Cherie Priest

First - links roundup. Then - Fort Freak metrics. Then, I beg those of you who haven’t tried Boneshaker yet to give it a shot. But I beg in an understated way, with tasteful links that aren’t particularly shouty or anything. I hope.

• Pop culture landscape becoming a Zombieland - I throw my two cents in to “Zombies … why so cool?” conversation. Big thanks to Mike at Newsarama, who pinged me about this yesterday - for he required a CERTIFIED ZOMBIE EXPERT. But he had to settle for me.

• Big thanks also to the beautiful people of Coilhouse - And if you’re not checking out this page/this magazine on a regular basis, then ’tis a pity.

• And to Cory Doctorow, who was kind enough to chime in on Boneshaker - I love his assertion that it’s a “zombie steampunk mad-science dungeon crawl family adventure novel” and I totally wish I’d thought of it.

• Updated Boneshaker FAQ - Yes, I posted this yesterday, but I’ve added a couple of things. For example, there should be a Kindle edition available soon (within a few days), but to the best of my knowledge no other ebooks are forthcoming at this time. I may be wrong. If so, I’ll correct myself later.

• Revival of the Arkham Asylum hair - Because it has made me immensely happy over the last month, I’ve just gotten the ‘do refreshed. If you’re local to Seattle, and either in the Capital Hill area or willing to visit it, just ask if you’d like my stylist’s contact info. She’s very, very good. Can’t recommend her enough.
  

Here’s today’s progress on my modern pseudo-noir police procedural about a neighborhood full of mutated freaks, a sexy former court reporter, an aging cop who’s being forced into retirement, and a multiple murder that took place thirty years ago in an all-night diner called “The Rathole.”

Project: Fort Freak “Remember the Rathole”
New Words: 1854 (not bad!)
Present Total Word Count: 28,776 words
Goal: 30,000 words
Due date: October 15

Things accomplished in fiction: Wrapped up Section Twelve.

Things accomplished in real life: Did day-job work; went and got my hair did; cleaned house a little; not much else, really.

Next up: Holy crap. I have to write the final section/big reveal/mystery wrap-up. I think I can I think I can I think I can …

Other: Jiminycricket, I’m tired.

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Boneshaker at Powell’s
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Hello everyone! And many, many thanks to everyone who’s helped retweet, repost, link, and shill Boneshaker today. You guys are truly amazing, and I couldn’t do it without you! So now, very quickly (before I log off and join the husband for a celebratory supper) - let me answer a few of the more frequently asked questions I’ve gotten today.

• Can we get this book signed? Yes, but right now I’m afraid I can only sign it if you catch me in person. I used to have a P.O. box to which people could send their books with postage-paid envelopes for return; but the box became impractical when the price of the damn thing doubled on me. I did some asking around today, and the nearest option only has the BIG (and EXPENSIVE) boxes available, and the nearby postal store is also beyond my fiscal range right now.

• Will you be making any local appearances? Yes. I’ll be at SteamCon next month, at the University District bookstore with Jeff VanderMeer and Cat Rambo on November 4th, at Third Place Books in December, and maybe also at Secret Garden in Ballard right around Halloween. I will be more precise as details become more clear. Believe me, I’ll keep you updated.

• Are you open to making other appearances? Absolutely. If you’re within rather immediate driving distance of Seattle (I have an old car on its last legs), I’ll be happy to make whatever event you’d care to arrange. If you’re farther away and can help with travel/lodging expenses, I’ll do my level best to show up and smile and sign like crazy.

• Why no ebook? Why no button to request it on Kindle? It ought to be available in Kindle format before very long - sometime within the next few days. Keep checking! I’ll try to keep checking too, and send up the flag when it’s time to salute.

• Can I nab a review copy for [:: insert legitimate publication/review site here ::]? Probably! Email me a snail mail address and your credentials, and I’ll pass your info along to my publicist — who is pretty much a superwoman when it comes to these things.

• Does it matter where I buy/order it? Not to me. But it probably matters to your local independent booksellers, who I recommend you support when possible. That having been said, Barnes & Noble (and its employees) have been very kind to me (and they’re pretty reliable about carrying my stuff), so I often recommend them, too.

• Isn’t there some kind of steampunk thing BONESHAKER is part of at B&N? Yes, but that doesn’t start until October. So don’t be too surprised if you don’t see Boneshaker out in the store quite yet; some locations are holding out for October’s end-cap promo. But you can always ask for the book. They ought to have it in stock by now, it just might not be on the shelf.
  

