seanan_mcguire | The periodic welcome post.

Hello, everybody, and welcome to my journal. I'm pretty sure you know who I am, my name being in the URL and all, but just in case, I'm Seanan McGuire (also known as Mira Grant), and you're probably not on Candid Camera. This post exists to answer a few of the questions I get asked on a semi-hemi-demi-regular basis. It may look familiar; that's because it gets updated and re-posted roughly every two months, to let folks who've just wandered in know how things work around here. Also, sometimes I change the questions. Because I can.

If you've read this before, feel free to skip, although there may be interesting new things to discover and know beyond the cut.

Anyway, here you go:

Who are you?

My name is Seanan McGuire, as noted above; I'm the author of the Toby Daye series, the first seven of which have been sold to DAW Books (the first five, Rosemary and Rue, A Local Habitation, An Artificial Night, Late Eclipses, and One Salt Sea, are available now from a bookstore near you). I am also the author of the InCryptid series; book one, Discount Armageddon, is available now. I have two short fiction series, "Sparrow Hill Road" (completed) and "Velveteen vs." (ongoing), both of which can currently be read for free online.

I also write as Mira Grant (www.miragrant.com). The two of Mira's books, Feed and Deadline, are available now in the US and UK. Feed was selected as a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2010, and both Feed and Deadline were nominated for a Hugo Award. The third book in the Newsflesh trilogy, Blackout, will be out later this month.

In addition to all that, I'm the author of several other books, all of which are in various states of completion, and all of which I tend to talk about at great and exhausting length. I'm fascinated by the entire writing process, from concept through to revisions, and I'm coming to love the publishing process just as much, even as it drives me slowly out of my tree. I'm represented by Fox Literary, which is made of awesome and win. According to Brooke, I probably have twenty-nine pan-dimensional clones writing for me, because it's the only way to explain my output.

I won the 2010 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. It came with a tiara.

In more general detail, I'm a highly excitable California blonde who spends much of her time writing books, poetry, and short stories, enjoys television, movies, and literature, and has an unhealthy relationship with Photoshop. I'm currently working on moving to the Pacific Northwest. I'm a filker, which means I participate gleefully in the filk community and culture. I have two CDs currently available, Red Roses and Dead Things, and Wicked Girls. My first and second CDs, Pretty Little Dead Girl and Stars Fall Home, are out of print, but you may be able to find copies at your local filk dealer. I am considering a Kickstarter to reprint Stars Fall Home.

I like to walk, argue about the X-Men, watch bad horror movies, and rail against modern standards of feminine beauty, which tend to piss me off. I have opinions about pretty much everything, and an unfortunate tendency to share them at the top of my lungs.

Toby Daye? Tell me more.

October "Toby" Daye is a San Francisco private investigator who happens—much to her frequent chagrin—to be a changeling, the result of a marriage between a human and one of the fae. Life as a changeling is hard enough without getting yourself involved in pureblood politics, but Toby's never been good at doing things the easy way. The first in the series is Rosemary and Rue, an urban fantasy/murder mystery that's probably best described as "fairy tale noir." Think Fables meets Jim Butcher and you'll be in the right zip code, if not exactly the right neighborhood.

The first seven books in the series have been purchased by DAW Books. I'm currently working on book seven, The Chimes at Midnight. Yes, I work several books ahead of whatever is currently "now." This is to give me time to edit them to my satisfaction, and to make sure that, if I get hit by a bus tomorrow, my agent still has plenty to work with.

Are you expecting that bus thing?

Um, no.

What about InCryptid?

The InCryptid books are about a family of cryptozoologists with a rather surreal approach to monster-hunting. They're somewhat lighter than the Toby books, which makes them nice candy for my brain, although they're definitely not fluffy. DAW has purchased the first five books in the series.

Tell me about the Mira Grant books.

The Newsflesh trilogy is a set of science fiction zombie political thrillers. The first, Feed, follows the journalistic adventures of Shaun and Georgia Mason twenty years after the dead got back up and started making things difficult. The second, Deadline, picks up in the aftermath of that campaign. It will be followed by Blackout (May 2012).

Yes, it's a closed series with an actual ending. Wonders will never cease.

What else are you working on?

