So I’ve been working on the LOSS page proofs — sending them back to my editor tomorrow, yay! — and starting to sketch out ideas for BREATH. And I’ve been working on a sekrit project that I’ll have to set aside to truly concentrate on BREATH, but I’m hopeful that will be done before the end of the year. BREATH is due to my editor in March. Expect me to be a neurotic mess for the first quarter of 2012. Just sayin’.

This, unfortunately, means BEFORE THE FALL — the first book in Pit and Paradise — has been pushed back. I’m looking forward to writing Hell 2.0, I truly am. Luckily, Jezebel and Daunuan are extremely patient. Well, more accurately, they’re good at waiting. They’re damned impatient, but they’re good sports. Um, evil sports. Oh, you know what I mean.

So Albacon 2011 has been canceled, alas. But I’ll be doing a breakout session at ALAN in Chicago in November, and there may be a panel/signing there too. More to follow.

What is Albacon, you ask? It’s a local fan-run SF/F convention that celebrates science fiction and fantasy books, flicks and TV. But hey, it’s not just epic fantasy and space opera; it’s urban fantasy and paranormal romance and military SF and horror and almost any sub (and sub-sub) genre in the SF/F field. It celebrates fiction for adults and fiction for teens. There are panels and workshops and vendor booths galore. There are banquets and costumes and (rumor has it) a keynote from yours truly.

Albacon is very laid back. It’s a fun, low-pressure sort of convention, run and attended by terrific SF/F fans and authors who love the genre. And hey – there’s a bar. Woot!

Programming is being finalized, but I’m crossing my fingers that there will be:

– A panel on the worlds of Joss Whedon. And that’s not just because I wrote a short comic set in the Buffyverse! Give me Firefly. And Doctor Horrible. (Dollhouse? Erm.) And yeah, Buffy and Angel and the Scoobies.

– A favorite monsters panel, be it vampires, werewolves, zombies, ghosts, or something completely different. Me? I’d vote for demons. Some people might say “Death,” but any character that looks like Kurt Cobain just can’t be a monster, sorry.

– A writing-focused day of workshops that cover a broad array of topics (OMG, I’ve lapsed into Business Speak!), including queries, the changing author/agent relationship, the realities of e-SP (electronic self-publishing), spicing up nooky scenes, choreographing an action scene…really, my hope for this sort of thing is almost endless.

– Hey, if I’m fantasizing, I also hope that Matt Damon will be there. And Nathan Fillion. And Neil Gaiman.

And hey, I mentioned there’s a bar, right? (That part’s not a fantasy. That’s a fact. Bars at SF/F are mandatory.)

Registration is cheap, the authors and fans are awesome, and hey, you need something to do in October. Come to the thriving metropolis of Albany, NY, and hang your hat at Albacon.

Over dinner, Tax Deduction the Elder told us how his friend’s baby sister has finally started talking.

“Do you know what her first word was?” he asked.

“What?” asked Loving Husband and I.

” ‘Shit.’ ”

Loving Husband and I try not to laugh, but to no avail.

“Why are you laughing?” asks Tax Deduction the Elder.

Tax Deduction the Younger pipes up, “Because ‘shit’ is a bad word.”

And that’s when Loving Husband and I lose it completely.

First, there’s the cover.

Hounded by Kevin Hearne

Now, I know that authors have very little say over their covers — God, do I know this — but Kevin absolutely lucked out, or maybe he made the appropriate sacrifice to the right cover god, because this is a hell of a cover. First, there’s a guy on it who A) is dressed, B) is hot and C) has a sword that’s not a convenient crotch metaphor. That’s because Atticus, the protagonist, isn’t just some beefcake whose job it is to make some heroine A) swoon, B) discover her own latent magical power, or C) pregnant. Not that there’s anything wrong with any of those things — actually, there’s a heck of a lot RIGHT about those things, yowza — but it’s so terrific having a hero who’s exactly that: a hero.

Okay, so I sort of segued into the content. In a nutshell: I loved HOUNDED. Loved, loved, loved. Loved on the scale of chocolate and Matt Damon, and Matt Damon in chocolate. Loved to the point that I started imagining writing fanfic about Atticus. Seriously. Loved. This. Book.

Why? Well, Atticus is an incredible narrator — he’s smart and witty and humorous and serious and clever and powerful. I’m gushing, but it’s well-deserved gush. He can perform magic and wield a sword and deliver a quip and hold his own with gods. And it’s all organic; none of it feels forced. Just as important, Atticus isn’t perfect. Oh, no, definitely not. He makes his share of mistakes, and he’s got one hell of an Achilles heel (even though that’s not the body part in question). Tied into that, the writing is a pleasure to read. The pace is tight, the plot is solid, and the story is engrossing.

So…yeah. Loved it.

And today, the second book in the series, HEXED, hits the shelves.