Okay - that’s all I’ve got for now, but if you have any other questions by all means ask — and I’ll do my best to answer them. Many thanks again, to all of you!

Boneshaker at Amazon.com
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Boneshaker at B&N.com
Boneshaker at Powell’s
Search for an independent bookstore near you.

Oh my God, you guys — IT’S FINALLY HERE. That’s right, as of TODAY my seventh novel, BONESHAKER is officially available … and I for one could not be happier (as I trust you can gather by the accompanying photo).

Go on! Click right here! Note the big green “IN STOCK” status on Amazon.com. And while you’re there, if you haven’t already, I’d like to rather shamelessly ask you to take a chance on it — if you are so inclined.

If you’d like to know more about it first, please allow me to point you at this interview over at the Mad Hatter blog. It too went live today; and in this interview I talk a bit about the Clockwork Century universe, the players in it, the hats I like to wear, and at least two things that very few people know about me.

For a much more in-depth discussion of this book, this universe, and everything else — visit The Clockwork Century and poke around all you like. There, you’ll find maps, commentary on the philosophy of steampunk, novel summaries, and some enticing reviews.

No, really. This one got a starred review from PW, my first truly favorable nod from Kirkus, and friendly words of recommendation from everybody from Mike Mignola to Warren Ellis and Wil Wheaton (all of whom — and everyone else quoted here — I thank from the very bottom of my heart).

[Side note: For U.K. readers, I am told that your easiest way to acquire Boneshaker will be through Amazon.uk.]

So. If you have any interest whatsoever in steampunk pulp adventuring, alternate history, dirigibles, pirates, zombies, secret criminal societies, and Bonus! extended deleted scenes from the Civil War, I honestly believe that this book may well be right up your alley.

Thank you so much for reading, and thank you so much for picking up this book, if you can be persuaded to do so. And if you feel the urge to repost this information or pass it around — that it might better reach others who might also dig a good steampunk pulp adventure — then please don’t let me stop you. For that matter, if you read an advance copy of this book and enjoyed it enough to tell people about it, I’d be forever grateful if you’d take a moment to share that opinion by blog or by customer review.

Anyway. Wow. Yes. Today’s the day, and I’m all out of breath just from the sheer excitement of it. Thanks again, everyone. Times a million or more.

Boneshaker at Amazon.com
Boneshaker at Amazon.co.uk
Boneshaker at Amazon.ca
Boneshaker at B&N.com
Boneshaker at Powell’s
Search for an independent bookstore near you.

By special request - Clarkdale Elementary School found itself almost completely underwater following the recent storms and flooding in North Georgia. Everybody got out of the storm’s way safely, but the school itself did not fare so well.

In short, the building and all its supplies are a total loss.

Via a reader’s email this afternoon: “My children’s school, Nicholson Elementary, is asking for donations to resupply the classrooms. Little things like Ziploc bags, pencils, backpacks, erasers as well as other larger items like playground equipment and computers. Monetary donations are fine, but they are not asking for that.”

To be clear, the Nicholson school is accepting donations on behalf of the Clarkdale school.

I’ve been given permission to post the emailer’s address and name as a point of contact if you have any questions, so you can reach Thomas Bowman at Instructor@tiger-rocktkd.com — or contact the school directly at (770) 928-5573. You can also click here to find the contact information for the principal and staff. Nicholson Elementary School is located at 1599 Shallowford Road - Marietta, GA 30066.

So if anyone has any stray school supplies they can toss into the pot, 442 kids and their teachers could really use the help.

This post has been edited for fact-fixing and general clarity.

This afternoon, starting at 4:00 p.m. and running up against midnight, the 2009 Revenant Film Festival is going down at Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry.

My buddy and hardcore undead aficionado Mark Henry is going to be one of the hosts, and frankly, that makes it worth the cover charge right there.

So click that-there image to the left for all the details, and to get a glimpse of the cinematic offerings.

I figure - What’s not to like? Indie zombie flicks, local zombie experts, zombie fans, and a museum I’ve been meaning to go take a look around anyway. Join me, locals! Jaunt down to the museum, plop down your 20 bucks, and make yourself comfortable.

This ought to be a hoot!

For all the budget it clearly lacked and for all the press coverage it doesn’t seem to be getting, Pandorum is actually a damn fine example of a damn fine little genre movie. The set-up is simple, appropriately desperate, and fantastically tense; the characters are smart, reasonable, and determined; and the reveal/resolution is cool and (at least part of it is) frankly unexpected, but doesn’t feel cheap or contrived.

