Rose-Owls and Pumpkin Girls

...copies of The Winter Long and A Red-Rose Chain!

Welcome to the fifth of the Thirteen Days of Hogswatch. I will be starting a new giveaway every day between now and December 13th. Each giveaway will have different rules, and a different deadline, although all prizes will be mailed on December 30th, because I am bad at going to the post office (and also, avoiding the post office until that other winter holiday is over).

The fifth giveaway is for copies of The Winter Long and A Red-Rose Chain (October Daye #8 and #9, respectively). Because these are later books in the series, I ask that you please not enter if you haven't read the earlier books; I would feel terrible for spoiling you. This is going to be a random number drawing, because I'm about to leave for my Borderlands event. So...

1. To enter, comment on this post.
2. If you are international, indicate both this and your willingness to pay postage.
3. Name your favorite Toby character.
4. That's it.

I will choose the winner at 1PM PST on Saturday, December 12th.

Game on!

To celebrate the release of A Red-Rose Chain, here. Have an open thread to discuss the book. Judging by the comments I'm seeing, some of you have had time, and I'd really, really rather book discussion (sometimes including spoilers) didn't crop up on other posts.

THERE WILL BE SPOILERS.

Seriously. If anyone comments here at all, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. So please don't read and then yell at me because you encountered spoilers. You were warned. (I will not reply to every comment; I call partial comment amnesty. But I may well join some of the discussion, or answer questions or whatnot.) I will be DELETING all comments containing spoilers which have been left on other posts. No one gets to spoil people here without a label.

You can also start a discussion at my website forums, with less need to be concerned that I will see everything you say! In case you wanted, you know, discussion free of authorial influence, since I always wind up getting involved in these things.

Have fun, and try not to bleed on the carpet.

This coming Tuesday is my bookday! Happy bookday to me! Very soon, A Red-Rose Chain will be available from bookstores all over North America, and from import stores all over the world. It has yet to be spotted in the wild from California to New York, but I know it's coming. Hooray!

Since it's release week, I figured it was time to once again answer the wonderful people asking how they can help. So here are a few dos and don'ts for making this book launch awesome.

DO buy the book as soon as you can. Sales during the first week are very important—think of it as "opening weekend" for a movie—but they're not the end-all be-all. If you can get the book tomorrow, get the book; if you can get it at my book release party later this month, get it at my book release party. Whatever works for you. Brick-and-mortar store purchases are best, as they encourage reordering. If you've already bought the book, consider buying the book again during release week, as a single copy might get lonely. They make great gifts!

DON'T yell at other people who haven't bought the book yet. I know, that's sort of a "why are you saying this?" statement, but I got a very sad email from a teenager who'd been yelled at for not buying A Local Habitation the week that it came out, and I have never forgotten it. So just be chill. Unless you want to buy books for people who don't have them, in which case, don't yell, just buy.

DO ask your local bookstore if they have it on order. If your local store is part of a large chain, such as Barnes and Noble, the odds are good that the answer will be "yes," and that they'll be more than happy to hold one for you. If your local store is small, and does not focus specifically on science fiction/fantasy, they may have been waiting to see signs of interest before placing an order. Get interested! Interest is awesome!

DON'T berate your local bookseller if they say "no." Telling people they're overlooking something awesome doesn't make them go "gosh, I see the error of my ways." It makes them go "well, I guess it can be awesome without me." Suggest. Ask if you can special-order a copy. But don't be nasty to people just because their shelves can't hold every book ever written.

DO post reviews on your blog or on Amazon.com. Reviews are fantastic! Reviews make everything better! Please, write and post a review, even if it's just "I liked it." Honestly, even if it's just "this wasn't really my thing." As long as you're being fair and reasoned in your commentary, I'm thrilled. (I like to believe you won't all race right out to post one-star reviews, but if that's what you really think, I promise that I won't be mad.)

