Cherie Priest

This evening things are going to get weird. And by weird, I mean “totally awesome.”

To make a long story vague and somewhat brief, the other day I was lunching with Kat — who was telling me all about a research roadtrip she was planning. Some of the highlights of this investigatory jaunt include a saponified corpse in a lake, a haunted lodge, and an appointment with a special collections local history librarian; so if you’ve ever met me, you can assume that I was all googly eyed and jealous of her impending journey.

And I might’ve said, off the cuff, that if she wanted any company … all she had to do was ask. After all, I’ve been noodling with a young adult project which is mostly set in the very place she intends to investigate, and I’ve never … actually … you know. Been there.

Which leads us to tonight — whereupon Kat is picking me up and AWAY WE WILL GO.

The original plan was for a simple overnight, but we’re headed far enough away that a second night has proven necessary if we’re going to get one whole day’s worth of daylight (such as it is) from this out-of-town adventure. Ergo, we’ll be gone Sunday and Monday evening, and return late on Tuesday. I’m not sure how much internet connectivity there will be, but I’ll at least have email capability on my phone — and you can bet I’ll be tweeting pictures and pithy travel commentary over here at my Twitter feed.

[Edited to add: I might also do the occasional voice post over on my Livejournal. I don’t have the capability to post in such a fashion at my true and proper homepage, alas. But you might want to swing by that other location, if you’re curious about our progress. You might find Bonus! content.]

But for now, I have to get up and around and get productive. I’m trying to get ahead (which is to say, reach the end — or come very close to it) on a day-job project in order to make up for Monday and Tuesday’s travel; and there is still packing and planning and supplies-grabbing to be handled.

Also, I must work on convincing myself that “two women writers traveling alone to a distant, rural location in order to research a gruesome, decades-old murder at a haunted lodge” does not totally sound like the set-up to a horror movie …

Yeah, so. I blew that “I’m gonna write everyday!” resolution, which is no one’s fault but mine. I was out of town; I was sick; I was busy with other things. It happens. But like a born-again virgin, I’m going to do my best to stick with the program and remain virtuous going forward.

With an eye toward this goal, for the last few days I’ve been trying to get started on a new book project* — and today I finally triumphed over the blank page.

I’d like to say that tackling a blank page never gets easier, but the truth is, eventually it does. Once upon a time I’d wrestle with a story idea for a week or two (or longer) before committing a few precious paragraphs; these days, I can gun myself up and take a serious stab within about seventy-two hours. Granted, I might end up throwing out everything I write, but it’s worth it to get a new thing underway.

The process (for me personally; and your mileage may vary) is hard to describe, but it shapes up kind of like a tornado. At first it’s a funnel cloud — wide and nebulous and swirling. It has a definite structure and look; I mean, you know what it’s about.** But it’s basically just a twisting mess of ideas that aren’t ready to go down on paper. However, given some time and the right meteorological brainstorm conditions, it begins to concentrate, and stretch, and extend like a long pokey finger — reaching toward the ground, or the page … and eventually, it hones itself down to a starting point. That pin-point where the storm meets the topsoil, that’s where the story starts. That’s the first sentence.

From there on out, the process looks like writing with one of those top-heavy whirly-gig pens that were so popular back in the 1980s. Remember those things? They made your text or drawings look like they were composed in squiggly spirals. I guess that was the point, but I tried to hand in some spiral-written homework once and I got a Stern Talking To for my efforts. Alas.

Anyway. Yes. Moving along.

The Project is underway, and I’m both nervous and excited about it. This new fiction attempt is not related to Boneshaker in any way***, though it’s also set in the 19th century … and it’ll also have a heavy steampunk element. But I want to get back closer to my horror roots, and I think I’ve found just the story to suit my nefarious purposes.

At the moment, I’m not sure how much I want to talk about it in public. I’m still getting a handle on the tale, and since this isn’t a project for an existing contract (though I certainly hope to sell it at some point!), I’m feeling insecure enough to be a tad vague. But here we go, once more reviving the word meters and all their attendant metrics.

