulous book in its own right), and if you don't step in, she could get schooled.

So come on! Let's indulge in some good, old-fashioned schoolyard brawling. Because it's fun.

I am so easily pleased sometimes.