Pandorum owes a bit of precedence to Alien, a nod to Pitch Black, and a sly wink to Event Horizon*, but it’s definitely its own creation. If you dig survival horror science fiction, you should absolutely check this one out. No lie.

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* Which, in my humble opinion, it outclasses by light years — despite the disparity in buzz and funding.

Here’s today’s progress on my modern pseudo-noir police procedural about a neighborhood full of mutated freaks, a sexy former court reporter, an aging cop who’s being forced into retirement, and a multiple murder that took place thirty years ago in an all-night diner called “The Rathole.”

Project: Fort Freak “Remember the Rathole”
New Words: 949 (tiny, but better!)
Present Total Word Count: 26,922 words
Goal: 30,000 words
Due date: October 15

Things accomplished in fiction: Wrapped up Section Eleven and it’s a wee one. In this section (a). 60-something-year-old lovers engage in some morbid pillow talk, (b). suspicions are aired, and (c). a new angle from which to approach the situation is determined. This section will probably grow a little later; I expect it to be a tiny chapter that accumulates all the loose ends like a narrative lint trap. But for now, it stands around a thousand words.

Things accomplished in real life: Did day-job work; ran to post office to mail some stuff; cleaned whole apartment - including everything except dusting, which I’ll get to in a few minutes; visited with Caitlin’s cats (I actually do that almost every day while she’s out of town, but I’ve forgotten to mention it lately); answered about a jillion emails; accepted yet another interview request; subsequently spent the rest of the afternoon filling out the email interview and finally sending it off; agonized over starting Section Twelve of “Remember the Rathole” (since Eleven was so short) but opted to have a glass of wine and a moment to chill instead.

Other: OMG BONESHAKER COMES OUT IN LESS THAN A WEEK OMG OMG OMG OMG.

Here’s today’s progress on my modern pseudo-noir police procedural about a neighborhood full of mutated freaks, a sexy former court reporter, an aging cop who’s being forced into retirement, and a multiple murder that took place thirty years ago in an all-night diner called “The Rathole.”

Project: Fort Freak “Remember the Rathole”
New Words: 2856 (oh crap)
Present Total Word Count: 25,973 words
Goal: 30,000 words
Due date: October 15

Things accomplished in fiction: Wrapped up Section Ten and it’s a doozy. WAY too long. The editorial process on this is going to be a brutal game of Darling-Murdering.

Things accomplished in real life (over the last two days): Day-job work (though I need to do more tonight if I’m going to have this project finished by Friday close-of-business); exchanged oodles of business emails; wrote three articles on steampunk and/or Boneshaker; completed two email interviews regarding same*; sorted out all the paperwork required for me to guest-blog at Tor.com starting next Thursday; did laundry; went to grocery store; went to drug store.

Other: I’m ecstatic over all this interest in Boneshaker — before it’s even out! All of these interviews/articles/guest blogging and all that jazz … they’re wonderful opportunities and I’m more than happy to participate in everything humanly possible to promote this book. HOWEVER. I’m well aware that those of you who are regular readers may well feel a bit of Boneshaker Burnout and I apologize for that in advance. I’ll try to make it up to you with kitty pictures, or satirical limericks or something.

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* These are unrelated to the interviews/reviews I posted in the links round-up yesterday. Those were all taken care of weeks ago, mostly; these are things which will go live next week, I believe. No rest for the wicked, and so forth …

• Attention vintage/steampunk/thrifty shoppers — Military surplus CLEARANCE at ArmyNavyDeals.com. I stocked up on the 99-cent black wool wrist-warmers and nabbed a couple of super-cheap canvas ammo bags to tote stuff around town (and conventions, conferences, events, parties, etc.). Though why Uncle Sam is also trying to unload maroon tube tops at bargain basement prices, I haven’t the foggiest.

• Genre Chicks Interview with yours truly - Conducted by the utterly inimitable, thoroughly fabulous, and wickedly awesome Alethea Kontis. We talk superheroes, goggles, steampunk fashion practicalities, and books.

• Food for Poems - My sister is a poetry M.A. and a foodie, so she put two plus two together and came up with a foodie blog spiced with poetry. Visit her page for everything from general insight into why Edna St. Vincent Millay is accessible but lyrical … to how coconut goes so nicely with marshmallows, peanut butter, and bananas.

• DO ANYTHING - Because Warren Ellis tells you to, that’s why. Also, it’s a marvelous running BLEEDING COOL column about all kinds of great, wazzy stuff.

• Exhibit A for why Fan Culture is totally awesome - This link will take you to a page detailing the creation of a Big Daddy costume (which was accessorized by a Little Sister and a Splicer, respectively). If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you clearly have not played BIOSHOCK. And you should. But if you DO know what I’m talking about, then for the love of God - click and be amazed.

