In which a long silence is broken and a novelette is released.

[seanan_mcguire]

I live! I write, I cry, I write again!

The move, its associated complications, and my own unavoidable commitments continue to conspire to keep me hopping, hence my current scarceness: I promise I'm not dead, and am still reasonably active on Twitter, even if I'm not managing to keep up with my blog. I'm really hoping that will change soon. I'm sliding toward normalcy one day at a time, I swear. Please let me swearing to something true.

Ahem. But! The disclaimer is not the reason I finally managed to break my silence. No, it's this: the first-ever Quentin-narrated story has been released today! "Full of Briars" is available now from an e-book retailer near you. (US-only at this time. I'm really sorry about that. I don't control the foreign rights, and unlike a story I've released myself, for free, this one I got paid for, and that means the publisher calls the shots.) I am super excited about it, both because a) this fills in a gap that's always bothered me, between Chimes at Midnight and The Winter Long, and b) this is the first time DAW has directly commissioned an e-original from me. IMAGINE HOW MUCH TOBY I COULD WRITE IF THIS IS SUCCESSFUL. The mind boggles, the fingers weep, and the heart rejoices.

A steal at only two dollars, please consider picking up "Full of Briars," if you haven't already, and find out what happened when we weren't looking.

This will serve as your discussion post: please be aware that there will almost certainly be spoilers in the comments.

Whee!

Comments

[rymenhild.livejournal.com]

What a delight of a story! (And clear confirmation that the Winterrose had a plan involving Quentin and possibly his sister as well, which may still be in play... oh dear, oh dear.)

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Ayup.

[jenfullmoon.livejournal.com]

Does make you wonder about Preshea and her safety wherever she is, doesn't it.

[lazzchan.livejournal.com]

Aaahh... now that I've read it (and I am sure, very much amused my co workers by my struggling not to laugh), I have to say what a delight it was to hear it from Quentin, his view on Toby and Tybalt and the world at large. RAJ just draping himself over Quentin. Sheer force of will is able to keep him pinned. I know how cats work. I frequently skip meals because one is on me. The bit with Dean and Quentin was adorable and a quiet part of me will still silently ship Quentin and Raj. XD The fact that this glorious bit comes before the chaos with Evening was just... there's something there that I can't quite put my finger on that I'm sure I'm missing.

But Seanan, thank you again for such a wonderful read. This was everything I could have hoped for and more, up to and including Toby swearing around the High King and Queen. :D

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

You are so incredibly welcome!

[naurwen.livejournal.com]

ah pity, then I can't read it... :(
but... congratulations!!! :)

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Apparently some people in non-US regions have been able to purchase it; it might be worth trying.

[beable]

1) Squee! I love Quentin POV!

2) Hahaha, Tim Hortons may be a Canadian institution because we all deserve to be institutionalized. The donuts are better than Krispy Kreme, or Dunkin Donuts, but that's not saying much.
Most of the "Timmies!" people I know do it for the coffee, and it's less that the coffee is spectacular and more that it's unpretentious notStartbucks and a national dish.
Also, If our universe had words like Game of Thrones universe, ours would be "Double double"

3) Quentin/Dean - adorbs, but why do I fear that this possible pairing is setting up for disaster/heartbreak/war/pathos in the future? They both have too many other obligations.

[trebyl.livejournal.com]

>3) Quentin/Dean - adorbs, but why do I fear that this possible pairing is setting up for disaster/heartbreak/war/pathos in the future? They both have too many other obligations.

Because Seanan enjoys breaking our hearts and drinking our tears. ;)

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Sometimes Quentin just misses home.

[trebyl.livejournal.com]

Such a wonderful story. I enjoyed it so much, and the budding romance at the end is so sweet.

I cackled for a good five minutes, and even called my parents re: the Tim Horton's joke. Savages, indeed. No civilized area would be without a Timmies. Although, they were better before they started sending frozen doughnuts and baked goods to "standardize" their stores.

I adore how much you acknowledge Canada, its culture, and geography in your books.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

I have to or my Canadian friends will kill me.

Well, You've Done It Again...

[trippletdad34x.livejournal.com]

First, great, great story. I thoroughly enjoyed it, as well as confirming the Quentin/Dean relationship. I like that they're just taking it easy, exploring what their feelings mean. The line Quentin had, "I'm not asking you to be in love with me. I'm just asking you to...to hold hands with me, and see a movie, and maybe go out for ice cream" was perfect. I get that Quentin is completely unlike a normal teenager in a lot of ways, which colors his actions. But seeing a character that's become so grounded and thoughtful not professing undying love at the drop of a hat, but rather just saying something honest and open...That was really, really great.

