So I am utterly delighted to be returning to Borderlands Books in San Francisco, California this coming Saturday, March 25th, where I will be celebrating the release of Magic For Nothing alongside the fabulous Mishell Baker, who is celebrating the release of Phantom Pains. In my case, that's the new InCryptid; in her case, it's the new Arcadia Project; in both cases, it's guaranteed to be a good time.

With two authors and double the word-y goodness, we're not bringing the full band this event (also, we accidentally scheduled it on top of Consonance, which means most of the band is busy anyway). We will have a raffle, and if the cupcake place gets back to me, we'll have cupcakes (no answer as yet). On the off chance that we don't, remember that the cafe sells delicious baked goods, and would be happy to hook you up with something yummy.

The event will begin at 5pm. If you can't make it, please contact the bookstore ahead of time to place an order for a signed, personalized book: we're happy to hook you up. I'm collecting raffle prizes and packing my bags, and I can't wait to see you all!

TWO NEBULA NOMINEES ENTER. TWO NEBULA NOMINEES LEAVE. IT TURNS OUT THIS IS NOT A DEATH MATCH.

Roll on San Francisco!

Lo and behold, on September 10th, I will be returning to Borderlands Books for the Once Broken Faith release party! This will be a slightly stripped-down event, for the sake of logistics: the Traveling Circus will return in March. But as always, Borderlands means cupcakes during the break, and that's when you come in. Specifically...

If you are planning to attend the book event, have a dietary restriction (vegan, gluten-free, specific allergies), and would like to enjoy a cupcake, please let me know before Thursday, September 8th. Not all dietary restrictions can be accounted for (for example, if you're gluten-sensitive to parts-per-million, the cross-contamination risk is too high for me to tell you that the cupcakes are safe; there's wheat flour in the bakery), but I can at least try. Comment here to notify me of a dietary issue.

Because there is an increased charge for vegan, dairy-free, etc., I only order cupcakes to account for dietary restrictions I have been informed of. Please do not assume that because you came to the last event, and there were vegan cupcakes, that I will automatically have vegan cupcakes. You need to tell me before I place the order if it's going to happen. (In a related note, please do not request special cupcakes if you're not sure that you're going to be there. Again, there is an increased charge for "non standard" cupcakes, and while I want to accommodate everyone, I can only afford to take care of people who will actually be attending the event.)

See you very soon!

I will be appearing at Borderlands Books in San Francisco, California tomorrow at 6pm, to celebrate the release of Every Heart a Doorway! Le gasp!

I will have the last of the lovely promo postcards Tor.com did for the book, in case you missed them before; I will also have a special surprise reading that no one has heard before.

If you are unable to attend, remember that Borderlands does mail order, and would be happy to send you a signed (and even personalized, if you so desire) copy. They ship all over the world, and have very reasonable postage rates.

I hope to see you there!

...every word a prayer.

Every Heart a Doorway is in the wild and in the world today. It's a beautiful book. Saying nothing about its contents, only about the book as a physical object, it's a beautiful book. The cover, the heft, the whole design, it's just gorgeous. And I made this. Me. This book exists because Lee Harris said "write me a thing," and my response when someone says "write me a thing" is to write a thing. This book exists because Irene Gallo designed it with love and care and attention to detail that takes my breath away.

It's so beautiful. It's something that will exist in libraries and on bookshelves forever. A hundred years from now, someone will still own this book. They will have this beautiful thing. That is just...it's amazing.

I feel like this is some of my best work. It's short and it's elegant and it's important in a way that's hard for me to fully articulate. It's about teenagers and trauma and magical doors and the things we are and the things our parents want us to be, and the things that we become.

If you already have your copy, thank you so very, very much. Thank you for helping me to get this book out into the world, thank you for helping me to convince Tor.com that I'm a good bet, and thank you for letting this story live. Stories need to be read to be real.

If you don't have your copy yet, that's absolutely okay. The world is big and has many things in it. If you were thinking of buying one, signed copies can be purchased now from Borderlands Books and The Booksmith, both in San Francisco (both do mail orders). I will also be signing copies for the University Bookstore in Seattle this coming weekend at Emerald City Comic Con.

Thank you all again, so, so much.

This will also serve as your discussion post.

I am excited and ecstatic and overjoyed to remind you all that I will be appearing at San Francisco's own Booksmith on Monday, April 4th for the launch party of my newest novella, Every Heart a Doorway.

The story of what happens on the other side of the portal fantasy, Every Heart a Doorway follows the students of Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children as they try to deal with the reality of their pasts, presents, and futures. And a little bit of murder, naturally.

The fun begins at 7:30pm; RSVPs are appreciated but not required. There will be books for sale. Signed, personalized books can also be ordered through the Booksmith website.

It all begins with a doorway...

In early 2015, Borderlands Books announced that they were going to close for financial reasons, and I was heartbroken. I cried. A lot. So did quite a few people I know. We fumbled, we flailed, we prayed for a miracle, and a miracle came along, in the form of the sponsorship program, by which patrons of the store could buy a one-year sponsorship and, if enough were sold, the store would stay open.

It's time for sponsorships again.

Alan (the owner) has worked his tail off making sure that Borderlands sponsorships would carry some value apart from "we still have a bookstore." There are events for local and visiting sponsors, special merchandise, panel events, and more. But best of all, we keep a bookstore in the world, and it's a bookstore the world really needs.

Please, consider taking a look at the sponsorship program, and maybe helping my local bookstore continue to be a force for good in the world.

Thank you.

Hello, world!

This coming Thursday (December 10th), I'm going to go by Borderlands Books to sign anything that is waiting for me to sign it (and that has been paid for, in the case of something that needs to be personalized; I cannot stress enough how important it is to actually pay for things). While I can't guarantee that anything ordered as a holiday gift will get to you before the holidays, I can't say it's impossible, either. So! Do you want to give a signed, personalized book to the person of your choice, after exchanging money for it? Here's how!

1. Contact Borderlands Books (http://borderlands-books.com/) in San Francisco, California. You can contact them by either email or phone; check the website for specific options.

2. Order books! You have to tell them which ones, naturally, and whether you want them signed and personalized, or just signed. Personalized books must be paid for up-front. You can request a specific inscription. Some inscriptions (ie, my phone number) will be refused, although your book will still be signed.

3. While you're at it, order anything else that you'd like to get. I mean, hello, bookstore, and you're already paying for shipping, so why the heck not? May I recommend The Girl With All the Gifts, by M.K. Carey? Or Libromancer, by Jim Hines? Or The Hum and the Shiver, by Alex Bledsoe?

4. Give the store any information they need, like shipping address and billing and stuff.

5. The store will contact me, and I'll go in and sign things!

But wait, you cry! What books are currently available?

TOBY: Rosemary and Rue, A Local Habitation, An Artificial Night, Late Eclipses, One Salt Sea, Ashes of Honor, Chimes at Midnight, The Winter Long, and A Red-Rose Chain.

INCRYPTID: Discount Armageddon, Midnight Blue-Light Special, Half-Off Ragnarok, and Pocket Apocalypse.

NEWSFLESH: Feed, Deadline, Blackout, the Newsflesh box set, and When Will You Rise.

PARASITE: Parasite, Symbiont, and Chimera.

VELVETEEN: Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots and Velveteen vs. The Multiverse.

OTHER: Sparrow Hill Road, Letters to the Pumpkin King.

ANTHOLOGIES: The store doesn't always have everything in stock (there are a lot of them), but they make a solid effort, especially with the newer titles. Feel free to ask! The worst they can say is "sorry."

Because Borderlands does not carry non-fiction, none of the Mad Norwegian Press titles are available from them.

Any questions?

(Post concept gleefully stolen from John Scalzi. I love you, John!)

Hey! You!

This coming Saturday, December 5th, will be the book release party for Chimera at Borderlands Books in San Francisco, California! Borderlands Books is an independent bookstore specializing in science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mystery; what's more, they are happy to take phone and email orders for signed and personalized books. Yay!

The party begins at 3:00pm. Come for a Q&A, signing, raffle, and the usual "more." What does "more" mean? Well, you'll have to be there to find out.