DON'T get nasty at people who post negative reviews. You are all people. You all have a right to the ball. That includes people who don't like my work. Please don't argue with negative reviewers on my behalf. It just makes everybody sad. If you really think someone's being unfair, why don't you post your own review, to present an alternate perspective? (Also, please don't email me my Amazon reviews. I don't read them, I don't want to read them, and I definitely don't want to be surprised with them. Please have mercy.)

DO feel free to get multiple copies. No, you probably don't need eight copies for your permanent collection, but remember that libraries, school libraries, and shelters are always in need of books. I'm donating a few of my author's copies to a local women's shelter, because they get a lot of women there who really need the escape. There are also people who just can't afford their own copies, and would be delighted. I wouldn't have had half the library I did as a teenager if it weren't for the kindness of the people around me.

DON'T feel obligated to get multiple copies, or pressure other people to do so. Seriously, we're all on budgets, and too much aggressive press can actually turn people off on a good thing. Let people make their own choices. Have faith.

DO check with your local library to be sure they have a copy of on order. If they don't, you can fill out a library request form. Spread the paperback love!

DON'T forget that libraries need books. Many libraries, especially on the high school level, are really strapped for cash right now, and book donations are frequently tax deductible. If you have a few bucks to spare, you can improve the world on multiple levels by donating books to your local public and high school libraries.

DO suggest the book to bookstore employees who like urban fantasy and talking mice. Nothing boosts sales like having people in the stores who really like a project. If your Cousin Danny (or Dani) works at a bookstore, say "Hey, why don't you give this a try?" It just might help.

DON'T rearrange bookstore displays. If the staff of my local bookstore is constantly being forced to deal with fixing the shelves after someone "helpfully" rearranged things to give their chosen favorites a better position, they're unlikely to feel well inclined toward that book—or author. It's not a good thing to piss off the bookstores. Let's just not.

So those are some things. I'm sure there are lots of other things to consider; this is, at least, a start. Finally, a few things that don't help the book, but do help the me:

Please don't expect immediate email response from me for anything short of "you promised us this interview, it runs tomorrow, where are your answers?" I normally make an effort to be a semi-competent correspondent, but with a new book on shelves and final edits due on Rewind, a lot of things are falling by the wayside. Like sleep.

If you're in the Bay Area, I hope to see you next Saturday night at Borderlands Books, where I will be reading, signing, and running a raffle for your enjoyment!

Whee!

As stated in this post, I am answering ten questions about Toby's world in preparation for the release of A Red-Rose Chain. Please note that these are questions about the world, not questions about individual people, things which have not yet happened in the series, or what is coming up in the books. I am no longer taking questions in the comments on the original post; with just one question left to go, I think we're full up.

Our ninth question comes from marabett, who asked...

"So, this may not be enough of a question to justify a post, but...We've seen a lot of discussion about how low fertility is for non-Firstborn fae, to the point where they'll even take human lovers just to obtain a baby who may later present significant issues of his/her own (the Choice, mortality, etc. etc.). Does this really take precedent over everything else? By which I mean, if you're a Daoine Sidhe having a fling with a rascally Cait Sidhe that you'd rather not have your spouse know about, would you, erm, take steps to ensure that you wouldn't give birth to a baby with a tail? Are there magical ways to block fertility -- after all, there don't seem to be any magical ways to *increase* fertility, or I assume the fae would make use of them...? Or is it as simple as a fae thinking in passing, "A child would be inconvenient," and voila, no offspring? Or...would the spouse in question be delighted at the birth of a child even if he weren't the progenitor, because hey, fae baby!

Are there rules and traditions around the conception of full-fae children totally out of marriage? If two single fae types who are dallying together for fun conceive, do they just start talking marriage without another thought, because it's just a given that proven fertility together is as good a basis for marriage as any other? Or is that so rare that it's just handled on a case-by-case basis? I noticed that we had gotten a lot of interesting information on how full-fae children are viewed in the context of a marriage, and how changelings are viewed, but not a lot of discussion about what would happen if, say, Helen and Raj found out that they were expecting.