• The very fine folks at SF SIGNAL loved BONESHAKER - And I love them. That’s a great bunch of people over there. I’m just sayin’.

• See also: The Mad Hatter’s Bookshelf and Book Review - Where BONESHAKER received a grade of nine out of ten hats! Seriously, what’s not to love about a review site that rates things in hats?

• Likewise: Fantasy Book Critic - Where it is said of BONESHAKER that “… overall the writing was top-notch led by accessible and skillful prose, crisp dialogue and cinematic-like pacing. On top of that, the story was a lot of fun, the setting was creative, and I cared about the characters, especially Briar. In short, I immensely enjoyed “Boneshaker” and can’t wait to read more books in the Clockwork Century series.”

• And I got my first REAL LIVE COPY - Liz sent it to me! And it’s beeeyooootiful. Really, you should click that link just to see me making (as Bill at Subpress put it), the “happy-hamster-who-just-found-the-peanuts smile.”

• BONESHAKER COMES OUT IN A WEEK OMG OMG - And if YOU would like to order a copy (don’t you want to order a copy? Please say you do ….) just click that-there link and Amazon will kick one to your door as soon as the street date lands.
  

Heads up local readers — tomorrow, at 2:00 at the Tukwila Barnes & Noble [300 Andover Park W #200, Tukwila, WA] — you’ll find me with Mark Henry, Kat Richardson, and Lauren Dane. We’ll be signing, reading, chatting, and all that jazz; so come out and see us!

Quick question for you guys.
Yes, you guys. Gals. Etcetera.
Everybody.

In short, do you have any questions you’d like to ask about steampunk in general, or about Boneshaker and the Clockwork Century in particular?

I’ve been asked to write a short piece about my next project and/or the subculture where it fits; and if I can answer any burning questions people may have on these subjects, then so much the better.

Comment here, or over on LJ, or drop me an email at - cherie.priest@gmail.com
And thanks for your input!

Here’s today’s progress on my modern pseudo-noir police procedural about a neighborhood full of mutated freaks, a sexy former court reporter, an aging cop who’s being forced into retirement, and a multiple murder that took place thirty years ago in an all-night diner called “The Rathole.”

Project: Fort Freak “Remember the Rathole”
New Words: 1325
Present Total Word Count: 23,117 words
Goal: 30,000 words
Due date: October 15

Things accomplished in fiction: Wrapped up Section Nine. This one came in under word count, which is AWESOME because it means that now I’m only about 1100 words off target (at this moment). I like dialogue-heavy sections. Lots of shit gets done, in a nice, tidy word count. Granted it’s not a huge daily tally, but these 1300 words took me longer to write than the last 3000 did.

Things accomplished in real life: Reached the halfway point on my present day-job project; managed the aftermath of a bizarre necrotic banana explosion in the kitchen (it took FOREVER to clean up); changed cat’s litter box; consorted with the consortium re: things that must yet happen in “Remember the Rathole” and sorted out some plot points; learned that real live honest-to-God printed/bound copies of Boneshaker actually exist and did a little dance over it.

Other: Lunch with Kat tomorrow, huzzah — and also, shopping for wedding gifts (for Melly and Neil, on Saturday).

Here’s today’s progress on my modern pseudo-noir police procedural about a neighborhood full of mutated freaks, a sexy former court reporter, an aging cop who’s being forced into retirement, and a multiple murder that took place thirty years ago in an all-night diner called “The Rathole.”

Project: Fort Freak “Remember the Rathole”
New Words: 2387 (ugh)
Present Total Word Count: 21,792 words
Goal: 30,000 words
Due date: October 15

Things accomplished in fiction: Wrapped up Section Eight. This section, too, was too long - but not as badly too long as Section Seven. But again, this was one of those bits where lots needs to happen, so that’s just how it’s got to be right now. Mantra: I can edit it down later … I can edit it down later … I can edit it down later …

Things accomplished in real life: Spent another morning desperately trying to do day-job work while six-foot segments of steel pipe were cut out of my office area and things were patched; moved around furniture, fish tank, etc. to facilitate the previous; got some exercise before it got dark cold and rainy; did a little housework; exchanged copious business emails (it’s just the season for it); restrained self from taking a nap even though I wanted to REALLY BAD.

Other: I completely forgot about an event I’ll be doing on Sunday, at the Tukwila Barnes & Noble, with some friends of mine. Details later. Whulp. That’s just one more thing to stick on the calendar. It’ll be fun, and that’s cool — but boy howdy, things just aren’t slowing down.