In case you missed it, the open discussion post for Chimera is located here. Have fun!

Who likes to party?

Tomorrow I will be at Borderlands Books in San Francisco, California, appearing as part of the Tacos and Tecate Tor event alongside Greg van Eekout and Fran Wilde! Both cool people with cool books!

Since my Tor.com book, Every Heart a Doorway, will not be available until April of next year, I will be representing the fabulous The Doll Collection. To properly honor this, I'm bringing a bunch of my creepy dolls for people to admire. The fun starts at 6pm, so bring yourself, your book budget, and your willingness to get into a staring contest with a bunch of scary resin and vinyl people.

It's a party!

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 Amy, imported all the way from Wisconsin 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 to say hello?
5:15 PM: How about some music?
5:45 PM: Perhaps you would like to win things.
6:00 PM: Now there will be cupcakes and autographing.
6:30 PM: More music?
7:00 PM: More prizes?
7:10 PM: Q&A and book discussion.
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. If you can't come, remember that the store does phone and email orders, and will be happy to provide you with a signed book.

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

Better late than never, and I'm in England, which makes a little tardiness forgivable (because I don't live here, not because the English are chronically tardy, although if one judges by my friends, the English are maybe a little chronically tardy), so...

Rolling in the Deep, my story of mermaids and deep sea exploration and why maybe combining the two is a bad plan, is out! Yay!

The print edition is already sold out at Subterranean Press's website! I, er. Less yay.

But! There are other ways to get this fabulous tale of sirens and slaughter. The eBook edition is available now, from many fine retailers. If you still want to have a physical copy to stroke and love and call your own, I have called Borderlands and confirmed that they have five copies (5) on order. (They might be able to get a few more from their distributor. It's all a matter of timing. So.)

If you want to get a physical copy of your very own, please call—don't email, as email can take a while to be answered—Borderlands Books at 415 824-8203. The books are en route and are definitely coming to the store. If they go quickly, the store will attempt to obtain more from their supplier, but cannot guarantee any additional stock at this time.

Mermaids!

Hey hey hey psst hey.

Hey.

If you're in London, come see me tomorrow night at the big Forbidden Planet Megastore, located 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR, from 6:00PM until we're done. I will be signing books, of which there will be many, until all the books are signed and chaos reigns supreme. Or, you know. I get sleepy and go home.

Hope to see you there!

I am going to start this reminder by being honest:

When I was in the planning phase for this event, I thought it was the last one we would ever have at Borderlands Books. Which made me sad. So sad, in fact, that my response to the timing difficulties (IE, right after a big trip, right after a con that would exhaust most of the members of the Traveling Circus) was to say "let's have a quiet night and say goodbye," rather than "LET'S BLOW THE FUCKING ROOF OFF SINCE THEY DON'T NEED IT ANYMORE." So. The Traveling Circus and Snake-Handling Show will not be appearing this time. It's going to be quiet. It's just going to be quiet joy, instead of quiet sorrow.

But.

I would still love it very, very much if you could come to Borderlands Books, in San Francisco, California this Friday at 6:00PM. There will be cupcakes, and Q&A, and a raffle. There will be reading and signing and talking and so much joy, because we get to keep it. We get to keep our store, and celebrate my new book, and eat sugar, all at the same time. And life is good.

Life is so good.

I hope to see you there.

(If you can't make it, remember that you can contact the store to order signed, personalized books. For great justice!)

For those of you who managed not to hear, there is currently a strong risk that Borderlands Books, my home store, is going to close.

But now there's a chance that we can save it.

I have already called in and signed up for a membership. If you have the funds and the desire to help save the store, I hope you can do the same.

This is a magical place, and I pray we can save it.

Reminder the first: If you have requested/purchased a tank top from me, I need two things from you. I need payment, following the instructions in my reply to your comment (please, please send it "friends and family," so I can actually afford to ship), and I need you to use my website contact form to send me your mailing address. Putting your mailing address into PayPal does not actually help me. I have a stack of shirts waiting to be mailed, and their information is not in my inbox, my PA's inbox, or my spam filter.

Please, please, help me get you the things you pay for, and if you haven't paid for them, please either pay or tell me you've changed your mind, so that I can release them back into the general stock.

Reminder the second: If you wanted to order signed or personalized books from Borderlands Books in San Francisco, I'm going there on Friday, around five o'clock in the afternoon, to sign whatever's on order. I can't guarantee that I'll get there again before the end of the year, so this is your one shot to get that signed book that will make you a hero in your best friend's eyes!

Please remember that I do not take requests for "send me a book and I'll sign it." Those always pick up around the holidays, and well. I'm just not good enough at going to the post office for things that are not "oh sweet Great Pumpkin get all these boxes out of my living room" to be reliable. Going through Borderlands is the one way to be sure.

And that is all for tonight.

10. It's December! That is...terrifying and amazing and lots of other things, but mostly, it's a huge relief, because I don't have anywhere to go for the rest of the year. Oh, I have a lot of local commitments, parties and appearances and a doll meet-up, but nothing that requires travel. I get to sleep in my own bed, snuggle my cats, and clean my house for an entire month. I am ridiculously excited about this.

9. A lot of folks are doing their holiday shopping right now, which is swell! I posted the holiday book buying reminder yesterday. You can also contact Mysterious Galaxy, in San Diego, for signed copies of Out of Tune, and for copies of Dead But Not Forgotten signed by Charlaine Harris, Toni Kelner, and a bunch of the authors (myself included). Support independent bookstores this holiday season.

8. Or maybe you're buying stuff from me, posters and T-shirts and the like. If you are, please use the PayPal option for sending money to friends and family. There are a few reasons for this. First off, I am still not a store: I am literally pricing things to cover cost of item + cost of postage. Having huge whacks of money vanish into PayPal fees makes this a loss, and means I have to start charging more to be able to afford to ship things. Secondly, you know how I always say "please send me your shipping info via this other channel"? I have found that people who chose "goods and services" are more likely to ignore that request, because they've already provided a shipping address, and if I were a store, I'd be able to access that data. Not a store. Cannot access easily. Please don't.

7. The new Pokemon game is not making me as happy as I wanted it to. I am sure I will enjoy the post-game, where it's apparently LEGENDARYPALOOZA, but I am not enjoying my Pokemon journey, and that makes me sad.

6. Thomas, who has always been an asshole, has taken his assholing to new heights in his glee that I am home. Lots of purring, lots of cuddling, lots of knocking things off shelves to demonstrate that he is still the boss of all he surveys. Thomas is going to be mittens if he doesn't cut this shit out.

5. I will be doing the Thirteen Days of Hogswatch again this year, beginning on December 12th and continuing until December 24th. The introductory post will go up on December 11th. The prizes, drawing times, response times, and requirements for each day are not negotiable; if I say "I must hear from you by X time for you to win," and you think you might not be able to check your email on, say, Christmas, I am very sorry, but I do mean it. I can't have people claiming prizes weeks after the drawing. I'm just not set up for that. But hey, I am giving away so much stuff.

4. I missed the October tip jar, which means we're running out of prioritized free fiction. I don't want to open a tip jar in December (holidays), but I may go ahead and do it in January. (Or we may have to pay for all the bodywork on Mom's car, in which case, I will not only open the tip jar, I will dance on freeways if that's what it takes.)

3. Oh, yeah: some asshole hit Mom's car on Thanksgiving night. The damage isn't massive, but she was parked at the time, and we didn't see it happen. Now we need to get the bodywork done to fix the dent on the side of her car, before rust sets in and everything gets buckets more expensive. Whee. (Yes, she has insurance, but the deductible is huge, especially if we can't produce another driver.)

2. I'm going to see The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County on Friday! I'm so excited!

1. Jean Grey is not dead right now and it's making me cranky.

That's my list. What's new with you?

Hello, world!

Next week (hopefully on Friday, December 5th), I'm going to go by Borderlands Books to sign anything that is waiting for me to sign it (and that has been paid for, in the case of something that needs to be personalized; I cannot stress enough how important it is to actually pay for things). While I can't guarantee that anything ordered as a holiday gift will get to you before the holidays, I can't say it's impossible, either. So! Do you want to give a signed, personalized book to the person of your choice, after exchanging money for it? Here's how!