Also, as many others have said, Raj draping himself over Quentin in a "MY Daoine Sidhe" sort of way was magically delicious. I like that Raj has grown enough since we first met him to feel comfortable telling Tybalt to bugger off when he feels strongly about a subject. Nice to see Toby rubbing off on him.

Second, you've once again managed to drive my wife nuts, only with a double helping this time. She thoroughly despises this time of year, as well as the time around March/April. For some strange reason, I can't stop talking about your books for about a month when those times roll around...Weird, huh? Hopefully, once I convert her to the Tao of Toby and the Path of Price, she'll stop being grumpy and start being excited like a reasonable person.

RE: Well, You've Done It Again...

[acf151.livejournal.com]

" the Tao of Toby and the Path of Price,"

You are an inveterate genius. We need art of these terms.

[knittingwoman.livejournal.com]

I almost never preorder anything but I preordered the ebook, I live in Canada and it was available to me when I woke in the morning :) I absolutely, love, love, loved it. I would be happy to see more novelettes. The price makes it accessible and it was long enough to be totally satisfying IMO. It was so well written and built towards the ending in a deliciously subtle way :)
It would be great to see the oz series have something like this too. After Toby the oz series is your work that I personally have enjoyed the most.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Hooray!

My...oz series? I don't know what you're talking about, I'm sorry. :(

[taylweaver.livejournal.com]

Yesterday, I was supposed to fly home to the US from Amsterdam. Instead, a cancelled flight led to a frustrating day spent mostly waiting in lines in an airport. Your latest Patreon story was one of the things that made the day bearable.

Then, I got to the airport hotel where I'd been sent for the night with a vague promise of a flight out today, and I discovered there was a new Toby story to purchase! (By the way, iTunes let me purchase it from the Netherlands. This may be because I live in the US.) As my journey home stretched well into today, it was great to have another Toby story to read along the way.

I especially enjoyed the last scene with Quentin and Dean. I was grinning from ear to ear as I read it, and I think I literally laughed out loud a few times, even though I was sitting on an airplane, and that wasn't very polite of me.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad I helped!

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Maida endures so very, very much, really.

[schizopenguin.livejournal.com]

I pre-ordered, and the book (which I loved, I loved especially the cats, they are wonderful! Raj was so wonderfully... cat!) was delivered in the early morning (my poor husband received all aaahhhs and uuhhhhs an mmmmhhh to his comments at breakfast, before he left to his job... He was just interrupting my reading, how rude of him!). I'm Argentine, and I live here, down in South America, so I don't know why, but this international reader got her book the American release day.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Fabulous!

[missingvolume.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed this and now I wonder about is sister's fosterage and how it is going for her. And I wondered about the scars the Queen hides. And nice to see something happens that Toby doesn't bleed.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

She generally saves her bleeding for her own stories.

[dayle dermatis (from livejournal.com)]

I wish I could say something witty and pithy, but all I've got is, "I loved it!" So much fun getting to see things from a different point of view.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Aw, yay.

[methylviolet10b]

GLEE! I was prevented from pre-ordering this by timing (birthday month), but a lovely friend not only got it for me, she sent it over first thing instead of waiting for the actual day. This was FABULOUS. I want to know so much more about Quentin's mom and her scars, and what do both of Quentin's parents really look like, and then there's Dean and Quentin, and Dean/Quentin, and Toby's clothes and manners as viewed by Quentin, and of COURSE everyone finds Tybalt and his leather pants distracting, and RAJ (omg Raj sitting all over Quentin FTW!), and so much perfection, and massive-on-sentence-because-this-was-AWESOME.

Thank you!

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome!

[evaleastaristev.livejournal.com]

"Treason is just another word for Tuesday" may be my favorite quote. And it really does describe Toby's "discussions" with the nobility fairly well.

Loved every minute of it, and may have already read it twice...

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Yay!

[jarissa.livejournal.com]

The entire paragraph that mentions the dinette set: Seanan, thank you thank you! That line is perfect, and also perfectly what I particularly needed on this very difficult day.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Hee, yay.

[calico-reaction.livejournal.com]

Please keep us posted on how successful this is! I loved it, and I was thrilled to see new shades and layers to Quentin's character!

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Inasmuch as I can. I don't always know what's performing well until a publisher asks for more.

Well

[rywth.livejournal.com]

In the UK & super sad about the rights thing so reading the comments anyway because I love spoilers. BUT v v happy to only be a few weeks away from the new novel, and comments are prompting me to look for Quentin/Raj slash, which I never realised I needed, and there was mention of you having a Patreon? Which I'm going to look for now. So yay anyway for new writing which I do still have to look forward to at some point, and I hope you're well & enjoying your new home, which I also hope isn't a creepy thing to hear from a complete stranger. Also, apologies if this posted more than once - I made a livejournal account to comment and it got weird.