Oh, loads of things, and you should check my "current projects" tag for a full and detailed list. In summary, however, I'm researching Nativity of Chance, an urban fantasy in the Tim Powers style of weird; working on a variety of short pieces; and writing Sit, Stay, I Hate You, the second of the Clady Porter adventures. I don't slow down very often.

Who are these people you keep talking about?

Because golly, that's not a small ask or anything. We'll begin with my geographically closest female friends: Kate, maintainer of the Home for Lost Children and House of Stripping, Autumn, who puts up with me dragging her to random book signings, and Rachel, my little sister (often referred to as "the zaftig gothic Betty Page"). Jeanne and Rebecca are also in California, but more remote, and thus show up a little less often (although not for lack of trying). Sunil is as big of a media-junkie as I am, and is thus a frequent ally in my battle to watch absolutely everything good that's on TV.

My days are survived largely through the assistance of Vixy, Amy, Mia, Deborah, Brooke (who will one day destroy us all with SCIENCE), Jennifer, Erin, Rae, and Cat. Mary, Wesley, Simon, and Rob are located in the mysterious South, but still come up with reasonable frequency. Chris is my professional Taxi Whore, and has been dragged on more whack-ass adventures than anyone else on the planet, while Shawn has been voted Most Likely To Have Me On His Phone Demanding Bedtime Stories.

I belong to the band Lady Mondegreen, along with Merav, Batya, and Amy the Fiddler (and a whole lot of other people, but these are the ones I perform with the most frequently). I also do a lot of solo performing, where "solo" means "I draft as many guest musicians as I can get my hands on." The semi-usual crew of the rotating not-a-band includes Paul Kwinn, Tony Fabris, Vixy, Alisa and Luis Garcia, Amy (again), and several others. My recording engineers are Kristoph Klover and Jeff Bohnhoff.

I reference a lot of other folks, family members and beloved friends, but these are the ones you're most likely to encounter without actual context to tell you who they are. I just assume you've figured that part out by now. (The actual dramatis personae of my life would be much, much longer, require an entry of its own, and probably make me insane. So if I left you off the list above, don't kill me.)

What's your proofer spotlight thing all about?

So here's the thing: if you watch this journal for a week or two, you'll see that my output is, quite frankly, insane. I have a variety of people and subject matter experts who read for me on various projects (and I'm not looking for more right now, just so that's been said). This is a fairly thankless task, as my response to their detailed and thoughtful edits is often "great, processed, here's the next draft." The proofer spotlight is just a way for me to appreciate them publicly, thus reducing the odds of them killing me in my sleep.

Can I friend you?

Please. Feel free. I love having friends, and I automatically friend anyone who friends this journal.

Can I unfriend you?

Please, again, feel free—although, so it's said, I periodically clean up my lists, and unfriend anyone who's unfriended me. It's the flip-side of "I automatically friend." I don't know why some people take this as a rejection, but they do, so I'm just saying: if you leave the party, I will eventually clear your stuff out of the closet.

Why don't you comment on my journal?

Because I am outnumbered by the rest of the world, I don't actually have time to read everyone that I have friended, and the odds are very good that I haven't seen your post. I apologize for that, but really, I only get the standard number of hours in the day, no matter what I may make it look like. It's all smoke, mirrors, and a few well-placed broccoli clones. If you've posted something you think I should see, please let me know.

Can I link/quote/Metaquote you?

Absolutely, unless the post was locked in some way (in which case I appreciate being asked, since I probably locked it for a reason). I figure once I put something here, it's public, so there's really no point in trying to shoo people away. Now, at the same time, I like to know what people are saying, so I do ask that a) you let me know, and b) that you ask folks to comment on my LJ, rather than wherever it is you're linking me from (unless you're using the link to support a post of your own, in which case, more power to you). Consider this blanket and forever permission.

You mentioned albums? What kind of albums?

I'm a filk musician—I write and compose science-fiction, fantasy, and horror-related songs, some of which wind up getting recorded and released on semi-professional CDs. I have two CDs currently available, both of which can be acquired either through filk dealers or CDBaby.com. You can hear samples at my website. I highly recommend them, both because I made them, and because I think they're quite good. Also, the more copies I sell, the fewer copies will be in my living room. I like getting CDs out of my house, yes, I do. I also appear on Vixy and Tony's Thirteen, and Jeff and Maya Bohnhoff's Grated Hits.