Here’s today’s progress on the new steam-horror fin de siecle project about ghosts, guilt, elder gods, and monster-hunting in the aftermath of two gruesome murders:

Project: (tentative title) What She Had Done
Deadline: None
New words written: 1530
Present total word count: 1530 words



Things accomplished in fiction: Ladies, lads, and gentlepersons, we have a beginning. It’s a stubby one, but it introduces three of the four major players (thus far) and includes mesmerism, ghosts, and the promise of monsters.

Things accomplished in real life: Virtually nothing else. Consumed a couple cans of Coke Zero; snacked entirely too much; fretted with reference volumes to no avail; composed a soundtrack to accompany my composition process; did not even do all the dishes.

Total Official Word Count of 2010: 22,116 words

Today I spent all afternoon working on a proposal for a new project. It clocked in around four pages (a couple thousand words) and I’m actually very happy with it. Now to set it aside and let it cool off for a few days, then read it again and see if the happy feeling still stands. This may sound like a small thing, but I’ve been wrestling with it for a couple of weeks and seeing it in one piece is a huge relief.

Also (and in completely unrelated news), I added a new event to my appearances page. That’s right, folks — on April 15th I’ll be at the Garfield Book Company in Tacoma. Things kick off around 7:00 p.m., and I hope I’ll see some of you there!

• Cat Rambo teaches speculative fiction workshop - Over on Bainbridge Island, here in the Seattle-area. I’ve had the pleasure of hanging with Cat a few times, and let me tell you - she is both brilliant and awesome. I quite strongly suspect that she is an excellent teacher, and I’m not just saying that because I love her hair. Registration for the class closes on March 6th.

• Clementine ARC up for auction - On the Con or Bust community at LiveJournal. (Con_or_Bust is a group dedicated to assisting fans of color who want to attend SFF conventions, principally WisCon.) Clementine is a novella sequel to Boneshaker which will not be available in print (through Subterranean Press) until the end of May. Click the link for details.

• Steampunk II: Steampunk Reloaded TOC formally announced - And it includes my novellette “Tanglefoot” which — speaking of Subterranean — was published online through that same company. Coincidentally enough, “Tanglefoot” is a vignette of backstory that is, in its way, quite relevant to the events that transpire in Clementine. But I say all that to say this: Hot damn that’s a good-looking book, and I’m delighted to be in such outstanding company.
  

Just checking in to do a drive-by how-do-you-do. I seem to be (mostly) recovered from the Tennessee Hamthrax Plague, though the quasi-spring that’s settled over Seattle has the trees blooming and my allergies on freakin’ fire. So, out of the frying pan, etc. I’ll survive. I always do, one way or another.

Tonight’s survival method of choice involves cheap wine, Benedryl, and whatever’s left in that bottle of Nyquil I almost killed earlier this week.

But anyway. Went to the CPA today and sort of got our taxes done. We ended up short a few pieces of paper, but I’m led to believe that the husband will straighten this out sooner rather than later … which will be nice, because I’d really like to get this (plus the quarterly tax payment, also due before long) squared away so I can forget about it.

And I’m not sure what else to add to this post. I’ve been hideously unproductive from a creative standpoint lately, opting instead to get out of the house since the weather has been (relatively) nice — running errands with Caitlin and catching lunch with Kat after the usual day-job toil.

But I swear I’m going to fix that. I’ll be back on the writing and revision pony before long, you just watch me. As soon as these decongestants and antihistamines kick in.

Yarrrrrgh…

So my friend Mark Henry has a new book out. Landing today, available at bookstores everywhere, Battle of the Network Zombies is fresh and spanky for your reading pleasure!

Here, from the flap copy:

In Seattle’s undead circles, Amanda Feral is one of the beautiful zombies. Of course, when you’re socializing with werewolves, devils, and rampaging yetis, there’s not that much competition. Still, Amanda has a stylish rep to maintain, which is getting tricky now that her tanking ad agency is obliterating her finances. The fastest way to make some cash: appear on a new reality show, American Minions, hosted by lecherous wood nymph Johnny Birch. Classy? Maybe not, but a girl’s gotta eat.”