1. Contact Borderlands Books (http://borderlands-books.com/) in San Francisco, California. You can contact them by either email or phone; check the website for specific options.

2. Order books! You have to tell them which ones, naturally, and whether you want them signed and personalized, or just signed. Personalized books must be paid for up-front. You can request a specific inscription. Some inscriptions (ie, my phone number) will be refused, although your book will still be signed.

3. While you're at it, order anything else that you'd like to get. I mean, hello, bookstore, and you're already paying for shipping, so why the heck not? May I recommend The Girl With All the Gifts, by M.K. Carey? Or Libromancer, by Jim Hines? Or Unbound, by Sarah Reese Brennan (sequel to Untold)?

4. Give the store any information they need, like shipping address and billing and stuff.

5. The store will contact me, and I'll go in and sign things!

But wait, you cry! What books are currently available?

TOBY: Rosemary and Rue, A Local Habitation, An Artificial Night, Late Eclipses, One Salt Sea, Ashes of Honor, Chimes at Midnight, and The Winter Long.

INCRYPTID: Discount Armageddon, Midnight Blue-Light Special, and Half-Off Ragnarok.

NEWSFLESH: Feed, Deadline, Blackout, the Newsflesh box set, When Will You Rise.

VELVETEEN: Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots and Velveteen vs. The Multiverse.

OTHER: Parasite, Symbiont, Sparrow Hill Road.

ANTHOLOGIES: The Living Dead 2 (Newsflesh-universe story); Home Improvement: Undead Edition (Toby-universe story); Zombiesque; Westward Weird (Incryptid-universe story); Tales From the Ur-Bar; Human For a Day; The Modern Fae's Guide to Surviving Humanity; Other Worlds Than These; Human Tales; Grants Pass; The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination; Glitter & Mayhem (Incryptid-universe story); Raygun Chronicles; Carniepunk (Incryptid-universe story); Oz Reimagined; Coins of Chaos (Rose Marshall story); Women Destroy Science Fiction; Dead Man's Hand (Incryptid-universe story); Dead But Not Forgotten; Shattered Shields (Toby-universe story); Games Creatures Play (Incryptid-universe story).

Because Borderlands does not carry non-fiction, none of the Mad Norwegian Press titles are available from them.

Any questions?

(Post concept gleefully stolen from John Scalzi. I love you, John!)

I am extremely excited to remind you all that I-as-Mira Grant will be returning to San Francisco's own Borderlands Books on Tuesday, November 25th, to celebrate the release of Symbiont.

In this sequel to 2013's Parasite, everything that was bad already gets much, much worse, with the war between the humans and the tapeworms reaching a horrifying new peak. As a reminder, this is a trilogy now: I couldn't wrap everything up in just two volumes, and Chimera will be coming out in 2015. So while I really, really want you to buy this book and feed my cats, I can't promise to put a tidy bow on things just yet.

Actually, I can promise the exact opposite.

On a sideways but related note, Borderlands also has a limited number of copies of Harvest Season, the new anthology from the SF Squeecast. With cover art by the lovely Ursula Vernon, this book boasts three never before seen novellas, two short stories, and a poem. The copies in the store are also signed by all the authors, and the cover artist. So they're super-special, and way pretty, and make great gifts. (Because copies are so limited, they are not on the Biblio page: you need to contact the bookstore directly. Retail is $25 USD.)

I hope to see you next week!

Have you ever wanted to know more about the Luidaeg before she changed her name? To see Blind Michael before he turned away from the light he had never been able to see? Have you ever wondered how the old world of Faerie faded into the new world of Men?

There are some answers to be had, if you know where to look.

I am pleased to announce that my short story, "The Fixed Stars," featuring Antigone of Albany in the long, dark days of her youth, is available now in the anthology Shattered Shields, edited by my well-beloved Jennifer Brozek and Bryan Thomas Schmidt. Tales of military fantasy! War, barbarous and bloody!

Glory, glory.

Pick it up; give it a read. And if you're feeling really ambitious, I'm going to be swinging by Borderlands Books tomorrow on my way to the airport, so if you called them and ordered a copy tonight, you could even get it signed.

War is a science.

Antigone was a scientist.

Tip jar results.

All things have been totaled (at long last), and the results of the latest tip jar are in, coming to a princely $1,187. I am still awed and amazed by the generosity of my readers. You've allowed me to prioritize finishing three InCryptid stories over the next three months:

"IM"
"Oh Pretty Bird"
"Bury Me In Satin"

These will be going up around the start of June, July, and August, respectively; "IM" focuses on Artie, while "Oh Pretty Bird" and "Bury Me In Satin" are both from the Johnny and Fran era. (That era is sadly coming to a close very soon: there are only three stories remaining to be written. I'm going to miss her. The first of those stories, "Snakes and Ladders," has also been prioritized.)

Upcoming appearances.

The book release party for Sparrow Hill Road will be taking place at Borderlands Books on Saturday, May 10th, starting at 5:00pm. There will be cupcakes! I'm actually planning to do a reading! Truly, it is a time of wonders. If you're unable to attend, remember that Borderlands takes orders both via the Internet and over the phone, and would be happy to hook you up with a signed and personalized book.

(If you're not attending and are planning to have me sign a book for you, please, please contact the store before the event date. I realized recently that some of y'all may not realize that I actually live an hour's drive from San Francisco, which means that—now that I don't have a day job—I can't just nip in to sign a few things before I head home. I don't want you to have to wait for your books because you called after I had already left the city!)

Cats.

They are. So mad.

Seriously, you have not seen anger like the anger of cats who are being left on the regular because their human needs to travel. I've managed to have at least a week at home every month so far this year, but they're pissed off, and I can't blame them. Poor babies. Also, it's summer, and if there's one thing Maine Coons hate, it's the coming of the summer. (Lilly and Lizzy don't mind as much. Ah, the joy of not being longhairs.)

More to come soon, and happy May!

1. This is the last day for the April tip jar! To tip me and keep the free fiction coming, PayPal to delirium@xocolatl.com. Fun for the whole family! (Things are tight all over; please believe me when I say that I do not resent anyone not tipping, and actually tend to forget names as soon as I finish processing transactions and updating the totals. So please, please don't worry that I'll be sad at you if you can't afford to tip. This is a thing I do because I was asked to, not because I think it's my due.)

2. If you're looking for a copy of Letters to the Pumpkin King, they are still available directly from NESFA, or by contacting Borderlands Books. There is no eBook, partially because a lot of the book is this blog. The original eBook!

3. I will be Guest of Honor at this year's Norwescon, in Seattle, Washington! I...flew home from Seattle so I could pack for Seattle. Why do I live in California, again?

4. Oh, right. My house is here. See you in two weeks, in Washington.

5. If you need to reach me, and it's important and needs a timely reply, please use my website contact form. Messages sent through LJ, Tumblr, or (shudder) Facebook may or may not be answered. (Also, it makes me sad that my spellcheck knows "Facebook" now. It still doesn't know "spellcheck.")

6. Sparrow Hill Road is out in less than a month! Woo, Rose!

And that is all.

It is with great pleasure that I remind you all that the latest iteration of the Traveling Circus and Snake-Handling Show will be assembling this Saturday at San Francisco's own Borderlands Books. We'll be getting underway at 6pm, and rocking the roof until closing time comes and they kick us all out! Why are we partying?

To celebrate the release of Half-Off Ragnarok, naturally.

There will be cupcakes! There will be music and a raffle and reading and some Q&A, and it will be a hootenanny of a good time, with a whole lotta hoot AND a whole lotta nanny! Bring your kids! Bring your siblings! Bring your slime monsters! We totally hope to see you there.

Since this book does contain snakes, I will probably talk about snakes at some point during the evening. So while I would love to have you there, if you're deathly afraid of snakes, it might be a good idea to skip this one. (On the plus side, I'm pretty funny when I talk about snakes.)

Remember that Borderlands does take telephone and email orders, and would be happy to send you signed books (and they do have Letters to the Pumpkin King in stock). Get a book already touched by pure awesome. Or, you know. Ink. The party starts Saturday at 6pm!

