Rose-Owls and Pumpkin Girls

Psst.

Remember the ATI Management Bureau, and the brave, foolish, overworked people who tried to protect the world from fairy tale mischief? Henrietta Marchen, Snow White and field team leader; Sloane Winters, Wicked Stepsister and unlikely defender of mankind; Demi Santos, Pied Piper and new recruit; Jeff Davis, Shoemaker's Elf and Archivist; Andrew Robinson, whose brother died in a fairy tale gone wrong. They did their best to save us. They told their story. They walked away from season one battered but breathing.

Let's see if they can survive season two.

I am pleased to announce that Indexing: Reflections will be coming from 47North and the Kindle Serials Program in 2015. As with the first Indexing, the book will be serialized in bi-weekly installments, and collected in print and eBook form at the end of the season. (Also as with the first serial, the eBooks will be available for Kindle only. I'm sorry about that.)

All your old friends, and some of your old enemies, will be coming back to active duty, along with some surprising new faces on both sides of the fence. It's going to be a fairy tale catastrophe, and it's going to take some serious scrambling for the good guys to come out on top. There's no guarantee, when you go into the whiteout wood.

Now come on. Say it with me.

Once upon a time...

...do not let it grieve you. No one leaves for good. You are not alone. No one is alone.

Well, here we are: the first season of Indexing is over and done, and the book has been closed on Henrietta Marchen and her friends, at least for a time. I can't tell you yet whether there will be a second season: that decision is in the hands of greater minds than mine. I can tell you that the best way to help that second season happen is to either buy the now-complete Kindle serial (available internationally), or to pick up the print book when it comes out in December (I know that I'm looking forward to having a copy on my shelf, where I can brag about it).

A lot of people have asked me about my experience with 47North and the Amazon Kindle Serials Program, and why I chose to do it. Now that the season has ended, I thought this would be a good time to talk about those questions.

First, and easiest, is "why did you do it?" I mean, in some ways, doing a Kindle Serial goes against a lot of what I've said about the digital divide, and my unending desire to have print editions available for everything, always. I never want anyone to be left in the position of "cannot possibly get a book." At the same time, the print edition was always a part of the plan, built into my contract; it was just going to come after the ebook editions. While that certainly isn't ideal, it was about the only way something like this could happen, since a week-by-week physical serial would have been way too cost-prohibitive for any book publisher to commit to. As for why I went with the Kindle program, well...they asked me. They also offered to pay me. I am very, very fond of getting paid, as it allows me to feed my cats and keep my lights on and all those other silly things. So when someone contacts my agent and says "we want to pay you to do something cool," my attention is assured.

But the main reason I agreed was because I hadn't done anything like this before. I was a universe author for The Edge of Propinquity in 2010 (when the original Rose Marshall stories were written), but that was very different than having a tight "once every two weeks" schedule, and this was a much bigger challenge. I like challenges. I like finding out whether I can meet them. In this case, I definitely did.

In terms of "what was good about this project," well, there was a lot. I got to write a serial novel in a setting I never thought I would get to expand upon (the ATI Management Bureau began in a short story I wrote years ago); I got to see a lot of people try my work because of the low price point and the easy entry point; I got to have fun with fairy tales. Fun with fairy tales is a huge draw for me.

In terms of "what was bad," there were a few things. The nature of the project meant that I didn't have time to write all twelve segments before things started going live, and that meant that if I wanted to change something after the fact, I really couldn't. I don't think any major contradictions or errors got past us and into the published chapters, but it made the whole experience a little more nerve-wracking than it otherwise might have been. The short, fixed schedule also meant that if there were any unexpected delays on either my part or the publisher's part, I could wind up with a much shorter turn-around period for copy edits and changes. Also not so easy on my nerves, given how tightly I tend to schedule myself. And of course, there was the fact that the Kindle Serial program is currently US-only, and my audience is international, which I know was frustrating for a lot of people. (Now that the serial part is over, the finished ebook is available wherever there is Amazon.)