With zombie gal pal Wendy posing as her bitchy agent, Amanda settles in to “Minions Mansion,” crowded with 24-7 video cameras and undead fame whores. When Johnny is found incinerated in a locked room, Amanda decides to channel her inner Miss Marple (minus the fugly cardigans) and find out who’s responsible. Was it Hairy Sue, the white trash stripper yeti? Tanesha, the glamorous trannie werewolf? Angie, the Filipino vampire with a detachable head? Unveiling the culprit in a heart-stopping finale won’t just save the show from cancellation, it might just keep Amanda alive — or as close as a ghoul can get…

If you haven’t yet picked up any of Mark’s stuff, then please allow me to HIGHLY RECOMMEND it. He’s filthy and funny — definitely for adults, if you know what I’m sayin’ — but if you ARE an adult and you’re in the market to laugh your frickin’ ass off, this is a damn fine place to start.

Don’t forget — just like you can order my books signed and personalized from the University Book Store, likewise you can order Mark’s in the same fashion. You can also get it from amazon.com, Powell’s, Barnes & Noble, and just about anywhere else. So go on. GET CRACKIN’.

• Beautiful kitty in Fredericksburg, VA needs a home - Click the link to get a gander at one gorgeous cat. She showed up on my friend Andrea’s porch during the snowstorm; but Andrea’s place is all full-up on rescued animals right now. (Trust me, I know this woman in real life. I even foisted one of her rescues upon her.) Andrea is willing to drive up to 4 hours to place the girl in a new home — and she’s also willing to pay for her first round of vaccinations and vet visiting. Click the link for details.

• Speaking of cats, mine is NOT missing an ear - Contrary to popular belief, and/or this somewhat hilarious photo of her.

• Happy Hour of the Damned on Kindle for $2.79 - So seriously, there has never been a better time to pick it up and read it. It’s funny, filthy, and just a ridiculous amount of fun. And I’m not just saying that because Mark is super-awesome personally. (Though he is!)
  

I just wanted to make a quick post saying thank you to the folks who came out to the Barnes & Noble at Northgate this afternoon. You guys were a marvelous audience, and I greatly appreciate your patience and warmth. (My voice was pretty much shot until the Mucinex kicked in, about halfway through the event; and I was kind of loaded up on cold medicine … so I was even more rambly and loopy than usual.)

Many thanks also to Caitlin, Kat, Ellen, and Suezie, who came out just because they’re my friends and they are awesomely supportive.

Excessive and copious thanks likewise to the B&N staff, who threw such a marvelous mid-afternoon cookie party, with particular kudos to the exuberant Covahgin and spiffy-dressing John-who-turns-out-not-to-be imaginary. (Covahgin is the super-groovy woman who invited me in the first place — and John is the mystery man who keeps recommending Boneshaker all over the place, but who neeeeever seemed to be working when I stopped by to tell him thanks for all the book-love.)

Anyway, thanks again! This was my first B&N event ever, and it was a very, very pleasant one.

First of all, thank you so much to everyone who’s chimed in with cheers and congrats today. I’m trying to respond to everyone personally, but right now my inbox is a digital Hydra: For every email I delete, two more appear. And alas, I’ve been trying to squeeze some work in too — so I’ve got a bit of a backlog, and I don’t have time to address it right this moment as I still have lots to do before I call this week a wrap. For that matter, I will probably still have work to do tomorrow, but it’ll have to fit itself around the second point of this post.

Point the second: Tomorrow I’ll be appearing at the Northgate Barnes & Noble here in Seattle. Or rather, a little outside Seattle … but if you’re local enough to attend, you probably know what I’m talking about. I am led to understand that this will be a reading with some Q&A thrown in, also with Bonus! cookies and refreshments. The party gets underway at 2:00, so just think of it as an after-lunch speculative fiction dessert opportunity. Further details available here.