The other day I was asking for dry shampoo recommendations. Today I will give you the results of my inquiries and subsequent experimentation. But first, because I’m tired of answering this question — let me explain the idea of dry shampoo.

For most of my life, I washed my hair every day just because, well, that’s what I thought you were supposed to do. But you don’t have to. And I don’t anymore. In fact, I only wash my hair a couple of times a week, if that — and sometimes I try to time the hair-washings so that the hair will look spiffy for a special occasion … which means going an extra day or two without any suds. I’ll be the first to admit that after a stretch, my hair starts to look manky. Usually, I bust out the bobby pins and hairspray; but sometimes, the mane is just too greasy to salvage.

This is where dry shampoos come in. Usually, dry shampoo comes in a powder or a spray which you dust or spritz onto your roots, then fluff up your hair and brush it out, and thus the worst of the weekly mank is brushed away — leaving your hair refreshed, if not squeaky clean.

My hair dresser recommended Tigi’s “Rockaholic” spray and it worked all right, but after a few uses it clogged prematurely and became quite useless.* So I did a little digging around and learned that these sprays are basically aerosol formulations of cornstarch and baking soda, so, yeah. No wonder the clogs. A few more emails and webpages later, I found a good number of do-it-yourself recipes for homemade dry shampoo, some of which sounded downright gourmet.

But across the internet, the people cried out: What of the brunettes? What of the redheads? This white powdery stuff mostly brushes out, but it shows up quite starkly on darker hair. Some sites recommended using cocoa powder as a base, but I don’t want to smell like a cookie (mmm…cookies) and the dark brown wouldn’t look any better on my hair than white powder would, so I discarded that idea as well.

As a bluenette (at the moment) I pondered this problem. I researched. I considered SCIENCE. And last night, while watching TV, I sat around and made my own batch of dry shampoo for next to nothing. Now I share my SUPA SECRET PROCESS with you. Ahem. Here’s how to make your own dry shampoo on the cheap.

You’ll need:

1. Corn starch
2. Baking soda
3. Sidewalk chalk
4. Heavy-duty Ziplock baggies and a hammer, or a good blender

You’ll proceed:

1. Take two parts corn starch and one part baking soda (I used tablespoons)
2. Select a chunk of sidewalk chalk that most closely matches your hair
3. Throw these things into a blender if you have one, and hit puree
Or: Stick all three into a Ziplock baggie and whack it with a hammer until all is powder**

The end result was a nice blue powder (which is actually a little darker than the picture would imply), of a fine consistency and a pleasant, clean smell. The baking soda treats your scalp just like it treats the inside of your fridge (freshens! removes odors!) and the corn starch sucks up oil like a champ.

Obviously, you can use whatever color of sidewalk chalk moves you or matches you. It’s cheap. I paid about $4.50 for a rainbow pack at Target; and everything else I needed to make this stuff I had sitting around at home.

To store and dispense my new creation, I went looking for a small-sized Parmesan cheese shaker but couldn’t find one, so instead I resorted to a sample-sized baby-powder bottle.

These are easy to come by, and cost about a buck at your local drug store — but they’re a little tricky to open. I got the lid off mine by jamming a corkscrew down through one of the holes and prying it off that way. Save the little slider inside; it probably won’t break, and when you’re done, you can just reassemble the thing to work as it would’ve before you dumped its contents and replaced them with your own.

Anyway, there you go. That’s my dry shampoo hack, and I’m pretty pleased with it. I dusted myself down last night, let it sit a few minutes, then brushed the heck out of my hair … and it was immediately less greasy and more fluffy. It’s not going to replace soap and water for me, anytime soon, but I’m definitely glad to have an inexpensive, effective version of this stuff in my personal hygiene toolbox.

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* This is a known and prevalent problem with literally every other dry shampoo spray I researched. And since most of them cost a pretty effin’ penny, I wasn’t willing to drop another 25 bucks on something that’d run out or die after half a dozen uses.
** What? I don’t have a blender … and I’m pretty sure the husband would’ve killed me if I’d chucked everything into the coffee grinder.

Here’s today’s progress on my modern pseudo-noir police procedural about a neighborhood full of mutated freaks, a sexy former court reporter, an aging cop who’s being forced into retirement, and a multiple murder that took place thirty years ago in an all-night diner called “The Rathole.”