Cheese! And! Cake!

Hello, world!

This Friday, I am going to go by Borderlands Books to sign anything that is waiting for me to sign it (and that has been paid for, in the case of something that needs to be personalized; I cannot stress enough how important it is to actually pay for things). While I can't guarantee at this point that anything ordered as a holiday gift will get to you before the holidays, I can't say it's impossible, either. So! Do you want to give a signed, personalized book to the person of your choice, after exchanging money for it? Here's how!

1. Contact Borderlands Books (http://borderlands-books.com/) in San Francisco, California. You can contact them by either email or phone; check the website for specific options.

2. Order books! You have to tell them which ones, naturally, and whether you want them signed and personalized, or just signed. Personalized books must be paid for up-front. You can request a specific inscription. Some inscriptions (ie, my phone number) will be refused, although your book will still be signed.

3. While you're at it, order anything else that you'd like to get. I mean, hello, bookstore, and you're already paying for shipping, so why the heck not? May I recommend the new paperback edition of Alex Bledsoe's The Hum and the Shiver? Or Hyperbole and a Half? Or Untold, by Sarah Reese Brennan (sequel to Unspoken)?

4. Give the store any information they need, like shipping address and billing and stuff.

5. The store will contact me, and I'll go in and sign things!

But wait, you cry! What books are currently available?

TOBY: Rosemary and Rue, A Local Habitation, An Artificial Night, Late Eclipses, One Salt Sea, Ashes of Honor, and Chimes at Midnight.

INCRYPTID: Discount Armageddon and Midnight Blue-Light Special.

NEWSFLESH: Feed, Deadline, Blackout, and the Newsflesh box set.

VELVETEEN: Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots and Velveteen vs. The Multiverse.

OTHER: Parasite.

ANTHOLOGIES: The Living Dead 2 (Newsflesh-universe story); Home Improvement: Undead Edition (Toby-universe story); Zombiesque; Westward Weird (Incryptid-universe story); Tales From the Ur-Bar; Human For a Day; The Modern Fae's Guide to Surviving Humanity; Other Worlds Than These; Human Tales; Grants Pass; The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination; Glitter & Mayhem; Raygun Chronicles; Carniepunk (Incryptid-universe story); Oz Reimagined; Coins of Chaos (Rose Marshall story).

Because Borderlands does not carry non-fiction, none of the Mad Norwegian Press titles are available from them.

Any questions?

(Post concept gleefully stolen from John Scalzi. I love you, John!)

So it's, like, holiday time. And stuff. And sometimes this means that people want to give people things they think those people will like, which frequently translates into "here, have a book," because we're all enormous book nerds. Being a person who like, writes books, I am very interested in this phenomenon. Moreover, I'd like those books to be as cool as possible. So! Do you want to give a signed, personalized book to the person of your choice, after exchanging money for it? Here's how!

1. Contact Borderlands Books (http://borderlands-books.com/) in San Francisco, California. You can contact them by either email or phone; check the website for specific options.

2. Order books! You have to tell them which ones, naturally, and whether you want them signed and personalized, or just signed. Personalized books must be paid for up-front. You can request a specific inscription. Some inscriptions (ie, my phone number) will be refused, although your book will still be signed.

3. While you're at it, order anything else that you'd like to get. I mean, hello, bookstore, and you're already paying for shipping, so why the heck not?

4. Give the store any information they need, like shipping address and billing and stuff.

5. The store will contact me, and I'll go in and sign things!

If you want your book or books shipped in time for Christmas, you need to contact the store and place your order by December 12th. That's still not a guarantee, especially if you're in like, England, but at least it's a ballpark.

But wait, you cry! What books are currently available?

TOBY: Rosemary and Rue, A Local Habitation, An Artificial Night, Late Eclipses, One Salt Sea, Ashes of Honor, and Chimes at Midnight.

INCRYPTID: Discount Armageddon and Midnight Blue-Light Special.

NEWSFLESH: Feed, Deadline, Blackout, and the Newsflesh box set.

VELVETEEN: Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots and Velveteen vs. The Multiverse.

OTHER: Parasite.

ANTHOLOGIES: The Living Dead 2 (Newsflesh-universe story); Home Improvement: Undead Edition (Toby-universe story); Zombiesque; Westward Weird (Incryptid-universe story); Tales From the Ur-Bar; Human For a Day; The Modern Fae's Guide to Surviving Humanity; Other Worlds Than These; Human Tales; Grants Pass; The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination; Glitter & Mayhem; Raygun Chronicles; Carniepunk (Incryptid-universe story); Oz Reimagined; Coins of Chaos (Rose Marshall story).

Because Borderlands does not carry non-fiction, none of the Mad Norwegian Press titles are available from them.

Any questions?

(Post concept gleefully stolen from John Scalzi. I love you, John!)

Hey, folks! Sorry I'm so quiet right now—I'm still trying to dig myself out from under the epic flood of crap relating to my book tour—but I thought you might like to know what I'm doing tomorrow night. Namely...

Writers With Drinks! Come out, drink booze, meet awesome authors, and hear me read something (assuming I don't start drinking early and dip into my stand-up act, which would be funny but dangerous).

If you're in the Bay Area, come out and get your drink on! If you're not, I will be dropping by Borderlands Books before the event, and can sign and personalize anything that's waiting for me there. I cringe saying this, but: holiday shopping takes time, and you can skim a little off the top by contacting Borderlands, who will shove things in front of me and then mail them to you, no fuss, no muss.

Well. Maybe a little muss. But only a little.

See you tomorrow night!

Hello, world!

The book tour for Parasite will be launching soon. As most of the events are outside my "home territory," they will not feature cupcakes, but because I do not stray from tradition when I don't have to, the Borderlands event will feature cupcakes. And I have a request.

If you know for sure that you will be attending (or making a good faith effort to attend; I understand that life happens), and you have one of the following dietary restrictions...

* Vegan
* Gluten-free
* Egg or dairy allergy

...please comment here to let me know. I only order "specialty" cupcakes when I expect someone with that particular restriction to be at the event, as there is additional cost/prep time. Not so much that I'm unwilling to do it; just enough that I don't if I don't have to.

Hope to see you there!

It's a tour! It's a tour! It's an honest-to-Betsy book tour! You can find the full details here, along with links to some fun promo material, but the real meat of things is the dates, times, and places. Specifically:

Tuesday, October 29
7 PM: Borderlands, 866 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA

Wednesday, October 30
7 PM: Books Inc. Mountain View, 301 Castro Street, Mountain View, CA

Thursday, October 31
7 PM: Mysterious Galaxy, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard, San Diego, CA

Friday, November 1
7 PM: B&N #2280, 401 NE Northgate Way #1100, Seattle, WA

Saturday, November 2
2 PM: B&N #2262, 12000 SE 82nd Avenue, Portland, OR

I'm going to go zoom zoom zoom, and then boom boom boom, and if you're in the room room room, you might meet your doom doom doom. I am so excited. I have never had an actual book tour before, and I'm gonna wreck it.

Now, if you are not able to make it to any of the book tour stops, please remember that Borderlands Books a) takes pre-orders via both internet and phone, and b) will ship. So you can get a signed, personalized copy of Parasite of your very own, even if you're not in a position to risk life and limb by getting it from me directly. They make amazing holiday gifts, and can be used to either kill or house spiders, depending on where you put them.

Book tour!

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.

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!

Guys guys guys! The Traveling Circus and Snake-Handling* Show is tomorrow! For the eighth time, my band of merry wanderers will descend upon San Francisco, bringing music, chaos, and the excitement of a book release party with us! This time, we're actually not going to be at my beloved Borderlands Books, although they will be selling books at the event: thanks to an opening in the Variety Preview Room Theatre, we're going to be trashing someone else's house for a change! The party begins this coming Saturday at 6:00 PM, at...

The Variety Preview Room Theatre
Hobart Bldg., 1st Floor (use the entrance next to Citibank on Market St.)
582 Market Street @ 2nd and Montgomery
San Francisco, CA 94104

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE.