Again, sorry if this is too picayune -- as a subfertile member of a species in which fertility is assumed as the default, I end up wondering about a lot of esoteric elements of fertility stuff even in fictional races.

Also, one more question, since we're on the topic of fae fertility...For a fae couple, is there something about managing to conceive one child that triggers increased fertility for a period afterwards? I ask because I've noticed several examples of fae couples who have no children for quite some time, but then have two or more in (relatively) rapid succession. Apologies if this is veering into spoiler territory."

Um, wow. Okay, points for a really detailed question. Also, wow are y'all collectively fascinated by babies. Is this a hint?

Anyway, we're going to break this down. First part:

"Is having a baby, period, more important than what that baby is? Is there birth control?"

Every fae marriage has its own rules. Some include fidelity; others do not. How likely they are to include fidelity is somewhat determined by the rank of the people involved. Two married Daoine Sidhe, for example, hoping for a Daoine Sidhe heir, are likely to practice very strict fidelity until they actually get a kid, because they don't want there to be any question of whether someone else can make a claim to their lands or titles. (Ex: Duchess has an affair, has a child with her seneschal. Child is made heir. Child dies in the absence of any other heir. Seneschal can now claim that their other child, as the sibling of the heir, has a legit claim to the title. Depending on how the local monarch rules, this might actually work. This is the problem with a system of governance wherein the person who wears the crown just does what they want.) Also remember that fae divorce requires the consent of any children; adding a third parent who is not part of the marriage vows only complicates things. Since many fae marry solely for procreation, this doesn't come up very often.

There is birth control, for those times when you really don't want to risk pregnancy. It's usually used right before and during long diplomatic missions. These are thankfully uncommon. (Some fae will also use birth control when they have plans for the next nine months/year that they'd really rather not change, viewing it as not tempting fate.)

Second part:

"What happens with full-fae children totally out of marriage?"

Instant divorce!

No, seriously.

Helen is not a pureblood, so I'm going to shift your example to Raj and Chelsea, as they're purebloods of approximately the same age. (Not that they're sleeping together, as Etienne would straight-up murder anyone getting his sixteen-year-old daughter pregnant, Oberon's Law be damned.) If the two of them had a baby, they would not be considered married, but would be considered divorced. This is the one time that the child does not get to choose which side of the family it will belong to. Raj and Chelsea would both be expected to make the case to their respective lieges for why they should (or shouldn't) have custody, and at the end, the baby would belong to one family or the other. There is no child support. There is no taking it back.

Third part:

"Is there a fertility boost following the birth of a child?"

Yes! No one is quite sure why, but having one baby seems to make it easier/more likely that you will have another, leading to clusters of two to four children born within a decade of each other. Most fae think this is very unfair. They are not wrong.

As stated in this post, I am answering ten questions about Toby's world in preparation for the release of A Red-Rose Chain. Please note that these are questions about the world, not questions about individual people, things which have not yet happened in the series, or what is coming up in the books. I am still taking questions in the comments on the original post.

Our seventh question comes from greenhafling, who asked...

"How does one inherit a title or fiefdom in the October-verse? Does blood count more than power?"

This question highlights probably the biggest difference between the Divided Courts (Seelie, Unseelie, and Oberon's) and the Court of Cats. Among the Divided Courts, blood counts. Among the Court of Cats, power counts.

Functionally, this means that changelings can never inherit lands or titles from their parents, regardless of Court. The Court of Cats would absolutely respect a changeling Prince or Princess who challenged for the throne, but the chances of a) such an individual existing (there is no record of such) and b) winning are vanishingly small. Really, a changeling could challenge, but would lose, because they wouldn't have the power for it. The power levels necessary to be called "Prince" or "Princess" are not directly inherited; they can appear at random in a bloodline that has never shown that kind of strength. Most Kings and Queens are not related to their heirs.

