Our first winner!

And the winner (selected through random number drawing) of a signed cover flat is...

...dawn_metcalf!

Dawn, please drop me an email with your address, and I'll get this in the mail for you. Whee!

Time to vote!

We're no longer taking entries for the first-ever poetry contest ARC give-away. Instead, ten poems have been selected (through an arcane mix of "random number generation" and "oh, I like that one"), and are included below for your voting pleasure. The winner will be selected this Friday, and will receive an ARC of Rosemary and Rue for their very own. Vote for your favorite

Game on!

[Poll #1401773]

( Click here to read the full text of the entries. )

Seanan's at BayCon!

Having been their Toastmistress (in 2007) and their Chairman (in 2003), I'm really dead thrilled to be attending BayCon 2009 in San Jose, California as a published author (May 22nd-25th). Think of it as sort of like showing up for your high school reunion after conquering Madagascar. I'M THE LEMUR QUEEN, BITCHES. Er, ahem. Or something like that, anyway. Besides, my beloved jennifer_brozek is this year's Toastmistress, which should be awesome. (Jenn is editor of Grants Pass, aka, "what if we threw a plague and EVERYBODY came?", and owns three of the craziest cats I've ever met.)

I'm reasonably lightly-booked this year, which is a nice change, and my scheduled panels so far include...

SATURDAY.

11:30 AM: Zombies Are Coming!

SUNDAY.

11:30 AM: Iron Poet.
1:00 PM: What's Your Post-Apocalypse Plan?

MONDAY.

1:00 PM: Writing For the Long Run

As always, I'm assuming that there may be some last-minute additions and subtractions to this slate, but that should give you a reasonably good idea of where I can be found. I won't be giving a concert this year, sadly, as there just wasn't time to get together with any of my assorted guitarists and rehearse, but I will have copies of all three CDs, both in the dealer's hall and on my person.

I'll be bringing a few precious copies of the Rosemary and Rue ARC with me to the convention for the adventurous to wheedle out of me (clues on how to do your wheedling are yet to come). Hope to see you there!

PS: Remember to vote your favorite poem in the ARC giveaway!

Thoughts on Writing #30: Continuity Trapper Keeper.

Hello, and welcome to the thirtieth essay in my ongoing series of essays on the art and craft of writing. Thirty! That's a pretty big number, and it's just set to get bigger, since all these essays are based around my original fifty thoughts on writing. (On the plus side, this also means we're sixty percent of the way there.) Here's our thought for today:

Thoughts on Writing #30: Continuity Trapper Keeper.

This is definitely one of those that needs a little expansion before it starts making sense. Here you go:

If you're writing any sort of series, whether it be a series of short stories or a series of novels, you need a continuity guide. The format is up to you. The level of detail is up to you. But believe me, even if you somehow manage to forget that your hero has green eyes and turn them hazel, your readers won't, and they will eat your soul.

When I was a kid, I found continuity errors unbelievably offensive. If I could always remember your main character's favorite sandwich, childhood pet, and preferred route to the spooky old house on the top of the hill, why couldn't you, the author, remember the same things? You created them!

Ah, the innocence of youth. Let's talk continuity, why it matters, and how to maintain it. Ready? Good. Let's begin.

( My thoughts are not your thoughts; my process is not your process; my ideas are not your ideas; my method is not your method. All these things are totally right for me, and may be just as totally wrong for you. So please don't stress if the things I'm saying don't apply to you -- I promise, there is no One True Way. This way for my thoughts on continuity tracking. )