Hexed by Kevin Hearne

It’s another fabulous cover. And I’m sure it will be another fabulous book.

Anyway. So yesterday I got up at 5 am, for no good reason. Sigh. So I worked out and got ready for the day (with only a slight detour when the water was shut off; all I’ll say is THANK YOU, TBF, FOR THE BOTTLED WATER – which is perfectly serviceable when washing your face), and then Heather, Amy and I went off to the school and talked about bullying. We got back, had lunch, and then by 1:45 pm I had a crushing headache. I guess the whole not-sleeping-well/up-early thing had caught up to me. I decided to take a nap, because there was plenty of time before we had to meet for dinner that evening.

Here’s the David Tennant part.

First, you have to understand that I am a recent convert to DOCTOR WHO. (For more on this, see my blog post at the League of Reluctant Adults.) The theme from the David Tennant run is my ringtone on my cell phone. (Yes, whenever I watch the show, I have to make sure my ringer is off.) Ten is my favorite Doctor (although to be fair, I still have to catch up on the classic series).

So. Me, sleeping.

I had some wonky dreams (maybe there’s something in the Rochester water — hmm, no, wait, the water had been turned off). There was something about being in a car and having to drive over this rail-thin bridge with no rails, which sort of turned my hair white (not literally). And I think I was in Portugal. So. Anyway. Toward the end of the dream, David Tennant was looking for me. He had something he needed to tell me. It was pretty urgent, and he was striding purposefully, with that I Have Something Important Or Possibly Clever To Say look on his face. (No, I don’t know if he was the Doctor or David Tennant; I didn’t actually hear him speak, so there was no accent to give me a clue. I think he was in Ten’s overcoat, though. Hmm.)

So I finally wake up, wondering why David Tennant had been looking for me. I sort of smile about it. And then it clicks: David Tennant. Doctor Who. My cell phone ring tone.

I grab my phone. And there’s a text message from Heather, saying that we’re all meeting downstairs at 5:30 to get car pooled (what? It’s a verb) to the restaurant for dinner.

I look at the phone. It’s 5:29.

In a truly, spectacularly, impressively fast feat of getting-readiness, I got downstairs only 5 minutes late. If not for the David Tennant dream, I might have missed my ride.

David Tennant to the rescue!

Today we’re kicking off the RAGE Blog Tour! Throughout April, I’ll be visiting blogs and babbling about lots of things (say, Twinkies). And there’s a big tour contest — three people will win copies of HUNGER and RAGE, plus some extra goodies!

Today’s official tour stop is at Literary Escapism. In the spirit of April Fool’s Day, I do a post about my faux memoir, ROAD RAGE.

Bonus: I was interviewed by Indigo Teen Blog — and Death makes an appearance!

All throughout April, I’ll be doing a blogosphere world tour. Lots of guest posts; lots of interviews. Lots of RAGE reviews, eek!

In other news: I finally got my taxes off to my accountant (rah!!!) and I’m full-speed ahead on LOSS (double rah!!!).

And a reminder: If you’re in the Albany, NY area, I’ll be at the Empire State Book Festival this Saturday for a 2:45 pm panel called “She Blinded Me with Science Fiction,” followed by a Meet & Greet (aka, signing copies of RAGE) at 4:45pm. I’ll also be doing a reading at Flights of Fantasy on Monday, April 4, starting at 7 pm. Hope to see you there!

SAT, APRIL 2:
Panel and signing
Empire State Book Festival, Albany, NY
2:45 pm panel: She Blinded Me With Science Fiction

MON, APRIL 4:
Reading and signing
Flights of Fantasy, Colonie, NY
7 pm

APRIL 5 – APRIL 10:
Romantic Times Booklovers Convention
Los Angeles, CA

WED, APRIL 6:
Panel: Worldbuilding in Urban Fantasy
1 pm

THURS, APRIL 7:
Club RT
9:30 am

FRI, APRIL 8:
Panel: Say Anything? Boundaries In YA
10 am

SAT, APRIL 9:
Book Fair/Teen Day
Time: 11:00 am – 2 pm (Book Fair)
Time: 5 pm (Author Speed-Dating, session 2)

SAT, MAY 14:
Rochester Teen Book Festival
Rochester, NY

Second, the fabulous Falcata Times did a back-to-back-to-back review of the UK editions of HELL’S BELLES, THE ROAD TO HELL, and HOTTER THAN HELL. Much Hellish love! And they also interviewed me about tons of things — good for readers and writers alike! Thank you, Falcata Times!

Third — and okay, this isn’t Hell-related — one of my local newspapers interviewed me about HUNGER, and then promoted the library event I attended this weekend. Great fun!

And last (for now), I posted over at the Deadline Dames, answering a reader’s question about whether you should take agent rejection letters to heart or not.

And now…back to the WIP!