But oh, the Divided Courts. There, only blood matters. Not power, not fitness to rule, nothing but blood. And changelings can never, never inherit. In the case of multiple potential heirs, such as September, Sylvester, and Simon, the inheritance can be split up. This is why Simon got a title with no land, September got nothing, and Sylvester got his father's sword and a letter of introduction to King Gilad's parents, so that he could prove himself a hero and get the land that he believed he deserved.

Now, hope chests can make this interesting. Let's pretend, for a moment, that a King--call him King Bob--had a changeling daughter and no other heir. In time, the girl has a child. If King Bob uses a hope chest on his grandson, does his grandson (now a pureblood) inherit?

Yes.

There are a lot of reasons that some people dislike changelings, and like merlins even less.

As stated in this post, I am answering ten questions about Toby's world in preparation for the release of A Red-Rose Chain. Please note that these are questions about the world, not questions about individual people, things which have not yet happened in the series, or what is coming up in the books. I am still taking questions in the comments on the original post.

Our third question comes from seraangel, who asked...

"Do the air and fire kingdoms have their own royalty like the sea kingdom or are they beholden to whatever high king/queen rules in that section of the world?"

Yes. They have their own royalty.

Y'all, I really want to keep answering questions, but I'd say more than half the questions I have remaining are either a) spoilery ("Whatever happened to Bob?") or b) yes/no ("Is there a door?"). I really, really need more questions that will encourage elaborate answers. So please! Go! Ask!

(Note that this is not a slap at the remaining questions. But I need things I want to answer, can answer, and have the existing framework to answer. Please ask me questions on the original post.)

As stated in this post, I am answering ten questions about Toby's world in preparation for the release of A Red-Rose Chain. Please note that these are questions about the world, not questions about individual people, things which have not yet happened in the series, or what is coming up in the books. I am still taking questions in the comments on the original post.

Our second question comes from rymenhild, who asks...

"How did the divisions of kingdoms and territories come about?"

Hooray, land ownership!

As has been stated several times, the fae are highly territorial. It's not necessarily a choice: they become uncomfortable when over-crowded, and while they enjoy the company of their "own kind," it's oddly enough the presence of that "own kind" that will trigger the territorial urge for most fae. (I say "most" because there are virtually no universal generalizations in Faerie. Cu Sidhe don't become uncomfortable when there are more of them. In fact, Cu Sidhe would like it if there were millions of them. Cait Sidhe don't become territorial until there are multiple potential Kings or Queens in a single Court, and even then, their tolerance is higher than that of, say, the Daoine Sidhe, who view a local population of two hundred as unbearably huge.) There are biological reasons for this! Which we will not go into here. So.

Fae territory #1 has been established for a thousand years, and is getting quite full. A group of young nobles, guessing that their parents are not planning to die or step aside any time soon, decides to go off and seek their fortune. Because the Tobyverse fae inhabit a space that is unique in their world, they do not need to worry about someone else owning the land they, er, land on: the Summerlands there will be open, and the humans are a minor distraction at best. They declare themselves the Kingdom of #2.

Someone is now King. Probably either the person who gave up the highest title to come on this little errand (and thus provided most of the supplies), or the person who's best at doing poisonings. The others look around the Kingdom, carve off bits to be Duchies or Marches or whatnot, and settle down. Depending on how big a Kingdom they were able to claim, there will be a certain amount of "open" land. Because, see, the starting size of a Kingdom is determined by your ambition, but the starting size of a Duchy or March is determined by how much land you think you can hold.

(Some fae, even when present at the birth of a Kingdom, will elect for a County or Barony, taking another layer of bureaucracy in exchange for knowing that someone else's army will keep them safe, or that they won't need as much of a standing army.)

The new King/Queen can then make gifts of open parcels of land, along with the corresponding titles, to anyone who does the Kingdom a service. Gradually, this will whittle away at the open land, especially since it's best, due to that whole "territorial" thing again, to leave open space between Duchies/Marches/etc. whenever possible. Having a mile or so of unincorporated space does wonders at cutting down your intra-Kingdom wars.

The hierarchy goes High Kingdom (Ireland, North America, South America, etc.), Kingdom (The Mists, Silences, Angels), Duchy/March, County, Barony, Homestead.