On the whole, this was an overwhelmingly positive experience, and I would be open to doing a second season if the stars were right (and the holes in my schedule lined up, since again, I am very tightly booked). To any authors considering the program, I can definitely recommend it, as long as you work well under pressure and don't mind sometimes needing to turn things around with little to no notice. I hope to see you all again at the next once upon a time.

Now rest, my dear, and be at ease; there’s a fire in the hearth and a wind in the eaves, and the night is so dark, and the dark is so deep, and it’s time that all good little stars go to sleep.

It's here! It's here! The eleventh episode of Indexing is now live!

With only one episode left to go, things are moving faster than ever. Episode eleven, "Scarlet Flowers," is ready for you to enjoy.

This post serves as both your reminder and discussion thread. In addition, there is one episode remaining (in two weeks), so now's the time to hop on board: remember that a purchase now saves you a dollar. Not too shabby! (Please do not comment to complain about Indexing not being available in your region. I am so very sorry that it isn't everywhere, but I have no power over that. You'll only make me sad.)

Once upon a time...

It's here! It's here! The tenth episode of Indexing is now live!

Everything is different now. Episode ten, "Not Sincere," is ready for you to enjoy.

This post serves as both your reminder and discussion thread.

Once upon a time...

It's here! It's here! The eighth episode of Indexing is now live!

With one team member lost and another now missing, it seems like time is running out. Either the ATI Management Bureau team will thwart the narrative before sunrise...or it will devour them. And right now, devouring seems pretty damn likely. Episode eight, "Empty Nest," is ready for you to enjoy.

This post serves as both your reminder and discussion thread.

Once upon a time...

It's here! It's here! The sixth episode of Indexing is now live!

Sloane Winters needs help, and Henry Marchen is going to help her if it kills both of them (which is always possible, given their line of work). Dr. Reynard is a therapist specializing in ATI issues, and it seems like he's the perfect one to help Sloane. It's really a pity that he's dead. Now, with a murder on their hands and no help in sight, the ATI Management Bureau team needs to figure out what's going on...before it's too late. Episode six, "Fox's Tongue," is ready for you to enjoy.

This post serves as both your reminder and discussion thread.

Once upon a time...

It's here! It's here! The fourth episode of Indexing is now live!

Sloane Winters has been with the ATI Management Bureau longer than anybody else on her field team, and she keeps to herself. That means that when her story starts getting pushy, she has nowhere to turn. In "Blended Family" Sloane must face what it means to be a Wicked Stepsister, and figure out how to keep her story from overwhelming her, which would have deadly consequences for everyone she cares about.

This post serves as both your reminder and discussion thread.

Once upon a time...

This is the June 2013 post. I have used up half the year. I am not okay with this.

To quote myself, being too harried to say something new: "These posts are labeled with the month and year, in case somebody eventually gets the crazy urge to timeline my work cycles (it'll probably be me). Behold the proof that I don't actually sleep; I just whimper and keep writing."

Please note that all books currently in print are off the list, as are those that have been turned in but not yet printed (Parasite, Chimes at Midnight). The cut-tag is here to stay, because no matter what I do, it seems like this list just keeps on getting longer. But that's okay, because at least it means I'm never actively bored. I have horror movies and terrible things from the swamp to keep me company.

Not everything on this list has been sold. I will not discuss the sale status of anything which has not been publicly announced. If you can't remember whether I've announced something, check the relevant tag, or go to my website, at www.seananmcguire.com. Please do not ask why project X is no longer on the list. I will not answer you.

( What's Seanan working on now? Click to find out! )

Let's talk about fairy tales.

Yesterday, Mattel—the company that makes my beloved Monster High Dolls, literally dozens of which occupy multiple rooms in my house—announced the launch of a new toy line: Ever After High, where the children of famous fairy tale figures go to school as they prepare to take the Legacy Pledge and relive the stories of their parents. Hundreds of generations of Wicked Queens and whiteout girls passing poison apples back and forth between them like Valentines.