Project: Fort Freak “Remember the Rathole”
New Words: 2992 (yipe!)
Present Total Word Count: 19,405 words
Goal: 30,000 words
Due date: October 15

Things accomplished in fiction: Wrapped up Section Seven, which ran far too long. No doubt, it’s an important section — a major person of interest is tracked down and provides the only eyewitness testimony to be had; but still, this means trimming elsewhere. I can probably cut it back to 2500 words (down from nearly 3000) in editorial. Won’t be enough, but it’ll be a start.

Things accomplished in real life: Spent the last two mornings desperately trying to do day-job work while six-foot segments of steel pipe were cut out of my office area; moved around furniture, fish tank, etc. to facilitate the previous; fought against impending illness and might have actually won, but we’ll see; went down to the park and got some exercise; exchanged oodles of professional correspondence (but didn’t manage to get all of it); got groceries; did research for a story.

Still need to do in real life in the next couple of weeks: Write two short articles for two very fine internet venues; successfully maintain coherence for an interview with a super-awesome woman from Wired; read/exchange thoughts with fellow consortium member re: his Fort Freak segment; drive out to Tacoma for a friend’s wedding; begin (and preferably finish) a short story; maintain at least my present pace on day-job work and hopefully exceed it; compose at least three more sections of my Fort Freak project if I actually expect to hand it in on time.

Other: So if I seem a little absent here on the internet (or out and about in real life), rest assured that I still love everybody but I am CRAZY BUSY right now. Which beats the hell out of needing work, I tell you what — but still. CRAZY BUSY.

Crazy!

Yesterday at the PNBA trade show, I was accosted literally dozens of times and asked to explain “steampunk.” Most of the gentle accosters had only recently heard the term, and had absolutely no idea what it meant, where it came from, or what it was about.

I did my very best to be helpful, and I learned quite a bit in the process. Maybe most importantly — I learned that a great number of people would like to take an interest in steampunk … if only they had the faintest clue what it was.

So here I go, trying to provide that clue. Over on my ClockworkCentury.com page, I’ve created a Steampunk FAQ — something less philosophical and intense than my previous manifesto on the subject. Yes, this is my stab at creating an absolute entry-level introduction to one of my favorite things.

I tried to keep it inclusive but precise, and lighthearted but concrete. If you like it, awesome — feel free to link it around or show it to people who have questions. If you hate it, tell me why. If you have any queries you’d like to see added to the list, chime in.

So here it is. My Steampunk FAQ.

PNBA was quite a lot of fun, for something that’s supposed to be a more-or-less “professional” event devoid of DragonCon-style merry-making. I was asked to bring dress-up clothes that might be reflective of steampunk couture (oh, twist my arm … twist … twist … twist … aw, all right I guess); so I spent Thursday evening in a purple shirt, the green/black corset, black petticoats, a navy blue skirt, and a charcoal pin-stripe bustle (plus all accouterments). Fun clothes can go a long way toward making a fun time — and likewise, many curious book-buyers and sellers who are super-nice and eager to learn more about this “steampunk thing” can really put a shine on an evening.

By my best guestimate, I gave my Steampunk 101 speech about 25-30 times. I’d have cheerfully given it another few dozen times if required.

Best of all, I was not alone in my fondness for all things riveted, mechanical, frilly, retro-futuristic and scrambled alt-history. No, for indeed I encountered the authors of Boilerplate: History’s Mechanical Marvel. Paul Guinan and Anina Bennett were also dressed up in full steamy glory, and somewhere out there can be found pictures of the three of us mugging it up. (Alas, I didn’t take any of my own; had left purse/camera/phone up in the hotel room.)

Paul and Anina were also kind enough to swap publications with me — even though I only had an ARC of Boneshaker and they had fully completed, ready-to-ship editions of Boilerplate immediately at hand. They were very nice, very cool — and lots of fun, and if the vibe appeals to you, you should totally check out that website and consider picking up the book.

Despite my own lack of fully completed, ready-to-ship editions of Boneshaker, buzz was hot enough that we gave away all three boxes of the ARCs — and were turning folks away by yesterday morning.* By breakfast, people were pointing me out as “That blue-haired girl with the crazy clothes last night, the one with the steampunk adventure book … ooh, do you have any more? I didn’t manage to pick one up at the night-capper.” Repeatedly. And although I hate to disappoint people, it’s still good for the ego.

At that very same breakfast, I caught up with the inimitably cheerful Ken Scholes and the persistently pleasant Brenda Cooper. Together we nibbled at plates full of bacon, scrambled eggs, and sausage, while simultaneously listening to Johnathan Safran Foer explain to us rather convincingly why we should not eat meat, or should at least consider our meat consumption more responsibly (which I think is a valuable and important message, but also an ironic one considering what was being served to us right as he was discoursing on the problems of factory farming).