The votes (well, the random numbers) are in! Today's three winners are...

wenhaver
brennye
vulpes484

If you have won, please follow these steps:

a) Comment here, so I know you're claiming your prize.
b) Email me via my website contact form (www.seananmcguire.com).

Both these things need to happen within the next twenty-four hours for you to win. If I see a comment but receive no email, I will reply and we'll figure out another way for you to get me your address. This is a work-around for my current contact form issues. Hopefully the commenting step will be temporary.

It should be noted that the first comment selected by the RNG was ineligible to win, because it was someone commenting about the post itself, and not entering. Please do not comment on giveaway posts for any reason other than entering the giveaway. Had this comment not been left, and the exact same number come up, we would have had an actual winner. Our second winner won because of a discussion on one of the entries. Please, please, don't do this. It's not fair to the people who don't win to screw up the results by leaving unrelated comments on these posts.

Congratulations to today's winners!

Let's have some good and some bad together, shall we? First, the good. Today's winners of an ARC of A Red-Rose Chain are...

jillheather
desolate_noir
mage_cat

Congratulations! Please send me your mailing address via my website contact form (identifying which of our winners you are, since email addresses don't always give it away) to receive your prize! I must receive your information within twenty-four hours, or the prize is forfeit.

Now, the bad. Or well, the confused.

Look, y'all: rules matter. Sometimes they matter because without them you never get your stuff (see the above about sending your mailing info via my website contact form). Sometimes they matter because they're "filter rules"—IE, "are people paying attention to what I ask, or are they just here for the free stuff?" I've been featured on the "this person is giving away free stuff" blogs a couple of times, usually at Hogswatch, and you know what? It sucks. I love giving things to people who care. I hate giving stuff to people who just want it because it's free, or because they think it has good resale value (both things I have been told by folks who found me via the "free stuff here" lists).

So yeah. If the rules say "you must include the word banana," then you must include the word banana, or you cannot win. If the rules say "name your favorite book in the series," then you must name your favorite book, or you cannot win. There were several entries in this most recent giveaway that could not have won, even if the RNG had chosen them, because they did not follow the (very simple) posted rules. (To be clear, the RNG did not pick any of them, so I didn't have to choose between the rules and breaking someone's heart.)

Please, please, follow the posted rules. For everyone's sake, but especially for your own.

So last weekend was Emerald City Comic Con. Lots of fun stuff there, lots of big things coming from some of our favorite creators, and lots and lots and lots and lots of walking. Ugh. I spent the weekend in the walking boot, and I still felt like someone had been beating my left foot and ankle with iron bars by the time it was all over. I had a great time; I can't wait for next year; I got home in dire need of a nap. That has basically been my week: "Seanan is in dire need of a nap."

As always happens when I'm sleep-deprived, pretty much anything that wasn't word count or absolutely essential business has fallen by the wayside. I'm behind on email, LJ comments, various accounting bits...everything. I managed to book my tickets to Europe (I'm going to DISNEYLAND PARIS!) and continue dealing with my taxes, but everything else? Hoo nelly, no. It's all been put off until I could say, with sincerity, "I am awake, and will not accidentally slice my fingers off."

On the plus side, I'm staying current with word count, and I'm on track to finish A Red-Rose Chain (aka "Toby book nine") this month, allowing me to get it off to the Machete Squad and move on to the next items on my list. I will never finish the list. The list is an endless road stretching off into the ever-moving future. But the list is a guide and a map and a benediction, and nothing makes me happier than knowing that it's always growing. I'll reach the end when I die.

Also on the plus side, I have finished copies of Sparrow Hill Road and Robot Uprisings, and they're both gorgeous. I have now filled two long shelves just with books I've written, and I'm about to have to rearrange my shelves again. So I'm doing okay at my job.

How's everybody else?

(Comment amnesty is on. I genuinely want to know how you are, but I don't want to put myself any further behind than I already am.)