Please come out and see me — and feel free to dress up! You’re not required to appear in full-on steampunk regalia, but you ought to anyway. Because it’ll be awesome.

Now that all’s official, and officially announced … I can finally share it here: Boneshaker has been nominated for a Nebula Award. I am flabbergasted that this has actually happened. I have no idea what to say in response except thank you to the members of the SFWA, who have given this weird, interstitial, difficult-to-talk-about book a chance.

I am absolutely honored and amazed. It is a privilege to appear on this list, and I feel both nervously humbled and giddily thrilled to be there. Beyond that, I’m speechless.

* * *

I realize that this website is devolving back into the Boneshaker Channel again, and for that I do apologize. Recently (and by recently I mean the last 4-5 months) this novel has taken over my life, which is good for me as a writer, and probably bad for me as a blogger.

But Boneshaker has been a book of milestones, this is where I chronicle milestones. This is my first book to reach any national bestseller list. It’s the first to sell any foreign rights. It’s the first to win a well-known, established award*, and the first to be nominated for one of the big genre awards. In short, Boneshaker, my seventh published novel, is my first quantifiable hit.

From a professional standpoint, this book — and now this Nebula award nomination — is absolutely the most major and exciting thing that has ever happened to me. I’ve been telling stories all my life; and from my first inkling that it was hypothetically possible to build a career out of stories, all I ever wanted to do was be an author. Literally. You can ask my parents and everything. I have been utterly insufferable about it for decades. I am unlikely to stop anytime soon.

I keep wandering around muttering that Hemingway line about “Gradually, then suddenly.”

Spent much of the afternoon over at the University Book Store, where I signed some orders, visited with Duane a bit — and mostly hung out in a conference room with Cat Rambo, Mark Teppo, and Matt Simmons. The three of us were there to participate in a conversation about modern fantasy fiction, led by by Victoria Blake from Underland Press (for the purposes of a later podcast).

It was quite a lot of fun! And the grand company aside, this was the first time in ages anyone had asked me about anything other than steampunk. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some steampunk — and it did, in fact come up once or twice; but this wasn’t an hour of me trying to think of new things to say on the subject. I feel like I’ve had a lot of those hours lately.

* * *

In other news I’m still a bit sick, working my way through the Tennessee Hamthrax Aric gave me last week; so if posting is a bit light or perfunctory (which is to say, a string of announcements or links) for a few more days, I hope you’ll forgive me.

I’m in the middle of a whole lot of reading (for day-job work, books for friends which I need to/want to blurb, etc.), and I’m still struggling to find the time to get writer-job work done too — but I’m not doing so hot with the latter part. The last week has contained several short story contracts and accompanying paperwork, a couple of interviews, lots of emails, the PNBA event at Third Place, today’s round-table at University Book Store, and a trip to San Francisco … [:: deep breath ::] … but I haven’t gotten any writing done at all, nor have I managed to pull any proposals together for future projects.

It’s the proposal thing that’s actually griping my soul right now. I’m already partially done with one, and it shouldn’t take me but an afternoon to finish it up … but dammitall, I just haven’t had that afternoon free to tackle it. Mostly, I’ve been sleeping in late as I try to shake this bug, then using my afternoons for day-job work and crashing into a cold-medicine coma in the evening. It’s not the world’s most productive schedule, I know.

Anyway. I’m taking enough Vitamin C to buckle my kidneys, as well as doing the usual fluids-drinking and neti-pot-using, so I’m bound to get over this one of these days. Hopefully it’ll clear up before Saturday, when I have yet another event … this one at the B&N at Northgate.

I hear there will be cookies! And sick people aren’t allowed to have cookies.

As of this morning, it’s official: French rights on Boneshaker have officially gone to Bibliothèque Interdite, via my marvelous agent Jennifer Jackson! I’d attempt a bit of clever commentary in French but (a). it’s been years since those college semesters on the subject, and (b). I was never any good at it anyway.

Instead, I shall speak the universal language of Snoopydance.
[:: snoopydances ::]

Hey look! [:: points at header ::] I got the month right this time. (Don’t bother scrolling around; I already fixed yesterday’s post.)