For what it’s worth, I was familiar with Foer’s books but had never read any of them; but now I think I might pick one up. Listening to him speak/read for a bit was frankly riveting. Likewise, and although I did not get to meet Libba Bray either, her talk about her latest book — Going Bovine — made me want to run out into the street and buy the nearest copy.

I left the event shortly after lunch on the trade show floor, and in my wake I’d like to leave many thanks to Tor publicist Patty Garcia for her marvelous shepherding, constant readiness, and general willingness to hand-hold and answer questions while I got my act together.

But as you know if you follow my Twtter feed, the train ride home was not half so much fun as the either the train ride to Portland or the conference itself. Less than an hour into the jaunt back north, the train came to a dead stop and the conductor announced that he had no earthly idea what was going on — that he’d just been given a red light and told to stop. So we stopped. And we waited for nearly two hours, mostly wondering what the hell was going on.

Eventually he got on the horn and told us there was some kind of “police activity” up ahead, and no one would tell him squat, but he’d try to keep us posted.

As it turns out, this is what the police activity was about. Oddly enough, it would seem that this tweet of mine pretty much called it. Of course, now I feel monstrously insensitive, but oh well. Nothing to be done about it.

Anyway, that’s all the excitement that was exciting enough to relay. Now I have to take this weekend to recalibrate myself, catch up on some day-job work, sort out my writing deadline work, and perhaps decompress just a smidge from all this travel.

Have a good one, folks.
I’m going to go throw some clothes on and start thinking about brunch …

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* To be clear, I’m not crapping on Tor for not having them - we’ve still got another few weeks before they drop and it was only finger-crossing over-eager optimism on my part that hoped we might have the real thing on hand.

As you know, I’ve recently done a blue/purple/green dye-job on my hair. It’s awesome, and I’d like to keep it looking awesome as long as possible. I already (a). don’t wash my hair but 2-3 times a week, in cool water, and (b). use a good salon-brand color-preserving shampoo/conditioner with which I am quite happy, so I don’t need any suggestions on these points.

But I want to hear your opinions on dry shampoos. Powders, sprays, whatever. I’d like something to freshen up the ol’ technicolor haystack in between suds.

I’ve already tried Tigi’s Rockaholic — which worked fairly well, but like others on the internet have complained, the bottle worked for about half a dozen uses … and then the contents evaporated and/or the nozzle clogged, and I was left with a $25 conversation piece; so I’m not terribly interested in re-investing in this product. But I’d like something like it, or something that performs in a comparable manner.

So. Any thoughts?
I’m most interested in personal experiences, so go ahead.
Fire away.

:)

Here’s today’s progress on my modern pseudo-noir police procedural about a neighborhood full of mutated freaks, a sexy former court reporter, an aging cop who’s being forced into retirement, and a multiple murder that took place thirty years ago in an all-night diner called “The Rathole.”

Project: Fort Freak “Remember the Rathole”
New Words: 2228 (nice)
Present Total Word Count: 16,413 words
Goal: 30,000 words
Due date: October 15

Things accomplished in fiction: Passed the halfway point, yay! Wrapped up Section Six; performed some interrogations; got fussed at about things over which we had no control.

Things accomplished in real life: Did day-job work; did errand-running; picked up more handbills for trade show handing out; sorted receipts and whatnot from DragonCon; finished unpacking; arranged travel and figured out accommodations for PNBA; went to Walgreens; made hair appointment; did desperately needed laundry; looked in on Caitlin’s cats.

Still need to do in real life: Pack for tomorrow; print out travel docs; charge electronics.

Other: Had to take a little time off the story for DragonCon, and I’ll likely take another couple of days for PNBA — and resume regular composition next week. Right now things are a little hectic (I’m still trying to finish up a dayjob project, too). I love this story and I remain both happy and confident about its progress, so I’m not super-concerned about the temporary delay.

• SciFiGuy reviews BONESHAKER. The review is generally friendly and thorough, and well-considered, and not at all spoilery — so go ahead and read it without fear. Also, read the comments. Kmont is a good guesser. And I greatly appreciate the advice that’s given to Rhianna.

• Up-close shot of the Arkham Asylum hair. Because today is my dad’s birthday (happy birthday!) and he asked to see a close-up of the bruise-colored rainbow on my head. To answer the couple dozen people who’ve asked, I have no idea what colors these are or what brand. This was done at Salon Ciba on Capital Hill, by stylist Judy Yoon (who I most heartily recommend).

