Rose-Owls and Pumpkin Girls

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through my room
Were bunny girls grumbling and portents of doom,
And fairy tale murders and pandemic flu—
My friends hope my holiday dreams won't come true—

And Tara is working on graphics so fine
To help and promote that new novel of mine
(The fourth in a series I hope you enjoy,
Narrated by Alex, poor put-upon boy).

I'm staying at home for a change and a shot
To catch up on sleep and do what's been forgot,
For changes are coming, and coming so fast,
And it's time that we leave this last year in the past.

Two thousand fourteen is a year nearly spent.
Oh, the things that we did, and the places we went!
I'm still with the agent—now more than six years;
She's my superhero, and I have no fear.

A whole week of Dayes can now sit on your shelves,
With wise-cracking Cait Sidhe and underslept elves,
Another adventure is coming this year,
Which ought to be good for your holiday cheer.

In March, there's InCryptid, and then in September,
An October girl who I hope you remember.
The parasite panic will come to a head
In the month of November—so much to be read!

With Newsflesh and Velveteen, Babylon Archer,
And so many more all prepared for departure
At seanan_mcguire the updates are steady—
I'm keeping you posted. You'd better get ready.

The year yet to come will bring wonders galore,
And I can't start to guess at the great things in store,
So whatever you celebrate when the world's cold,
Be it secular, modern, or something quite old,

I hope that you're happy, I hope that you're warm,
I hope that you're ready to weather the storm,
And I wish you the joys that a winter provides,
All you Kings of the Summer and sweet Snow Queen brides,

And I can't wait to see what the next year will bring,
The stories we'll tell, and the songs that we'll sing.
The dead and the living will stand and rejoice!
(I beg you to rise while you still have a choice.)

The journey's been fun, and there's much more to see,
So grab your machete and come now with me,
And they'll hear us exclaim as we dash out of sight,
"Scary Christmas to all, and to all a good fright!"

I'm doing an AMA (Ask Me Anything) tonight on Reddit. The link is here:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1aqoy0/hello_im_seanan_mcguire_i_write_urban_fantasy_and/

We're taking questions throughout the day, and then I'll be answering them at 7PM CST tonight. Please swing by and contribute some witty, insightful, interesting questions. Or, you know, ask me about the X-Men. Whatever makes you happy.

See you tonight!

I have been tagged by the ever-lovely NK Jemisin to do the "next big thing" meme that has been floating around, and as I am an amenable soul (when I want to be), I thought I'd give it a go. So...

1. What is the working title of your next book?

Midnight Blue-Light Special. Which is probably the final title at this point, since the ARCs have been printed and I don't enjoy having things thrown at me by my publisher. They're generally amiable over at DAW. I try not to push it.

2. Where did the idea come from for the book?

At the end of Discount Armageddon, Verity was in a pretty good place as re: basically everything. She defeated the bad guy, solved the mystery, kissed a pretty boy, and pretty much won at life. So I started from the position of "how can I ruin her day?", and it all went downhill from there.

3. What genre does your book fall under?

Urban fantasy, with just a hint of paranormal romance. The CW, rather than HBO.

4. What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

Can I have a TV show instead? If I could have absolutely anyone, no barriers, I'd cast Alona Tal (Jo from Supernatural, Meg from Veronica Mars) as Verity, and Ryan Cartwright (Mr. Nigel-Murray from Bones, Gary from Alphas) as Dominic. And I think Amber Benson would make an amazing Sarah.

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

When cryptozoologist Verity Price finds herself dealing with a Covenant purge of Manhattan, she quickly has to redefine her idea of "bad situation."

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I am represented by Diana Fox, of Fox Literary. Midnight Blue-Light Special will be published by DAW Books.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

About six months, give or take a trip to Disney World.

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

It has a similar structure to Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld, and a similar snappy feel to Tanya Huff's Keeper Chronicles or Gale Girl books.

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Honestly, Verity did. The character has a lot of momentum behind her. At this point, I just point her at things and watch what happens.

10. What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?

Talking pantheistic cryptid mice worship the main character as a living conduit to the gods. And also to the baked goods section at Safeway.

I'm working on an InCryptid-universe novella called "Bad Dream Girl," about Antimony and roller derby. And I need derby names!

