General statuses as we head toward book launch.

[seanan_mcguire]

So I'm existing on a diet of Diet Dr Pepper, canned peas, and plain-baked chicken breasts with way too many mushrooms, and I'm waking up earlier every morning (new record: 5:02 AM). I thus figure it's time to give the general status updates, before I'm too fried to think straight.

Books. I have three coming out in 2010: A Local Habitation [Amazon]|[Mysterious Galaxy] and An Artificial Night as me, and Feed [Amazon]|[Mysterious Galaxy] as Mira Grant. I have one currently due in 2010, Deadline (the sequel to Feed).

In addition to the books that are already sold/slated for publication, I have one finished October Daye book, Late Eclipses, and one finished InCryptid book, Discount Armageddon. I am currently working on The Brightest Fell (Toby five), Midnight Blue-Light Special (InCryptid two), and Sit, Stay, I Hate You (Coyote Girls two). In 2010, I'm planning to finish all three of these, start on Blackout (Newsflesh three), start on Ashes of Honor (Toby six), and start on Hunting Grounds (InCryptid three). I am not planning on a particularly large quantity of sleep.

There's currently a contest running to win an ARC of A Local Habitation. Drop by and give it a shot!

Short Stories. I'm one of the 2010 universe authors for The Edge of Propinquity, which is running my Sparrow Hill Road series for the rest of the year. The second story, "Dead Man's Party," went live earlier this week, and I'm working on the fifth story, "El Viento Del Diablo," which should be finished in a week or so. After that comes "Last Dance With Mary Jane," which will answer a lot of questions people have been asking for a very long time. This is a series heavily influenced by the mythology of the American highway, and with a very strong soundtrack accompanying every story. There will be playlists! Much fun.

I have various other short stories out on secret missions, including two Fighting Pumpkins adventures ("Dying With Her Cheer Pants On" and "Gimme a 'Z'!"), my first-ever steampunk piece ("Alchemy and Alcohol," which comes complete with cocktail recipes), and an actual Mira Grant short story ("Everglades"). I'm noticing a high level of dead stuff in my recent short story output. Somehow, this is not striking me as terribly surprising.

Non-fiction. My essay in Chicks Dig Time Lords [Amazon]|[Mysterious Galaxy] will be available later this month, along with, y'know, the rest of the book, which includes an essay from my beloved Tara O'Shea. So if you've ever wondered why I love math and have trouble with linear time, you should probably pick up a copy of this book. (You should do that anyway, because the book is awesome, but that's beside the point.)

My introduction for jennifer_brozek's In A Gilded Light will also be available with the rest of the book, sometime in mid-2010. I plan to finish the "On Writing" series by the end of 2010.

Albums. Work on Wicked Girls is proceeding apace, and beginning to pick up speed as we get deeper into the process of mixing and arranging songs. I'm scheduling my various instrumentalists to come into the studio and get their parts recorded, and some of the arrangements are just going to be incredible. I still need to confirm the covers for this album, and start thinking about graphic design, but I'm still really, really pleased. There's no confirmed release date yet, and there's not going to be one until we're a lot closer to done: as I've said a few times, as soon as there's a deadline, this ceases to be fun and relaxing, and right now, we're too far from finished for that to be a good idea.

I'm within a hundred copies of being entirely out of Stars Fall Home (my first studio album), and right now, I couldn't tell you if or when there's going to be another printing. I'm doing a little better for Pretty Little Dead Girl, but at the current rate, I'd estimate that I'll be out (or very close to out) by this time next year. Red Roses and Dead Things, being my most recent release, is also the one with the most remaining stock (paradoxically, it's also my fastest seller, since a lot of folks don't have it yet). In summary, if you're missing any of my first three albums, you may want to consider whether you're going to want them, because when they're gone, they're gone.

Cats. Alice continues to steal mass from the very center of the sun, growing at a rate usually seen only in big green dudes who have been exposed to Gamma radiation. She's pissed at Cat Valente, who keeps showing pictures of a very enticing kitten, and then not sending the kitten through the screen. Lilly, meanwhile, has taken to jangling her bell right next to my ear in the middle of the night to express her displeasure with the state of the food supply. Lilly wants to be mittens.

And that's the local weather report. Back to you, Ken.

Comments

[bercilakslady.livejournal.com]

If you really want Lilly to be mittens, send me lots and lots of her shed fur, and I'll see what I can do.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

...

Knitters scare me.

[bercilakslady.livejournal.com]

*bows*

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

*trying not to laugh*
*failing*
*laughing*

[beccastareyes]

Knitters and spinners. I could turn cat-hair yarn into mittens*, but I don't know how to turn cat-hair into yarn. And I wouldn't think Siamese fur would be the best fiber -- too short.