Delicious cupcakes! Free popcorn, for that circus feeling! A cash bar, including a signature cocktail designed just for us, The Snakehandler! Jeff and Maya Bohnhoff rocking the house, now with special bonus Paul Kwinn and imported bonus Vixy! And this time, I'm not the only author who's going to be taking her turn in the ring. That's right: I have AWESOME BONUS GUESTS. Sarah Kuhn, awesome author of the geek rom-com One Con Glory, will be joining the fray, as will Amber Benson, whose latest Calliope Reaper-Jones adventure, The Golden Age of Death, dropped just two weeks ago.

Three authors. A lot of music. Plenty of sugar. Accessible booze. NOW HOW MUCH WOULD YOU PAY?

I thought so.

Seating at the Preview Room is limited, so please show up early. We are a kid-friendly circus, although there will probably be swearing (I'm planning to show up, I swear a lot). The doors will open at 6:00 PM to allow for getting drinks and books, meeting people, and generally relaxing into the night; the Circus takes the stage at 7:00 PM. Here is the full schedule for the evening (subject to change):

6:00 PM: Welcome to our party! The doors will open for milling, schmoozing, hitting the bar, and finding seats. AND CUPCAKES!
7:00 PM: Would you like some music?
7:30 PM: Perhaps you would like to win things.
7:40 PM: Now there will be a reading! WHO WILL IT BE? NO ONE KNOWS! (Amber, Sarah, or Seanan.)
8:00 PM: More music?
8:30 PM: More prizes?
8:40 PM: Another mystery reading!
9:00 PM: Last music of the night.
9:30 PM: Q&A and book discussion.
9:50 PM: Thanks and final raffle before we move to the lobby for signing.

One note from the management:

"Don’t Drive—Seriously. Parking sucks in this area. Take BART or MUNI downtown, as we are directly adjacent to the Montgomery Street BART/MUNI station! Street parking ($3.50 per hour/coins or meter card, no charge cards) is metered 7 days a week til 6PM. If you have to drive, we suggest parking at the Folsom St. Garage at 3rd & Folsom (cheapest), across from Moscone Center."

See you Saturday!

(*No snakes will be present at the event, which is a shame, because I like snakes. I will content myself with humans. FOR NOW.)

It's time once again to descend upon San Francisco once again, bringing music, chaos, and the excitement of a book release party with us! This time, we're actually not going to be at my beloved Borderlands Books, although they will be selling books at the event: thanks to an opening in the Variety Preview Room Theatre, we're going to be trashing someone else's house for a change! The party begins this coming Saturday at 6:00 PM, at...

The Variety Preview Room Theatre
Hobart Bldg., 1st Floor (use the entrance next to Citibank on Market St.)
582 Market Street @ 2nd and Montgomery
San Francisco, CA 94104

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE.

Delicious cupcakes! Free popcorn, for that circus feeling! A cash bar, including a signature cocktail designed just for us, The Snakehandler! Jeff and Maya Bohnhoff rocking the house! And this time, I'm not the only author who's going to be taking her turn in the ring. That's right: I have guests. Sarah Kuhn, awesome author of the geek rom-com One Con Glory, will be joining the fray, as will Amber Benson, whose latest Calliope Reaper-Jones adventure, The Golden Age of Death, dropped just two weeks ago.

Three authors. A lot of music. Plenty of sugar. Accessible booze. NOW HOW MUCH WOULD YOU PAY?

I thought so.

Seating at the Preview Room is limited, so please show up early. We are a kid-friendly circus, although there will probably be swearing (I'm planning to show up, I swear a lot). The doors will open at 6:00 PM to allow for getting drinks and books, meeting people, and generally relaxing into the night; the Circus takes the stage at 7:00 PM. A full schedule for the evening will be posted Friday.

One note from the management:

"Don’t Drive—Seriously. Parking sucks in this area. Take BART or MUNI downtown, as we are directly adjacent to the Montgomery Street BART/MUNI station! Street parking ($3.50 per hour/coins or meter card, no charge cards) is metered 7 days a week til 6PM. If you have to drive, we suggest parking at the Folsom St. Garage at 3rd & Folsom (cheapest), across from Moscone Center."

See you Saturday!

(*No snakes will be present at the event, which is a shame, because I like snakes. They're our huggy friends.)

Greetings, people of Earth.

I will be appearing today at Borderlands Books in San Francisco at three p.m., where I, along with John Joseph Adams, will be explaining the world domination plans as described in The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination. (We do not believe in confusing titles here in the lab. Confusing titles mean melted minions, and that's a waste of resources.)

I understand that you may have other things to do, but I implore you to attend the event, or to contact the bookstore to order signed books, as we will look kindly upon those who support the anthology, and given the size of my vegetable hybrid army, "looking kindly" may save your city from being used as an incubation hive.

From my heart and from my hands, why don't people understand that I just need to subjugate them all to my will?

Still waiting for her shiny new Australia,
Seanan.

WEIRD SCIENCE!

(Duh dum bum bum da dum.)

Or, really, MAD SCIENCE, because that is where my heart of hearts makes its forever home. The new anthology, The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination, is hitting shelves now, and includes my short story, "Laughter at the Academy: A Study in the Development of Schizotypal Creative Genius Personality Disorder (SCGPD)." Fans of my music will recognize the basic plot of the story as matching that of my Pegasus Award-winning song, "What A Woman's For." Yes. It is a story based on a song about using womanly wiles to cause perfectly reasonable researchers to embrace grave-robbing and storm-chasing as a means of advancing their careers. My mother is so proud.

Anyway, it's a fantastic book that I'm going to talk about a bit more in a little while, and I'm happy as hell to be a part of it. And if you're in the Bay Area, this weekend will bring you the opportunity to see the editor, John Joseph Adams, appearing with yours truly at San Francisco's own Borderlands Books. The event begins at 3:00 pm, and will undoubtedly be a rocking good time. It's always a rocking good time when John and I get together.

The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination is available now at a bookstore or internet retailer near you. Published by Tor Books, you can get it in either hardcover ($25.99) or trade paperback ($14.99), and honestly, it's worth it at either price point.

Hope to see you Saturday!

It's almost Christmas! Whether you celebrate that specific calendar day or not, that means that there's about to be a massive disruption in the postal service, so if you had wanted to order anything, like say, a signed, personalized book, this would be the time to do it. Also, my last scheduled stop at Borderlands is December 20th. After that, you're out of luck until the new year. So! Do you want to give a signed, personalized book to the person of your choice, after exchanging money for it? Here's how!

1. Contact Borderlands Books (http://borderlands-books.com/) in San Francisco, California. You can contact them by either email or phone; check the website for specific options.

2. Order books! You have to tell them which ones, naturally, and whether you want them signed and personalized, or just signed. Personalized books must be paid for up-front. You can request a specific inscription. Some inscriptions (ie, my phone number) will be refused, although your book will still be signed.

3. While you're at it, order anything else that you'd like to get. I mean, hello, bookstore, and you're already paying for shipping, so why the heck not?

4. Give the store any information they need, like shipping address and billing and stuff.

5. The store will contact me, and I'll go in and sign things!

At this point, your book will probably not reach you before Christmas, but at least it will be signed and shiny.

But wait, you cry! What books are currently available from the store?

TOBY: Rosemary and Rue, A Local Habitation, An Artificial Night, Late Eclipses, One Salt Sea, and Ashes of Honor.

INCRYPTID: Discount Armageddon.

NEWSFLESH: Feed, Deadline, Blackout, When Will You Rise, and the Newsflesh box set.

VELVETEEN: Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots.

ANTHOLOGIES: The Living Dead 2 (Newsflesh-universe story); Home Improvement: Undead Edition (Toby-universe story); Zombiesque; Westward Weird (Incryptid-universe story); Tales From the Ur-Bar; Human For a Day; The Modern Fae's Guide to Surviving Humanity; Other Worlds Than These; Human Tales; Grants Pass.

Because Borderlands does not carry non-fiction, none of the Mad Norwegian Press titles are available from them.

Any questions?

(Post concept gleefully stolen from John Scalzi. I love you, John!)

