Pics and Praises

First, a supernice piece of feedback from @SunDriedRainbow, via Twitter: (NBD means no big deal):

I ADORE you have gay and trans characters and it’s NBD. thanks for writing what I want the world to be.

Folks, this not only swelled my ego, it darn near made me cry.

Second, I believe M.K. Hobson’s Kickstarter for THE WARLOCK’S CURSE starts today, on lucky Friday the Thirteenth.

My blogging routine has been thrown to the winds this week, naturally, by the Blue Magic release. It’ll all get back to normal soon, though with a lingering probability of “And now I’m guest blogging here!” showers.

Also because of the release, I’ve hit a stretch where it’s become obvious that, if I choose, I could spend all day every day just answering e-mails.

Here’s a thing: the faster you run on the e-mail wheel, the faster the notes come pouring back. Instead of scrambling like Alice and never getting anything real accomplished, I have made a real effort to move at a sane speed: do a couple things I need to (like, oh, my taxes?) and then clear out the inbox. Then go for a walk so I don’t become a mole person, clear it out again. Right now it all seems to be working. Or I’m deluded; we’ll see which turns out to be true.

All of which means I shot some spring flowers this week:

All Imported-4

When I first moved here, I didn’t know these were star magnolias. For a few years, we called them Daisy Trees.

Blue Magic Interview and other bits of Wednesday

M.K. Hobson, author of the amazing The Native Star, asks me three questions about Blue Magic.

Her questions and my answers are here.

If you liked The Native Star or its sequel, The Hidden Goddess, you may want to check out Hobson’s Kickstarter campaign, which seeks to fund the next installment of the Veneficas Americana series.

Take cover! Blue Magic escapes into the wild

It’s out! After all those countdown posts, we may have been lulled into complacency, but my second novel, Blue Magic, is now officially available in bookstores online and in the real world.

Blue Magic picks up Astrid Lethewood’s story about six months after the initial, devastating outbreak of enchantment in Indigo Springs. As it opens, Sahara Knax is about to go on trial for treason, along with a number of her closest followers. One of those followers is Will Forest’s wife Carolyn–she’s been arrested, but their children are still missing. The US Air Force is firebombing Indigo Springs in an attempt to eliminate the magical contamination spreading outward from Oregon, and everyone in the world, from politicians to vigilantes, has an opinion about whether magic should be used, contained, or eliminated entirely from the world.

And you can get in on the fun! Buy the book, tweet the mystical outbreak, take pictures of it in bookstores, and let me know if you want to come to the launch in Vancouver on April 19th. Any sightings or mentions, positive or otherwise, would be very welcome. And watch this blog–I’ll keep you in the loop on contests, signings and chances to win the book itself (and perhaps other things too!)

But wait–there’s more! Here’s what Starmetaloak thought of the novel, in case you’re curious.

Shades of darkness and egoboo

Peter Watts was here a couple weeks ago, and in the course of a long and roving conversation, he told us that Caitlin Sweet’s The Pattern Scars was up for The Bookie Award on the CBC Site. (And she’s won–her post is here! Peter’s analysis of the voting patterns is here.)

I haven’t met Caitlin, though I’m keen to, and I haven’t read the book yet. But it’s dark, apparently. Very dark. In the course of describing this novel to us, Peter said:

I mean, your stuff is dark, but at least your characters get to experience these brief bright moments of magical beauty before everything turns completely to shit.

As descriptions of my stuff go–especially, perhaps, Indigo Springs, I have to say I find this completely delightful. And I want to add that if you like darker-themed fiction, and you read something of mine and think, “Damn! Too cheery!” (It could happen!)

Well, you now know who to look up, don’t you?

Congratulations, Caitlin!

Sekrit Project Unveiled!

I’m extremely pleased to announce that Jim Frenkel of Tor Books has bought the first three books in my next ecofantasy series. We haven’t quite settled on a title for the series yet, but the first book’s working title is CHILD OF STORMS and it takes place on Stormwrack, the same world as my story “Among the Silvering Herd,” which features adventuress Gale Feliachild and a handsome young sailor named Garland Parrish.

The first book is tentatively scheduled for release next year. I’m revising it right now.

In Tuesday Tor news, my Buffy rewatch this week is “A Very Unhappy Birthday, Take One.” Tor.com, as I’ve mentioned, also has the first chapter of Blue Magic up, if you want a peek. (The giveaway of five copies of Indigo Springs and Blue Magic ARCs ended Friday, I’m afraid, but I think you can safely expect other opportunities to win copies.)