* They'd be crocheted mittens, but mittens.

[bigherman.livejournal.com]

You could combine (card) the cat hair with a longer-stapled fiber to hold everything together. That said, you could probably still make laceweight. After all, cashmere and cotton both have ridiculously short staples.

[qnofhrt.livejournal.com]

First time I ever saw anybody spinning, they were spinning Golden Retriever. I'm told that dog and cat hair is ridiculously warm by itself and said Golden Retriever was being spun with plain ol wool.

Despite the prodigious output of fluff from Maine Coons, it takes a LOT of fluff to make yarn. The person with the GR yarn had been collecting fur for years and had garbage bags full of it.

[bigherman.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know the magic physics that turns one box packed with fiber into one box semi-full of yarn. But yeah, she could put all the fluff in a bag and suck the air out to get approximate yarn output. Then again, back to combing with long stapled fiber, especially if durability is an issue. I'm not sure if cat hair would stand up to much friction.

[bercilakslady.livejournal.com]

It amuses me greatly to have started this discussion. I was thinking that I'd comb the cat hair with wool, as they do to make the New Zealand Possum/Merino blends. That yarn is lovely to work with, and quite warm.

I may have missed this

[seferin.livejournal.com]

Are you a morning person by nature, or just allergic to sleep?

Given the sheer scale of your projects, I can't help but wonder if your blood needs caffeine to bond to oxygen :P

Re: I may have missed this

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

I'm a morning person. It's sad.

I think you may be right about that caffeine bonding thing.

Re: I may have missed this

[tikiera.livejournal.com]

I am envious. I get up at 4:45 on days I don't rideshare to work, and that's an hour my body believes that one should be going to sleep. Sadly, the rest of the world doesn't agree, or I would try to find a night shift job.

Re: I may have missed this

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Woooooooooooooooooow.

[seattlejo.livejournal.com]

Speaking of release dates, any idea why An Artificial Night is available for audio book preorder but not hard copy/kindle copy?

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

The phrase "not a damn clue" comes to mind, but I know we're getting started working on the setup for book three.

[seattlejo.livejournal.com]

Ok. Just looking forward to getting my preorder in.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

It will definitely exist as a physical book, promise.

[brownkitty.livejournal.com]

The only possible way for there to be too many mushrooms is for you to be too full to eat more mushrooms.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Sister!

[brownkitty.livejournal.com]

:)

[tikiera.livejournal.com]

I can't eat Fungi. Not after reading that book.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Which one? The Fungus?

[tikiera.livejournal.com]

Yep. That one.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

I love that book.

[tikiera.livejournal.com]

You and I. And if you didn't love that book I would think imagining it, 'cause I haven't seen it since high school.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Actually, for a long time I did think I was imagining it, because no one else I knew had ever even heard of it, and I couldn't remember the title. I mean, it couldn't really be called The Fungus, could it?

Oh, yes, it could. And when I finally found it again, I squealed like a girl.

[tikiera.livejournal.com]

I loved it, but it was too scary for me. I don't know what I would do confronted with the actual book again - flee in terror or read it with a hideous compulsion to see if I had made it scarier in memory, or if it was really just that creepy

And it's one of those titles that makes you think you have the title wrong.

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

This is why God made tupperwear.

[actoplasm.livejournal.com]

You know, I read about Toby working her ass off in A Local Habitation and never getting any sleep and getting paler and paler and drinking more and more coffee, and it makes me feel exhausted just reading it. And then you make this post and it just makes everything Toby's doing seem like a day at the beach!

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

At least Toby had good reason. I just have deadlines.

[bigherman.livejournal.com]

I'm existing on a diet of Diet Dr Pepper, canned peas, and plain-baked chicken breasts with way too many mushrooms

Is this... elective? Or circumstantial? And how can there be too many mushrooms?

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Elective, and come to dinner sometime, I will demonstrate too many mushrooms.

[darcy807.livejournal.com]

I thought you might like to know that A Local Habitation has landed where I work at the Barnes & Noble in Cherry Hill, NJ. 'Tis very pretty - it's grouped with books by Strout and Thurman in a corrugated dump which as merchandise manager I've made room for at the MM Tower. :)

Ciao, Melissa

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

OMG.

OMG.

Take a picture of the filled display?

OMG.

[darcy807.livejournal.com]

Yes, ma'am. :) I will tomorrow.

[dormouse-in-tea.livejournal.com]

*!!!*

*adds action item to tomorrow's to-dos*

Must hit my local B&N and see...

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Yay!