When will you rise?

[seanan_mcguire]

Blackout is on store shelves today. After more than six years of work, and after three years of publication dates, the trilogy is over.

I may have seemed a little quiet lately. That's honestly because I'm sort of in shock. I just can't believe it's over. I've been living with these people for so long that knowing that their book is closed is just...it's stunning. It's difficult to wrap my head around.

It's finished.

When I finished Feed, it was the best thing I had ever written, and I truly believe that writing it is what enabled me to grow enough as an author to become publication-ready (the final revision of Rosemary and Rue happened after the first draft of Feed). Each subsequent book has stolen that title from its predecessor. I am proud of these books. I am amazed by them. And no, I am not ashamed to say that. It's my book-day. I get to be proud.

This trilogy has earned me two Hugo nominations (three, if you count "Countdown"), a place on the Publishers Weekly Best Books list, and so much more. It has brought me into contact with amazing people from around the world. It has allowed me to indulge my passion for viruses and pandemic preparedness without freaking people out (too much). It has changed my life forever, and I am so grateful, and I am so pleased that you have all been here with me.

I'll open the discussion thread for Blackout tomorrow or Thursday, after more people have had time to finish the book; please, no spoilers here. But...thank you.

Thank you all so much, forever.

Rise up while you can.

Comments

[jennygriffee.livejournal.com]

I might possibly have done an overnight marathon of the book as soon as my Kindle app slurped it down. For that matter, I might possibly have bought the book twice because I was feeling too impatient for the mail to show up, ergo getting said e-book version at midnight or thereabouts. I HAVE NO REGRETS. :)

*flails happily at you*

[ginger]

Last night, I turned out the light and tucked myself into bed shortly after 10. And my phone beeped, so I looked at it. Shock and amazement, it was Amazon, telling me that Blackout was being delivered to my Kindle. (Hey, it was Tuesday on the east coast, right?) So rather than go YAY and put down my phone and go back to bed, I nearly dropped my phone flipping over to my Kindle app.

This morning's LJ post:
Best mistake ever: Staying up until almost 1am to read Blackout on my phone after I got the notification via email that the Kindle version had been delivered. I don't have a reading light in my room anymore, I was already in bed, and I was super excited because everything said that the Kindle version wasn't being released until June 1.

On first read, it was fantastic. I expect on second read, it will probably continue to be fantastic. :)

My paper copy should be waiting on my doorstep when I get home.

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

And it is well worth the wait.

[brightlotusmoon.livejournal.com]

I grabbed my copy off the shelves this morning. Literally, grabbed. I think I snarled "MINE" - which startled some people. My husband burst out laughing.

I've been tearing through it like a wild woman.

Chapter 25. Oh, Chapter 25. *sniffle* And 26. And 27, 28, 29, 30. Ohhhh. *hugs the book tight*

Also, Becks is hilarious for reasons that are spoilery but you probably get what I mean.

[jacylrin.livejournal.com]

Happy happy Book Day!!!!

[hms42]

Congratulations!

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

Congratulations, and thank you for writing such great books.

[amazonmink.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! & Thank You.

[ladymurmur.livejournal.com]

Oh, happy day! As so many others have said, congratulations and thank you. I just downloaded Blackout to my kindle (I get too much glee from cliking the buy button with immediate reward to pre-order), but don't dare start until after work. Oh, why are there meetings all afternoon? why??

:-)

[charles ellis (from livejournal.com)]

Hastings Books Records and Video in New Braunfels (Texas) hadn't even put it on the shelf yet as of 10:30 this morning, so I patiently waited while they checked all the places I'd already looked before they finally fetched me a copy from the back room.

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

Buy yourself a fancy cupcake, go cruise Toys B Us, take the day off as it were.. celebrate!

[packetslave.livejournal.com]

Kindle delivered it at 10pm, finished it at 4am. Love, love, love, loved it. Hard to say more than that without spoilers, so I'll just say congratulations on an amazing universe and some of my favorite characters in recent memory.

Can't wait for the film! (yes, I know it's still only a possibility at this point, but do we know what Jason Doering is doing these days? He needs to stay available for it!)

[kath8562.livejournal.com]

Brown truck just delivered it! And now to download to kindle (yes, I'm the belt and suspender type... that way I can re-read at my leisure anytime I want...)

[calculus-girl.livejournal.com]

Blackout won't be available in Canada until June 1st - I am so jealous of all of you that can read it now - I can't even get and ebook copy yet!

[groblek.livejournal.com]

Thank you for writing this trilogy and sharing it with us. We're eagerly awaiting the phone call from our local bookstore to let us know that our copy is here. :)

[kshandra]

The answer to this may be obvious, but: Do Saturday's numbers still count towards opening week? Because I was planning to pick up my copy from the Other Change of Hobbit table at Baycon this weekend, and support both of you.

[gwynnega]

I'm so looking forward to reading Blackout. This series is my favorite of your work (so far!).

[swevene.livejournal.com]

I got this on my Kindle app just after ten pm yesterday and finished it at two am and I am just so happy that it exists. Thank you.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Congratulations, and Happy Bookday!

[catnip13.livejournal.com]

Finally! I can talk about it! (C'mon, friends of mine, READ FASTER).

[literateknits.livejournal.com]

Stayed up till 2am refreshing my Kindle every ten minutes. Then I read until I passed out. Then I woke up and read some more, in increasingly odd places until I just sat in my car in the Michael's parking lot and sweated profusely for two hours while I finished the book. Thank you. Congratulations!

[solarbird]

Yay! Time to go buy a book! :D

[melchar.livejournal.com]

Congratulations. You must celebrate: have cake. ^_^

You made a great point too: read too much about virii, epidemiology and plagues - you get both friends and librarians giving you odd looks. Say it's going to be used as research for zombie books and everyone is happy again. Zombies FTW!

[finch (from livejournal.com)]

My fiancee won a copy from you but she wouldn't give it up until she finished, so I spent my morning commute reading my kindle copy. I find myself reading a little slower than I did on Deadline, though... I want closure for Shaun and George, but I kind of don't want it to be a finished canon, either.

[ageekgrrl.livejournal.com]

Hee! I have my copy beside my keyboard here at work, but I can't open it up yet. I stopped by the coffeeshop / bookstore and picked up my pre-ordered copy this morning. I also talked the series up to the staff, and you may have some more readers. I have no problem shamelessly pushing books I love, and this series has been wonderful and maddening and fantastic so far. I look forward to getting into my copy soon!

Thank you so much for creating this and sharing it with us all!