So it's, like, holiday time. And stuff. And sometimes this means that people want to give people things they think those people will like, which frequently translates into "here, have a book," because we're all enormous book nerds. Being a person who like, writes books, I am very interested in this phenomenon. Moreover, I'd like those books to be as cool as possible. So! Do you want to give a signed, personalized book to the person of your choice, after exchanging money for it? Here's how!

1. Contact Borderlands Books (http://borderlands-books.com/) in San Francisco, California. You can contact them by either email or phone; check the website for specific options.

2. Order books! You have to tell them which ones, naturally, and whether you want them signed and personalized, or just signed. Personalized books must be paid for up-front. You can request a specific inscription. Some inscriptions (ie, my phone number) will be refused, although your book will still be signed.

3. While you're at it, order anything else that you'd like to get. I mean, hello, bookstore, and you're already paying for shipping, so why the heck not?

4. Give the store any information they need, like shipping address and billing and stuff.

5. The store will contact me, and I'll go in and sign things!

If you want your book or books shipped in time for Christmas, you need to contact the store and place your order by December 12th. That's still not a guarantee, especially if you're in like, England, but at least it's a ballpark.

But wait, you cry! What books are currently available?

TOBY: Rosemary and Rue, A Local Habitation, An Artificial Night, Late Eclipses, One Salt Sea, and Ashes of Honor.

INCRYPTID: Discount Armageddon.

NEWSFLESH: Feed, Deadline, Blackout, and the Newsflesh box set.

VELVETEEN: Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots.

ANTHOLOGIES: The Living Dead 2 (Newsflesh-universe story); Home Improvement: Undead Edition (Toby-universe story); Zombiesque; Westward Weird (Incryptid-universe story); Tales From the Ur-Bar; Human For a Day; The Modern Fae's Guide to Surviving Humanity; Other Worlds Than These; Human Tales; Grants Pass.

Because Borderlands does not carry non-fiction, none of the Mad Norwegian Press titles are available from them.

Any questions?

(Post concept gleefully stolen from John Scalzi. I love you, John!)

So Friday night, I will be appearing at The Booksmith in damp, drizzly San Francisco, California, as part of their Read Until the World Ends Halloween Bookswap. I've never done one of these before, so I turn to their website for details:

"$25 gets you dinner and an open bar, a bookstore all to yourself and forty of your new best friends, discounts and swag, a chance to rub elbows with amazing authors, and tons of surprises. Amy Stephenson hosts."

$25 to share a room with me and an open bar. Oh, the drinks that we'll drink! Oh, the thinks that we'll think! Oh, the giggling as I slowly list gently onto my side and go to sleep! I...okay, that last part wouldn't be very professional of me. So I won't do that. But if you're in the San Francisco Bay Area and looking for a fun way to spend a Friday night, come and spend it it with me in my guise as Mira Grant, and with all the boozimohol the bookstore can provide.

Whee!

This coming Saturday is the LitQuake LitCrawl, part of an awesome eight-day event celebrating the wonderful world of books! And, if you're part of the LitCrawl, booze.

LitCrawl has been crawling across the country this month, and arrives in San Francisco to celebrate the end of the LitQuake, arriving in the Mission District and commencing the literary havoc. And now, it has crawled to San Francisco.

I will be reading at Borderlands Books, as part of the Pulp-y Fiction event. This is a component of LitCrawl Phase 2, and should be totally awesome. I'm reading with Cassie Alexander, S.G. Brown, and Seth Harwood. Join us for havoc.

Like, seriously, havoc. We may degenerate into name calling and biting. Lines will be drawn, things will be said, and soda will. Be. Spilled. The event starts at 7:15; I recommend being early if you want to sit down.

See you there!

It is with great pleasure that I remind you all that the latest iteration of the Traveling Circus and Snake-Handling Show will be assembling this Saturday at San Francisco's own Borderlands Books. We'll be getting underway at 6pm, and rocking the roof until closing time comes and they kick us all out! Why are we partying?

To celebrate the release of Ashes of Honor, naturally.

There will be cupcakes! There will be music and a raffle and reading and some Q&A, and it will be a hootenanny of a good time, with a whole lotta hoot AND a whole lotta nanny! Bring your kids! Bring your siblings! Bring your slime monsters! We totally hope to see you there.

Oh, and: Richard Kadrey, who is so awesome that they had to invent new swear words to describe him, will be at the bookstore before the Circus comes to town! His event starts at three. Come early, and make a day of it!

Remember that Borderlands does take telephone and email orders, and would be happy to send you books signed by any of the lovely authors who will be haunting the store that day. Get a book already touched by pure awesome. Or, you know. Ink. The party starts Saturday at 6pm!

Cheese! And! Cake!

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

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

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

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

I hope to see you there!

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...

Tomorrow's Party Schedule!

5:00 PM: Setup, sound check, and final details. You can show up, but we may ignore you if you do. Sorry about that.
6:00 PM: Welcome to our party. We're done ignoring you now. Would you like some music?
6:30 PM: Perhaps you would like to win things.
6:40 PM: Now there will be cupcakes and autographing.
7:00 PM: More music?
7:30 PM: More prizes?
7:40 PM: Q&A and book discussion.
8:10 PM: Last music of the night.
8:40 PM: Let's raffle some more stuff off.
8:50 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 will be cheese and 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.

It is with great pleasure that I remind you all that the latest iteration of the Traveling Circus and Snake-Handling Show will be assembling this Saturday at San Francisco's own Borderlands Books. We'll be getting underway at 6pm, and rocking the roof until closing time comes and they kick us all out! Why are we partying?

To celebrate the release of Discount Armageddon, naturally.

There will be cake! There will be cheese! There will be music and a raffle and reading and some Q&A, and it will be a hootenanny of a good time, with a whole lotta hoot AND a whole lotta nanny! Bring your kids! Bring your siblings! Bring your slime monsters! We totally hope to see you there.

Oh, and: Caitlin Kittredge and Ben Macallan, both of whom are made of hammered awesome, will be at the bookstore before the Circus comes to town! Their event starts at three. Come early, and make a day of it!

Remember that Borderlands does take telephone and email orders, and would be happy to send you books signed by any of the lovely authors who will be haunting the store that day. Get a book already touched by pure awesome. Or, you know. Ink. The party starts Saturday at 6pm!

Cheese! And! Cake!

As I am making this post, I am realizing that it's one of the last times I'll have the awesome Discount Armageddon cover icon as my default. It always changes to reflect my upcoming book, and DA isn't the new baby anymore. It's a bittersweet feeling. I'm so excited to have this book out in the world, and yet.

And yet.

I've been doing lots to get ready for this book release. I've been giving interviews—one with Chuck Wendig, at Terrible Minds, wherein I say "fuck" a lot, and one at My Bookish Ways, wherein I say "fuck" substantially less. (The My Bookish Ways interview is in conjunction with a giveaway, open to international entries. Just saying.) I've been distributing ARCs and author copies. I've been hyperventilating.

Okay, I've actually been hyperventilating a lot. Because starting a new series is scary, and introducing the world to a whole new cast of characters is scary, and a whole lot of things involved with this book are scary, and I am generally just a frozen ball of fear.

But the book is out now. In both physical and electronic editions, and you can order it at will. I'm going to swing by Borderlands and sign pre-ordered copies after I get off work, and then I'm going to go to Kate's and eat Indian and maybe demand a trip to Toys R Us.

The book is out now.

HAIL!

People of Earth!

Mira Grant* will be appearing at San Francisco's own Borderlands Books this coming Saturday at 3:00 PM, to celebrate the release of Stephen Blackmoore's awesome new book, City of the Lost. I blurbed it, even! Here's what I said:

"The gritty streets of City of the Lost are filled with snappy dialog, and fascinating characters, as well as a rollercoaster of a plot that doesn't slow down from beginning to end. This is the zombie crime novel we didn't know we were all waiting for."

Stephen will be making his Borderlands debut, and you know you want to come out and make him feel at home. Besides which, this is your opportunity to hear about an awesome new book, hear readings, ask questions, and generally shine a little light of spectacular on the landscape. Borderlands does take requests for signed and personalized copies; both Stephen and I will be happy to sign anything that's put in front of us. Oh, and so will Mira.