So it’s been another day of catching-up over here. Received a short-story contract; exchanged a morning’s worth of important emails (but not until after lunch, alas); got some great news that I don’t think I’m allowed to squeal about yet; got some potential great news that may or may not pan out; popped enough cold medicine to stone a horse; and actually got outside while the sun was out — for a little bit of fresh air and exercise. All this, and I kept my head above water with regards to my present day-job project too. Go me!

Now (or rather “when I log off”) I’m going to sit down with one of my next proposals and do some fiddling, since I have a couple of hours to kill before heading over to Third Place Books for that PNBA-award thingy this evening. Details on that are over here, by the way (scroll down). To be clear, this is NOT a private event. It’s open to the public, with refreshments and mingling — and the more public shows up, the merrier.

But first, I must give you links. No no, you’ll like them! I bet.

• Because she’s worth it! Click over to the Qwillery for a Save Amanda Feral promo event. ZOMBIE DUCKS, y’all. But not for me. I already have some zombie ducks. These are for YOU.
• Clementine cover art. Over the weekend a preliminary cover was making the rounds, but I’m choosing not to link it here — as it won’t be the final. Instead, to whet your collective appetites for awesome, I link you to the full wrap-around cover art, created by Myke Amend.
• We’re #2! We’re #2! Over on the Locus magazine trade paperback bestseller list, that is. I’m constantly delighted and amazed at the legs this weird little novel seems to have, and I’m incredibly grateful for the support from readers and booksellers that have kept the momentum running.
  

I have returned! Safe and sound, and still glowing from the Writers with Drinks event — which went smashingly. Everyone was enthusiastic and very cool, Charlie Jane Anders was a superlatively awesome M.C., and some of my bay-area friends came out to keep me company.

Speaking of whom — many, many, many thanks to Greg and Miriam, Meg, and Dan for taking the time to join me. I’ve only been to San Francisco a couple of times before and I don’t know the city at all; so it was a great relief to have friends to kindly shepherd me around.

But now I’m home, and the show goes on.

Mostly, today’s show involved unpacking, catching up on email and work, and consuming lots of fluids/vitamin C (I’ve been a little under the weather). Tomorrow, however, shenanigans will resume out in the wild — at least, out in Lake Forest Park at Third Place Books, where me and some of the other PNBA-award folks will be gathering for refreshments, signings, goofing-offs, and heaven knows what else. Come out and join us! There’s a food court and everything. Click here for the calendar announcement and details.

Right! Yes. Well. Sorry to be brief over here, but supper looms and I still have some more work to knock out before the hubs and I settle in for the evening.* Thanks again to everyone at the Make-Out Room for having me over the weekend, and to Third Place Books for hosting things tomorrow night.

Tonight I went out with some friends and saw WOLFMAN, which wasn’t even half as bad as I’d heard. Is it great cinema? No. But it’s a very good B-movie with a very big budget and a very good cast. In its own weird way, it’s downright sublime — unapologetically gothic and grim, and corny where necessary. I don’t care what anyone says. I enjoyed the heck out of it.

But! Now I’m home, and I’m packing up for tomorrow’s grand adventure in San Francisco. That’s right - tomorrow evening at the Make-Out Room, I’ll be participating in Writers With Drinks — along with James Rollins, Vikram Chandra, Andrew Porter, and Derek Powazek. Things get underway around 7:30, but I understand that space is limited and showing up early is highly recommended.

I won’t have my laptop with me, so you can consider me more or less offline until Sunday night; but I’ll have my phone, which means tweeting will likely occur. I’ll also be checking email (via that same phone), but unless it’s urgent, don’t expect me to reply. That keyboard is tiny, yo. (Though of course, if you have my number and you need me for SRS BZNSS — you can always just call.)

I hope to see some of you in San Francisco! And I’ll catch up with the rest of the world when I get back.