Why do you post so much?

Because I think a lot, and because it's fun. It makes me happy to participate in discussion, share my opinions, and hear your opinions.

Do you really think you're all that? I mean, Disney Halloweentown princess? Come on.

No. But I do have a lot of opinions, and this is my place for sharing them. I invite discussion, but not flaming; if you want to come here and talk to me about why something isn't the way I say it is, I'd love to hear from you, as long as you can be nice about it.

Do you sleep?

Rarely.

Did you name your cat after Lilly Kane?

Yes, I did. I always name my cats after fictional characters, and Lilly-the-cat is totally awesome, just like her namesake, without the whole "being dead" part. Her full name is "Lillian Kane Moskowitz Munster Cavanaugh-Sawyer McGuire," which only gets used when she knocks something over that I wanted to remain upright.

My other two cats are Maine Coons, both from Pinecoon Cattery in Seattle, Washington. The elder of the pair, Alice, is three years old; her full name is "Alice Price-Healy Little Liddel Abernathy McGuire." My youngest, Thomas, is a year old. His full name is "Thomas Price Lynn Rhymer Taylor McGuire," and will get longer before it's finalized.

Lilly is a pedigreed Classic Siamese bluepoint. Alice and Thomas are pedigreed Maine Coon blue classic tabbies and white. I post a lot of pictures of my cats. I love my cats.

Is there anything I should know before I decide whether I want to read this journal?

I'm blonde, female, Californian, addicted to Diet Dr Pepper and candy corn, a Stephen King fan, and an unwilling X-Men addict. I love musicals and cheesy movies, and can often be found spending entire weekends on the treadmill in my back room, watching terrible horror movies on SyFy. I helped write the Mega-Shark vs. Giant Octopus drinking game. I am a bona fide Halloween girl and an old school horror babe who loves the monster in her closet. I game, therefore I am. I collect My Little Ponies, Monster High dolls, Wilde Imagination BJDs, and stuffed animals. I have an unholy fondness for extremely deadly diseases. I, for one, welcome our new giant squid overlords. Most of my close friends are geographically far away, but that doesn't stop me from hanging out with them to a stupid degree. Like Lilo, I remember everyone who leaves me, and sometimes I still cry for people who went away years ago. This doesn't stop me from loving people. I am a Disney Princess with a chainsaw, a pretty little dead girl, and totally prepared for the inevitable zombie invasion.

I believe in freedom of speech, religion, choice, dress, reading material, movement, diet, information, and pretty much everything you're likely to encounter in life. I do not approve of censorship in any form, although I also think that saying something mean just because you can is one of the lowest forms of human behavior. I hate it when people try to play their friends off one another, and wish everyone would just calm the hell down already. I loathe plagiarism but adore pastiche and homage—the difference is often in the credit. I vote Democrat in almost all instances, just because the alternatives are worse. I believe in equal rights for men, women, children, animals, homosexuals, heterosexuals, bisexuals, ambisexuals, Christians, Jews, Pagans, Buddhists, Scientologists, Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, people who like Stephen Schwartz musicals, the man with the hat made of cheese, and the lady who thinks she's a squirrel.

I read books about terrible diseases for fun, and own far too much BPAL. I love Phineas and Ferb, Primeval, Warehouse 13, So You Think You Can Dance, Doctor Who, Fringe, Haven, Glee, and the first two Resident Evil movies, and remain bitter about the way Buffy ended and the cancellation of Freakylinks and Cupid. I had the entire soundtrack to Little Shop of Horrors memorized by the time I turned eight. I don't always remember to give context. My favorite colors are orange and green. I love anything pumpkin, including perfume. I eat too much frozen yogurt, and way, way too many tomatoes. There are times when I live in the Babylon Wood and times when I don't, times when I represent myself in poetry through the rose owl and times when I don't, times when I laugh and times when I cry. I try to be a good person. I frequently even manage it. And I very rarely mean anyone any harm.

Welcome.

Current Mood: busy
Current Music: Halestorm, "Here's to Us."