So here's your chance. Suggest your best, wildest roller derby names, following these simple rules. The best derby names will appear in the story, giving you bragging rights. The rules:

1. Avoid profanity.
2. Sexual and violent innuendo is cool, "kill them all" is not.
3. Do not intentionally use the name of an existing derby girl.

I'm looking for terrible puns and bad jokes in name form. There is a database of roller derby names; I'm not using it both because it's extensive enough to have become extremely tortured, and because I'd like some believable variety. So come on. Help a girl out, and take to the track with Antimony and her team.

Game on!

It's been a while since we've had a good fantasy casting thread, and this promises to be a crazy week at work, so I figure it's time to have a pretty party. This week, we're casting Feed. Feel free to cast other works in the Newsflesh universe as well (so if you want a high-profile actress for Becks, when it's essentially a cameo in the first book, explain how you'll use her in the second). Pictures are a plus!

A few things to keep in mind:

There is absolutely no reason, by the text, that the actors cast for Georgia and Shaun need to be white. George is described as "pale" after she's been inside for a long period of time, but that's it. The only characters that really need to be cast Caucasian are Buffy and the older Masons (Stacy and Michael). Buffy because she's blonde, the Masons because they're a very specific sort of suburban archetype gone horribly wrong.

Your Shaun and Georgia should be similar in age, because they're going to be playing off each other a lot.

Explaining your casting/supplying pictures is a big, big plus.

At the end of the week—well, Thursday; I'm on a plane all day Friday—I'll pick the dream cast I like best and send them a signed copy of Blackout. Because I hate the post office but hate thinking about addresses more, this is open to everyone.

Have fun!

You know those little things on books that are like, "This book raised my IQ twenty points!" &mdashA. Famous Author, or "The Ikeamancer series just keeps getting better," —Ima Writer? Those are called "blurbs." They're supposed to encourage you to buy the book, since clearly, people other than the author (or the author's mom) think it's good enough to read, and are thus providing valuable perspective.

So let's play the blurb game! You've been asked to blurb an existing book in a way that is honest, accurate, and true to your feelings on the text. Most of these will probably not be used for publication, because when I'm being honest, accurate, and true, there's a lot of swearing.

I'll start:

"This book is like a cozy blanket for my soul. A cozy blanket full of evil clowns and profanity. IT is the most comforting thing I have ever read." —Stephen King's IT.

"Matthew Swift's London crackles with electric fire, neon heartbreak, and all the power and sideways logic of urban sorcery. Kate Griffin is at the top of her game, and she just keeps getting better." —Kate Griffin's Neon Court.

"FUCK YEAH, SEAKING." —Peter Clines's Ex-Heroes.

"It takes a truly great story, and a truly great writer, to make a book about rabbits more true to the human condition than most books about humanity." —Richard Adams's Watership Down.

"Lucy Snyder attacks the page with the raw, manic intensity of an early Sam Raimi. Jessie Shimmer is urban fantasy's answer to Ash from The Evil Dead: ballsy, profane, and too much fun to put down." —Lucy Snyder's Spellbent.

"Hey, look! It's a retelling of 'Tam Lin' that makes me root for Janet! That never happens!" —Pamela Dean's Tam Lin.

"You need to meet the people in this book. They have things to tell you." —Janet Kagan's Hellspark.

"The true power of fairy tale archetypes is the way they let us tell the stories that need to be told while framing them in a veil of the familiar. Jim Hines has created a Cinderella with a future, a Sleeping Beauty with a past, and a Snow White present in more than merely apples. These books are all the stronger for not being 'serious' fiction; by the time you realize that you're learning, it's too late. You've been taught." —Jim Hines's The Stepsister Scheme.

Now it's your turn! BLURB THE WORLD!

So the "Wicked Girls" party game—in which I let people suggest fictional girls, and wrote them apocryphal verses to the tune of "Wicked Girls"—is finally finished. I didn't write every request, but wow did I write a lot of them! You can view all the verses by clicking the link to the post; the girls involved, with source material, were...

( Click here, 'cause it's longer than I thought it was. )

...that's a lot more than I thought it was. Um. Wow. Anyway, done now; thanks to everyone who played, whether I met your request or not.