• Once more with feeling. Even though I’ve mentioned it before, I’m getting at least one or two emails or comments a day asking where I got this corset. The answer is: Damsel In This Dress. I recommend this seller every bit as highly as I recommend my hairdresser (and there’s a formal website, too, with more stock and ordering options).

• The PNBA trade show. I’ll be there, later on this week. I’ll be taking the train down to Portland, dressing up in pretty much exactly what I was wearing Friday at DragonCon (by request of the organizers!) and hocking the hell out of Boneshaker.

• BONESHAKER. ZOMG WILL BE OUT THIS MONTH. Official drop date is the 29th, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it sneaking onto shelves sooner than that. Really, there’s no telling. So if I seem vague and evasive when you ask me when it’s officially out, please understand that I’m not being deliberately obtuse. I’m merely uncertain.
  

And I’ve slept about 15 hours in the last four days, so this will be brief. But to sum up hastily, and with minimal complexity: DragonCon was a blur of old friends, new friends, panels, rum, corsetry, and the best kind of geeking out ever.

I took many phone pictures.
You can find them all by Clicking here and poking around in my Twitpics.

Mind you, most of the pictures aren’t labeled. I got lit one night and by dumb, drunk luck figured out how to attach a subject line/descriptor to the photos I was sending to that fine service, but when I woke up the next morning I couldn’t figure out how to make that happen again on my new phone. So you’ll just have to take my word for it when I say that they are pictures of amazingly wonderful people.*

(And also, there’s a pic of a steampunk stroller with a cheerful steam-baby in it. She was about a year old and totally adorable. She made my ovaries squeak.)

Good night, all.
I’ll try and play catch-up tomorrow.

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* Though I think I missed a couple. Natania B., I’m lookin’ at you, in particular. I don’t think I ever scored a pic of us at the Steampunk ball. Alas. Truly, this is an instance of fail on my part.

So! It’s that time of year again — and tomorrow morning at the very narrow ass-crack of dawn I’ll be flying out for Atlanta.* But first, some announcements:

Although I won’t be updating this page in my absence, you’ll be able to find me here on Twitter. Expect pictures, tweets, ramblings, and lunacy.

As of this morning, I look a little different. I’m calling this my “Arkham Asylum” hair - and it comes courtesy of the amazing Judy Yoon at Salon Ciba on Capital Hill in Seattle. I ain’t gonna lie. I feel like a rock star.

To those of you who are interested in such things, theClockworkCentury has been updated with a handy-dandy map of 1879 Seattle. Well, it’s my version of Seattle in 1879, complete with a wrap-around wall to hold the zombies and the poisonous gas inside.

And now, please allow me to enable any of your stalking tendencies by providing my DragonCon schedule. Barring unforeseen catastrophe, this is where and when and why you’ll be able to catch me over the weekend:

Title: Steampunk Overview and On-Line Retro Futurism
Time: Fri 01:00 pm Location: Piedmont - Hyatt
Description: Learn about steampunk as revealed in film, literature, fashion, and props, along with what online resources can help bring your visions to life.

Title: Tell It Like It Is!
Time: Fri 02:30 pm Location: Manila / Singapore / Hong Kong - Hyatt
Description: The truth about writing speculative fiction successfully

Title: Memento Mori: Ghost Stories
Time: Fri 04:00 pm Location: Montreal / Vancouver - Hyatt
Description: How contemporary writers put a fresh spin on a venerable supernatural tradition.

Title: Almost High Noon - An Exploration of the Weird West
Time: Sat 11:30 am Location: Piedmont - Hyatt
Description: A discussion of the American Wild West as portrayed in speculative fiction, film, and television.

Title: In Dark Places
Time: Sat 02:30 pm Location: Montreal / Vancouver - Hyatt
Description: Cross the threshold into haunted manors, cursed towns and other places angels fear to tread.

Title: Vampires vs. Zombies
Time: Sat 05:30 pm Location: Montreal / Vancouver - Hyatt
Description: Authors judge the pros and cons of the living dead.

Title: The Sacred & The Profane
Time: Sun 11:30 am Location: Montreal / Vancouver - Hyatt
Description: A look at religion and spirituality in dark fantasy fiction.

And there you have it! If you’re in the DragonCon neighborhood, by all means swing by and say “hello.” I’m always happy to meet readers out in the wild :)

Hmm. I think that’s everything.
Thanks so much for following along with my adventures!
I’ll see you on the flip side …

~Cherie

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* Note to those who wonder and/or potential robbers: We have a pair of cat-sitters hanging about. The place is not empty in our absence.