Hope to see you there!

(*You know, my somewhat evil—or, I guess, eviler—alter-ego.)

Apparently, "December" is synonymous with "that month where Seanan is too busy and/or distracted to remember to update her journal, even when she thinks she really ought to." Super-fun! Also, I'm sorry. Also, I need a nap. So here are some bullet points to soothe your abandoned souls, while I try to find my head:

1. Human For a Day is available now at a bookstore near you! This awesome anthology contains "Cinderella City," my second Mina Norton story (the first, "Alchemy and Alcohol", appears in Tales from the Ur-Bar). I've read through the whole book, and it's excellent, easily passing my "should I keep this" test for anthologies even without taking into account the whole "I have a story in there" aspect. You should totally pick it up.

2. Speaking of picking things up, my beloved Borderlands Books has published their holiday gift guide, which is insightful and lovely, and lists my Mira Grant books as great presents, thus providing that it's also brilliant and worth listening to. If you're wondering what to buy for the reader in your life, or for yourself, check it out.

3. Also, I was three of the top ten paperbacks for November. Feed came in at number three, One Salt Sea at number eight, and Deadline at number nine. I am well pleased.

4. As of right this second (this will change), I have all the Monster High dolls (except for 2010 SDCC Frankie, and I'm not paying that much for a doll I wouldn't be willing to take out of the box). I'm missing one fashion pack, and that's it. Since there are six more characters confirmed on the horizon, and the eternal looming rumor of a basic Jackson Jekyll, I intend to enjoy this rare moment of completeness while it exists.

5. Geek Fest in Seattle was absolutely wonderful. I met awesome musicians, made music with some of my favorite people, and discovered how much cranberry sauce constitutes "too much" (hint: I multiplied the recipe by a factor of six). Also I got to see some of my favorite people meet and hang out with others of my favorite people, and a good time was had by all.

6. Still loving Criminal Minds, woefully behind on everything else except for Glee, New Girl, and Bones, probably going to get lynched by my housemate if I don't clear some things off the DVR soon.

7. You know what? Seriously, go pick up Human For a Day. It's my good friend Jennifer's first editorial job with a big six publisher, and I really want her to be able to do more of these, because she really does a fantastic job. She brings a degree of integrity and focus to the table that really shows in the finished product, and I want to see her wind up becoming a name on a level with John Joseph Adams or Ellen Datlow, where anthology construction is concerned.

8. The new Glee soundtrack has been released, with the end result that I now have "Red Solo Cup" so firmly wedged in my head that I would need a crowbar to get it out. I don't dislike the song, but I didn't sign up to have it permanently melded with my skull. Bah.

9. Oh, hey, skulls! Have any of you read Dawn Metcalf's debut YA novel, Luminous? Because it's about skeletons. And stuff. And I need to do a proper review, because it was awesome. And while we're all talking about diversity in YA, this book has: a Hispanic heroine (who is sometimes a skeleton), an Orthodox Jewish character not presented as being misguided or odd, at least one character who isn't skinny and doesn't want to be, real consequences, real concerns, and characters of multiple non-Caucasian races, apart from the protagonist. This is an awesome book.

10. Zombies are love. Anyone who tells you different is selling something. Probably anti-zombie security measures.

Saturday night is MAD SCIENCE LADIES NIGHT at Borderlands Books, where that lovely and talented lady of mad science and shadow government, Shaenon Garrity herself, will be hosting the launch party for her brand new Narbonic Perfect Collection.

For those of you unfamiliar with Narbonic, it's a mad science/romance/gonzo journalism/geek culture/time travel comic that ran for six years before coming to an earth-shattering conclusion. All six years are now collected in a single glorious locale, with two mind-blowing volumes available for your perusal. The books are $30 for the set of two, or $17 individually; they'll be available for sale on Saturday.

(And yes, as always, you can contact the store to order your very own signed and personalized volumes, if you can't be there yourself.)

Shaenon will also have volumes one and two of Skin Horse, one of my favorite currently ongoing webcomics; these are $14 each, and so worth it.

The party will be from five to seven PM on Saturday, November 19th. There will be cupcakes and wine (boxed and bottled), and original art available for purchase at the low, low price of $30 a strip. If you've been to my house, you've seen several of these strips framed and hanging in my front bathroom. Fine art for everyone!

We hope to see you there! It's going to be a real good time.

Shamelessly, I have stolen a very clever idea from John Scalzi at the Whatever, who has posted an excellent, and quite thorough, guide to obtaining signed books from him for the holidays. He has some really spiffy books available right now. You should check them out.

Anyway, I, too, have been receiving emails for about the last month, asking where people can get signed copies of my various books. Since I already have a bajillion shirts to mail (still mailing), "from me" isn't a viable answer. So...

Want a signed book? Signed by me, I mean, and not by that guy who always looks at you sort of funny on the bus? Borderlands Books is here to help. They're located in San Francisco, on Valencia Street, and they see me a lot. Like, a lot. Anyway, they'd be totally happy to take your order, and I would be totally happy to sign and/or personalize those orders. Here's what you have to do:

1. Contact Borderlands. You can send an email via their website (link above), or call their toll-free 888 number, at 1-888-893-4008.

2. Tell them what you want, and how you want the book signed. I will do inscriptions, but they need to be short, as those title pages don't leave me a lot of room to work with.

3. While you're at it, you might want to consider picking up a few books other people have written, since you're already paying for postage, and isn't getting a big box of books always better than getting a small box of books? I'll be posting my holiday recommendations soon, none of which have a damn thing to do with the holidays, but in the meanwhile, there are lots of books out there looking for a home.

3b. I won't sign those books. Unless you really, really want me to.

4. Give them your mailing address and billing information. You must be prepared to pay for inscribed books when you place your order. It's a logic thing. Once I write your name in it, they can't sell it to anybody else.

5. Your books will magically appear at your home! It's amazing!

If you want your books in time for Christmas, I seriously suggest ordering by December 12th. The mail will be insane by that point, so sooner is probably better. I'll visit the store for the last time this holiday season on December 19th (Alice's third birthday!), but I'm leaving for Orlando after that, so any orders placed beyond that point definitely won't reach you before 2012.

Borderlands can ship internationally, but postage will be spendy, and you need to work it out with the bookstore.

In case you need a recap on what's currently available:

TOBY BOOKS (in order): Rosemary and Rue, A Local Habitation, An Artificial Night, Late Eclipses, One Salt Sea.

MIRA GRANT TITLES (in order): Feed, Deadline.

ANTHOLOGIES I AM IN: Home Improvement: Undead Edition (hardcover, Toby story), Tales From the Ur-Bar, Zombiesque, The Living Dead 2 (as Mira Grant, Newsflesh story), Grants Pass, Human Tales.

ESSAYS AND NON-FICTION: Chicks Dig Time Lords, Whedonistas.

If you have questions, let me know...and if you do decide to order, thank you so, so much for helping to support both my endless quest to feed the cats and my beloved local independent bookstore. You are awesome.

Why cut-tagged? Because I am trying, vainly, to slaughter a little bit more of the standing file, and I think it's unfriendly to make you look at more than five links at a go. (I know that for some of you, these roundups are a necessary evil, and I thank you for your patience. For me, they're housekeeping and a way of putting things where I can find them again if I need them later.)

Reviews!

( We cut because we care, and because boy howdy, do I have a lot of links.Collapse )

Things are insane around here (which is ironic, given that I'm finally between conventions), so here are the updates and events du jour, presented in convenient bite-sized fashion.

Science Crawl.
Tomorrow night (Friday, November 4th) the Bay Area Science Crawl will be at Borderlands Books from 7:15 until 8:15 PM. Quote: "The Bay Area Science Festival is proud to present the first ever Sci-Crawl, a coordinated takeover of venues throughout San Francisco’s Mission District, showcasing the science inherent in the neighborhood." I'll be appearing as Mira on a panel discussing the Science of Science Fiction, along with Jeff Carlson and Scott Sigler, and moderated by Brian Malow. The event is free, and should be super-fun. Come and join the geek!