One of my favorite TV miniseries of all time, The 10th Kingdom, is about a world where fairy tales are true, and where the descendants of the stories we know here, today, in our world still live, trying to eke out a chance at happily ever after. The main character, Virginia, is both Snow White and Little Red Riding Hood, just one more girl in danger (and falling in love with) a wolf. The novelization of the miniseries is one of my first choices for comfort reading.

Once Upon A Time, currently airing on ABC, is basically someone filming the playtime of a group of very inventive children (I'd say about age twelve) who have between them a complete set of the Disney Princess Collection dolls, a Peter Pan playset, and whatever other toys they've been able to scrounge from the rooms of their siblings. I keep expecting a T-Rex to show up, just before all the other kids start shouting at Crystal about how they let her make Red a werewolf, why does she keep ruining everything.

Fables and its spin-offs—especially Cinderella, which is deconstruction of both her story and of the modern myth of the super-spy assassin who never dies—are some of the best things happening in comics today. The worst issue of Fables is better than the best issue of a great many other things (none of which I will name here, because that's rude). It's a glorious fairy tale stew, and it tastes so very sweet when we put it in our mouths.

I could go on for quite some time (and eventually I may, because these are all things that are very much worth experiencing, for their similarities, for their differences). There have been Marvel Fairy Tales, recasting X-Men and Avengers into classic roles. There have been movies like Sydney White, recasting Snow White into a college-age modern woman and the seven dwarves into her socially outcast friends. Fairy tales are everywhere. Fairy tales are older than you think. They were the first form of urban fantasy, and I fully expect them to be the last. They are urban legend mellowed and fermented from vinegar into fine wine (and yes, sometimes, turned sour by the passage of time and changing cultural standards).

And here's the exciting thing. Each and every work I've cited above is, at its core, transformative fan fiction. Snow White is a really common figure in modern retellings: something about that whiteout girl with the bloody lips and the murderous mother figure appeals to us. Don't know why, although I know why she appeals to me. Don't much care. I'm having too much fun writing and reading and watching and loving fanfic about her, and I'll leave the deep contemplation to other people. We're all bringing our own touches to the reimagining, and that's the most fun part of all: is Snow White a politician? A gunslinger? A witch? A government agent? Does she have a wicked stepmother, or just a rival? Is she going to eat the apple? Can she escape her story? Does she want to?

It's the little things that make all these stories individual, distinct, and worth enjoying. (And before someone says "but if it's fanfic how can any of these things be under copyright, that makes no sense," remember that original characters and plot elements can be copyrighted even when the public domain source material is not. So my ATI Management Bureau, and Bill's Fabletown, are both protected by their recent creation, even as we stuff them full of characters that belong to everyone, forever. Again, this is how we don't all wind up getting sued by Disney.) We're in a period of remaking the fairy tales we grew up with, trying to turn them into something that we feel is still relevant, and will be relevant for generations to come.

Fairy tales are powerful things.

There's always room for one more happy ever after.

So it's May 15th, and I'm two sleeps away from hopping onto a plane bound for Orlando, Florida, which means I'm scrambling a little to get everything positioned, polished, and ready to go. And because it's the middle of the month, it's time for the post in which I tell you what I'm working on, and you finally understand why I don't have time for tea.

To quote myself, being too harried to say something new: "These posts are labeled with the month and year, in case somebody eventually gets the crazy urge to timeline my work cycles (it'll probably be me). Behold the proof that I don't actually sleep; I just whimper and keep writing."

Please note that all books currently in print are off the list, as are those that have been turned in but not yet printed (Parasite, Chimes at Midnight). The cut-tag is here to stay, because no matter what I do, it seems like this list just keeps on getting longer. But that's okay, because at least it means I'm never actively bored. I have horror movies and terrible things from the swamp to keep me company.

Not everything on this list has been sold. I will not discuss the sale status of anything which has not been publicly announced. If you can't remember whether I've announced something, check the relevant tag, or go to my website, at www.seananmcguire.com. Please do not ask why project X is no longer on the list. I will not answer you.

( What's Seanan working on now? Click to find out! )