This coming Saturday evening, I’ll be in San Francisco participating in Writers with Drinks. What’s that, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you: Writers with Drinks is a spoken-word variety show combining erotica with literature, stand-up comedy with science fiction, and poetry with essays. Plus mystery, romance, memoir, rants and … um … “other.”

No, seriously.
And I, for one, CANNOT WAIT.

You can read an article about this event over here at the SF Gate, or you can click the jump below and to see the press release — which will tell you all about what’s shaking, what’s going down, what’s happening, and who’s in it with me.

So if you’re in the area, mark your calendars and come on out! It’s bound to be a hoot.
(I promise I’ll read something with zombies in it.)

(more…)

• Son of Retro Pulp Tales - Now available! I got my contributor’s copies today, and they are pretty. In this very fine, very handsome volume resides my story “The Catastrophe Box” — which is based on a real-life early 20th century paranormal investigation.

• Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast - Interview with yours truly, about life, the universe, and everything. Or as JJA put it, “Steampunk! Sherlock Holmes! Eschatology!”

• The Steamblog - Hits Boneshaker with a stick, and likes what falls out. Thanks for the review, Steamblog!
  

Lately I’ve been on the receiving end of some Very Concerned Emails with regards to a project by another author; and before the rumor mill goes spinning out of hand, I wanted to take a minute to address the situation. To make a long story short: Yes, I am aware that a book called The Boneshaker is coming out from Clarion Books in May, and it’s written by a woman named Kate Milford.

This is, as we say in the ‘biz, “No big whoop.” It’s certainly not a whoop that causes me any particular consternation or woe. I am not losing any sleep at night over this whoop. This is a non-whoop.

In fact, Kate dropped me an email a few months ago, shortly after my book-of- almost-the- exact-same name debuted. She was afraid I’d be angry, or that I’d think she’d copied me. Mais non. Her book had gone through several rounds of title changing — which is quite common and, as you may recall, something that’s often not up to the author. Until one of her readers pointed out the overlap, she had never even heard of my book.

You can read a bit about her/her publisher’s reaction here on her webpage, where she was kind enough to take a peek at my Boneshaker. Which sounds totally dirty. But isn’t.

Therefore, please do not (as two of you have so kindly offered) send her helpful emails explaining the error of her ways. Her ways have contained no errors, and nor have her publisher’s ways. This is not a copyright infringement of any kind. You can’t copyright titles. Lots of books have the same title. For example, my first novel was called Four and Twenty Blackbirds. I did not know it at the time, but both Mercedes Lackey and Agatha Christie had beaten me to it.

Anyway! As it turns out, Kate Milford is extremely nice and The Boneshaker is her first book. First books are a Really Big Deal. A first book is simultaneously a blissful event suffused with elation and joy … and a terrifying ordeal fraught with stress, emotional peril, uncertainty, and a pervasive sense of helplessness. So believe me, I do not wish to add to Kate’s existing stress levels.

Instead, I hope you all will welcome her to the fold. Her book, The Boneshaker (note that my own title lacks the introductory article), is a cool-as-hell young adult adventure with majorly steampunk overtones — and I know this because she totally sent me an ARC so I say NEENER NEENER NEENER ha ha lucky ME.

So far it’s pretty awesome … I mean, you know — if you like teenage girl grease-monkeys, vintage cars, shifty carnival folk, creepy Middle America, and flying automata (with illustrations!).

I thought about sitting down and coughing up a humorous list of the ways in which our books are different, but that would be a very long list and I decided I couldn’t be bothered. Just trust me, okay? Superficial genre similarities aside, these books have nothing in common except a rockin’ title and a fondness for Victorian naming conventions.

If you’d like to learn more about Kate Milford’s book, The Boneshaker - visit her website here and poke around. The author collects neat things, visits interesting places, and generally gets very very happy about the process of having her first book born. The whole thing is just delightful, so check it out! Send her some love.

As of right now, my little brother is 21 years old.* I wish oodles of happy natal felicitations to the lad — who can be found right here online. May he have many, many more gleeful, productive years ahead! And even though the occasion veritably cries out for me to tell embarrassing stories about him as a wee nublet of a boy, I will do no such thing.