Dental horrors.
Yesterday, I had dental surgery. Yes, again. This time, I managed to somehow break a titanium post inside my mouth. SUPER FUN. Without going into details, largely because they would freak me out, I shall simply say that I am rarely given that many pharmaceuticals during a twenty-four hour period, and I can still taste colors. No fun at all. I basically lost a day and a half to a great gray pit.

T-shirt mailing.
According to my spreadsheet, there are still over a hundred shirts that have not been introduced to envelopes. Over a hundred means that one in three, roughly, has not been mailed. Unless you have reason to think that gnomes have stolen the contents of your mailbox, please don't email yet asking where, specifically, your shirt is located. I'm packing and mailing them just as fast as I possibly can, and this being such a manual process means that it's very hard to track specific list items. Also, because there is such a variance of colors and styles, sometimes the only way to find a shirt is to remove all the shirts around it, which makes it impossible to go "oh, you mean this one? Yeah, it's right here." So I plead for patience. All you do by poking without good cause is make me, and Deborah, sad and grumpy.

Cats.
We're coming up on the one-year anniversary of Alice getting so very, very sick, and she has realized that this means she can basically get away with anything, just by doing while Not Being Sick. This morning, she hit my abdomen like a fuzzy bowling ball, shoved her wet feet up my nose, and trilled happily, only to receive hugs and love, because She Wasn't Sick. Am I setting a bad precedent? Yeah, probably. Do I care? Not one damn bit. Alice isn't sick, and that's really what I need out of life.

Television.
All the shows are coming back on the air. ALL THE SHOWS. Bones starts up again tonight, and I'm gamely plugging through season two of Criminal Minds, which means I may be catching up to watching it live before too much longer. It may seem counter-productive to watch this much TV while also trying to get writing done, but it actually speeds me up, by giving me something to finish for. Speaking of which...

Writing.
Ashes of Honor is done, and I'm getting ready to go into draft two. Midnight Blue-Light Special is finally moving at what I'd call a reasonable pace, and I'm about a quarter of the way through the projected text. And there are various other projects kicking around, including the second installment of the latest Vel story, which will take us to four for the year I can so make my goal. Hah.

Zombies.
Are love.

The first weekend in October was my fifth Toby-related book event at San Francisco's Borderlands Books, home of naked cats, tolerant employees, and, every six months or so, the Traveling Circus and Snake-Handling Show. We've appeared in other locations, but Borderlands is the one we keep going back to; Borderlands is the home base for this particular flavor of insanity. Why? Because we like them.

Normally, I try to be a little prompter with my write-ups of the parties and their aftermath, but let's face it here: I have been a little busy. Anyway, we started super-early on Saturday, since we all had to rehearse if we wanted to not suck. Rehearsal took place in Kate's basement, and featured the day's entire planned slate of musicians. Many things happened. Many of them were lovely. And then we all piled into a variety of cars and drove to San Francisco, hence to Make Things Go. The bookstore is used to us by this point, and no one batted an eye as we invaded the office, turned it into a green room, and began trashing the place like the good little circus that we are.

Jeff set up the sound system, which is both little and awesome, while Jude got the house in order, Mia set up with the pendants in her corner, and Shawn took over maintenance of the raffle table. I got cupcakes and candy set up (the important things), and we got that party started.

As always, the festivities were divided between music, Q&A, baked goods, and drawing prizes in our raffle. The questions were new and different, the raffle prizes were an awesome mix of standard and surprising (including some special additions by the bookstore, which made things even more spectacular), the cupcakes (from Cups and Cakes Bakery) were delicious, and the music was rocking. The set lists:

SET ONE:

1. "Let's Get the Monkeys to Do It." Paul Kwinn, lead vocals, guitar; Jeff Bohnhoff, guitar; Maya Bohnhoff, Michelle "Vixy" Dockrey, backing vocals; Betsy Tinney, cello; Beckett Gladney, harmonica.
2. "Caledonia." Paul, lead vocals, guitar; Maya, backing vocals.
3. "When I Go." Paul, lead vocals, guitar; Beckett, harmonica.
4. "The Dark Man." Paul, lead vocals, guitar; Jeff, guitar; Maya, backing vocals; Seanan McGuire, backing vocals; Betsy, cello.
5. "Where the Magic is Real." Paul, lead vocals, guitar; Maya, Vixy, backing vocals; Jeff, guitar.
6. "My Story is Not Done." Seanan, lead vocals; Paul, guitar; Betsy, cello; Beckett, harmonica; everyone in the store, backing vocals.

SET TWO:

1. "I Am the Walmart." Maya, lead vocals; Vixy, backing vocals; Jeff, guitar; Betsy, cello.
2. "Dairy Queen." Maya, lead vocals; Vixy, backing vocals; Jeff, guitar.
3. "Dance in the Darkness." Maya, lead vocals; Vixy, backing vocals; Jeff, guitar.
4. "Wil's Song." Maya, lead vocals; Vixy, backing vocals; Jeff, guitar.
5. "Turn the Page." Maya, lead vocals; Vixy, backing vocals; Jeff, guitar; Paul, guitar; Beckett, harmonica.
6. "Get Off Of My Lawn." Maya, lead vocals; Vixy, backing vocals; Jeff, guitar; Betsy, cello.

SET THREE:

1. "Still Catch the Tide." Seanan, lead vocals; Vixy, backing vocals; Tony Fabris, guitar; Betsy, cello.
2. "Eight-Legged Blues." Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Beckett, harmonica; Paul, percussion.
3. "We Can Be Anything." Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Betsy, cello.
4. "Six String Love." Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar.
5. "Build That Wall/Setting Sail, Coming Home (medley)." Vixy, vocals; Maya, backing vocals; Tony, guitar; Betsy, cello.
6. "The Ocean." Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar.
7. "Got To Fly." Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar.
8. "Wicked Girls." Seanan, Vixy, vocals; Tony, guitar; Betsy, cello.

"The Dark Man" and "Where the Magic is Real" are on the first Puzzlebox album, Assembly Required.
"Caledonia" is on Dougie MacLean's album Craigie Dhu.
"When I Go" is on Dave Carter and Tracy Grammar's album, When I Go.
"Six String Love" is on Vixy and Tony's first album, Thirteen.
"Dance in the Darkness" and "Turn the Page" are on Jeff and Maya's second album, Manhattan Sleeps.
"I Am the Walmart" and "Wil's Song" are on Jeff and Maya's fifth album, Grated Hits.
"Build That Wall/Setting Sail, Coming Home (medley)" are on the Bastion Original Soundtrack.
"The Ocean" is on Dar Williams's album, Mortal City.
"Got to Fly" is on Marian Call's second album, Got to Fly.
"Still Catch the Tide" is on Seanan's second album, Stars Fall Home, and on Talis Kimberley's recent live album, By Request at Duckon.
"My Story is Not Done" and "Wicked Girls" are on Seanan's fourth album, Wicked Girls.

A good time was had by all, and the cupcakes lasted almost fifteen minutes this time, because we finally ordered enough. We're already making plans and getting our ducks in row for the next time that the Circus comes to town. And if you're curious, or want to see some pictures, you can check out Beckett's fantastic (and more timely) writeup of the event.

Thanks to everyone who attended, and to everyone who didn't...see you next time!

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you tomorrow's...

PARTY SCHEDULE!

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.
5:15 PM: Would you like some music?
5:55 PM: Perhaps you would like to win things.
6:00 PM: Now there will be cupcakes and autographing.
6:30 PM: More music?
7:10 PM: More prizes?
7:15 PM: Toby Daye Q&A and book discussion.
7:45 PM: Last music of the night.
8:25 PM: Let's raffle some more stuff off.
8:30 PM: Assuming people are not too busy buying books and eating cupcakes, I will read something. No, really.
9:00 PM: Last raffle drawing of the night and we close the evening.

This iteration of the Traveling Circus and Snake-Handling Show will be in the bookstore proper; the cafe will be open throughout the evening, 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. Mia will be there with pendants for sale, and they are gorgeous. There will be cupcakes and candy provided 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.