At this time.

WHO DAT SAY DEY GONNA BEAT DEM SAINTS????

[:: shakes it ::]
[:: shakes it ::]
[:: eats a celebratory Krispy Kreme doughnut ::]
[:: shakes sticky fingers ::]
[:: shakes booty some more ::]
[:: collapses ::]
[:: shakes it down there on the ground ::]
[:: shakes over to the cat who wonders WTF is going on ::]
[:: shakes the cat ::]
[:: shakes booty to the medicine cabinet for band-aids ::]
[:: shakes the band-aid box ::]
[:: bootyshakes ::]
[:: bootyshakes ::]
[:: and I say WHO DAT? ::]

Boneshaker is back on Amazon.com - thereby indicating that Macmillan and Amazon have reached some kind of detente, I must assume. This is particularly good for Kindle users, who can’t just order books from somebody else. Three such people emailed during the blackout, demanding to know why they couldn’t get my stuff for their Kindle because they were preeeetty sure they saw it available a couple of weeks ago and WTF was up with that? Yeah. Well. Here you go.

The Guardian tackles steampunk - including a mention of yours truly as someone doing American steampunk (which totally gave me a hearty squee). DO YOU HEAR THAT, NAYSAYERS WHO INSIST THAT STEAMPUNK HAS TO HAPPEN IN VICTORIAN LONDON? It turns out REAL LIVE ENGLISH PEOPLE disagree.*

The STRANGER blog takes recommendations - for additional books to read, if you liked Boneshaker and are interested in picking up something similar. Feel free to go throw your two cents in.

The Capitol Hill Seattle blog interviews yours truly - wherein we discuss Seattle as a nexus for all things steampunk (at least, one nexus thereof), local history, upcoming projects, and playtime for grown-ups.

A quick and dirty with the little fattie - Which is to say, here’s a Spain the Cat video I shot the other day. It’s pretty cute. She waves, and hogs the camera. If this does not satisfy your craving for cat action, here’s the little monster sitting in a box.

Here are the recent stats on the Clockwork Century story, “Far-Fetched” — about an apprentice airship engineer named Huojin and his adventures aboard the Naamah Darling, now with Bonus! mayhem in the Shanghai Tunnels of Portland:

Project: “Far-Fetched”
Deadline: February 20, 2010
New Words Written: 2359 (not bad)
Present Total Word Count: 8449



Things Accomplished in Fiction: Finished Draft Zero. It’s a little long, and will probably get cut by about a thousand words; and I’m not 100% sold on my ending, but I can set this aside for a few days and come back to it later with fresher eyes. So to speak. Point is, Draft Zero: Accomplished.

Things Accomplished in Real Life: Oh, Christ. Well, let’s see. Day-job work; spent part of the morning in the passport office at the main post office branch downtown, applying for my very first passport ever yes I’m a slacker leave me alone, I know; came home and grabbed Caitlin for lunch over in the University district; signed books (including new orders) at the University Book Store; came home and managed/processed/printed/mailed some contracts on an anthology reprint; performed revisions on my contribution to another anthology and sent the results off to the editor. I think that’s pretty much it. Today has been the week’s lint trap, where all the little errands that never happened finally came to be addressed.

Other: After making fun of Caitlin for her declared intention to take a nap, I came home after eating a burrito the size of a small dog and slept for 2-1/2 hours on the couch. Comeuppance. I can has it. Tomorrow, there will be brunch and shopping for a few things downtown with the Cap Hill Crew. Due to the sheer volume of crap I got out of the way today, I’m feeling pretty good about this end-of-week leisure reward.

Total Official Word Count of 2010: 20,586 words

Lest you folks think I’ve completely forgotten about this project — Here are the recent stats on the Clockwork Century story, “Far-Fetched” — about an apprentice airship engineer named Huojin and his adventures aboard the Naamah Darling, now with Bonus! mayhem in the Shanghai Tunnels of Portland:

Project: “Far-Fetched”
Deadline: February 20, 2010
New Words Written: 3184 (in a week - terrible)
Present Total Word Count: 6090



Things Accomplished in Fiction: Wrote my way to the climax; quit composing in the middle of it (just for tonight).

Things Accomplished in Real Life: Today? Lunch with a friend; day-job work; errands; a very short and accidental nap.

Other: I failed at my “write every day” resolution, which sucks — but all I can do is strive to pick up where I left off and keep composing. The dental work, of all things, really threw me off. It left me with a (total) 3-day headache wherein I felt frankly ill and just didn’t want to do a damn thing but lie around in the dark and eat pudding or drink. But I’ll probably finish the story in one more sitting, giving me a few days to edit it up nicely before it’s due.

Other, redux: But that probably won’t be tomorrow. I’ll be out of town most of the day. Tonight, I have something else I want to noodle with. I’m on schedule. I can afford to noodle. And, um, watch a little TV.

Total Official Word Count of 2010: 18,227 words

In the wake of an ecstatic tweet regarding my suppertime selection, I’ve been commanded to blog the “recipe.” I use fingerquotes around the word “recipe” because I did in fact yank it from a Betty Crocker book*, but I sort of streamlined it and customized it a little. So at this point, it’s not much of a recipe. It’s more like a short paragraph:

Get yourself a casserole dish and fill it with layers of torn-up corn tortillas and chili beans, then douse it with enchilada sauce, smother it with the cheese of your choice and bake it at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Serve it dolloped with sour cream and tomato chunks. THEN STUFF IT INTO YOUR FACE.

I awoke this morning to a bit of an email bombardment, due in no small part to some combined forces on Twitter - but it was all good. First of all, I was alerted that John Scalzi is at it again; and by “it” I mean “being very smart, compassionate, and helpful when it comes to his fellow writers.” Thanks tremendously, John - and thanks also to Warren, who plugged my name into the alert as someone you, the readers, can reasonably support by following John’s suggestions and advice.

Next up - I learned that Boneshaker has made it to the Locus 2009 recommended reading list. I’d like to extend my profuse and heartfelt thanks to the Locus folks — for they have been very kind to me.

And speaking of books — just for a moment, books that are not Boneshaker — my marvelous agent reminds me that today is the trade paperback release day for last year’s hardback debut, Fathom. And now I’m going to copy that agent and repost the starred Publishers Weekly review, in the hope that it might entice you to take a chance on it.

“A decidedly dark departure from Priest’s Eden Moore saga (Four and Twenty Blackbirds, etc.), this stand-alone novel is equal parts horror, contemporary fantasy and apocalyptic thriller. During a summer vacation to her aunt’s coastal Florida home, innocent teen Nia sees her cousin Bernice commit a brutal murder and then get dragged into the ocean by a monstrous water witch. Nia becomes inadvertently entangled in a conflict between primordial creatures that endangers the very existence of humankind.

Entombed in stone for countless years, Nia eventually emerges from her cocoon transformed, only to realize that an old god is close to awakening and destroying the world. Priest’s haunting lyricism and graceful narrative are complemented by the solemn, cynical thematic undercurrents with a tangible gravity and depth. This is arguably her most ambitious—and accomplished—work to date.” –Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

Because this is a Macmillan title, it is (as yet) unavailable through Amazon.com — but you can grab it in lots of other places!

Order from Barnes & Noble
Order signed copies from University Book Store in Seattle
Order from Third Place Books
Order from Powell’s
Check IndieBound for a bookstore near you

And finally, speaking of new edition birthdays — my friend Mark Henry’s debut Happy Hour of the Damned appears today in mass market (pocketbook paperback) form!

Keep your eyes open for this one; and if you like the sound of exquisitely bitchy undead hilarity, then for heaven’s sake, pick this one up.

Click here to discover all the places that sell it — and don’t forget: The same University Book Store that sells signed copies of my books also sells signed copies of Mark’s.

(While you’re poking around on Mark’s page, allow me to recommend preordering his latest, Battle of the Network Zombies. Scroll down here for all the details.)