Which I'm not even doing yet, because I like to leave it to the VERY last minute doncha know... But that reminds me: If you're thinking about Greywalker books for your friends or family, you can order signed, and personalized copies from my lovely local independent bookstores:

Seattle Mystery Bookshop

or

University Book Store and be sure to send your inquiry to "General Books" with a note saying which book(s) you want and that you want them signed or personalized. The store will get in touch to take the order and shipping info. (or you can just call them.)

The booksellers usually contact me when the books arrive and I'll run over and sign your books so they can be shipped as soon as possible. Won't that be nifty? Of course it will!

I'm utterly over the moon: the German book site Das Lituratur-Cafe has put up a German audio translation of my Christmas werewolf story "The Werewolf Before Christmas" today. This free download is a promo for the German version of the anthology Wolfsbane and Mistletoe that I contributed to in 2008. The anthology was edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner and it's a sweet collection of werewolf stories for Christmas. Check it out and if you speak German... please stop by Das Literatur-Cafe and check out the reading of Ein Werwolf zu Weihnachten!

Ok, so I'm off to San Francisco for Writers with Drinks! this Saturday. Here's the press relase:

When: Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009, 7:30 to 9:30 PM, doors open at 6:30, we
swear!
Who: Javier Grillo-Marxuach, S. Bear Bergman, Mary Robinette Kowal, Naomi
Quiñonez and Kat Richardson!
Where: The Make Out Room, 3225 22nd. St. between Mission and Valencia, San
Francisco
How Much: $3 to $5 sliding scale, all proceeds benefit the EL/LA Program
Para Trans-Latinas

About the readers/performers:

Javier Grillo-Marxuach created The Middleman, a comic series that became a
much-loved TV show on ABC Family. He also worked as a producer on the first
two seasons of Lost, and has also written for Charmed, Seaquest: DSV,
Medium, Jake 2.0, Boomtown and Dark Skies. He also wrote the Marvel Comics
series Annihilation: Super Skrull.

S. Bear Bergman's latest book is The Nearest Exit May Be Behind You. Bergman
also wrote Butch Is A Noun, and is co-editing the forthcoming anthology
Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation, with Kate Bornstein. Bergman also wrote
the "Day Of Remembrance" spoken-word piece which is frequently read at the
Transgender Day Of Remembrance nationwide.

Mary Robinette Kowal's first novel, Shades Of Milk And Honey, comes out in
2010 from Tor, and a sequel called Glamour In Glass is also forthcoming. Her
story "Evil Robot Monkey" was a Hugo finalist, and she won the Campbell
Award for best new writer. Her story collection, Scenting The Dark And Other
Stories, comes out soon.

Naomi Quiñonez's books of poetry include The Smoking Mirror and Sueno De
Colibri: Hummingbird Dream. She also co-edited the anthology Invocation
L.A.: Urban Multicultural Poetry.

Kat Richardson's novels include the Greywalker series, and her work appears
in the anthologies Wolfsbane And Mistletoe and Mean Streets.

About Writers With Drinks:
Writers With Drinks has won "Best Literary Night" from the SF Bay Guardian
readers' poll five years in a row and was named "Best Literary Drinking" by
the SF Weekly. The spoken word "variety show" mixes genres to raise money
for local worthy causes. The award-winning show includes poetry, stand-up
comedy, science fiction, fantasy, romance, mystery, literary fiction,
erotica, memoir, zines and blogs in a freewheeling format.

Hostess Charlie Jane Anders blogs about science fiction and futurism at
io9.com. She's the author of the Lambda Award-winning Choir Boy (2005 Soft
Skull Press) and the co-editor, with Annalee Newitz, of She's Such A Geek
(Seal Press 2007). She also publishes other magazine. Follow her on Twitter
as charliejane.

After that I expect to to wrestle revisions and Thanksgiving.

Once again Thanksgiving is in the air due to the amazing AWOL Mother problem. At the moment, her cell phone is out of service to the degree the carrier can't find any record of her. I'm both worried and annoyed. Guess I'll be taking a drive to Port Orchard--which I don't want to do--to see what's up. *sigh* Mom... where are you this time?

If you missed hearing it live, the Write On Radio! interview from this morning on KFAI FM Minneapolis/St. Paul is heading into their archive, so if you want to hear it, just go to the Archive and scroll down until you find the date 09/10/2009, then go to the listing for Write On Radio! and click the Listen Now icon. (RealPlayer or other mp3 player required.)

Anne and I were first up.

Apparently I'm going to be on live radio tomorrow (Thursday Sept 10) in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Had a lovely time on a whirlwind tour date there last year, so have a warm fuzzy feeling for the place now.

Anyhow, Write On Radio host Steve McEllistrem of KFAI FM ( 90.3 and 106.7) will be interviewing me and my editor, Anne Sowards, live for the show on the topic of Urban Fantasy. I've been asked to start with a short reading so if you've never heard me read and you're in the area, tune in! Also I believe the show will be podcast from the station's website eventually, so even if you can't tune in, you will have a chance later to catch the show.

Now I'm nervous....

Seems I haven't had much more than 6 hours of sleep any night this month, so I'm still a bit out of it, and the running around is keeping me from being articulate. As soon as I manage to catch up to everything, catch my breath, and not be exhausted, I promise to post a decent blog bit about Disneyland, the Haunted Mansion, getting soaked, screaming myself hoarse, fabulous restaurants, planes that actually work and seats you can actually stretch out in, the wonderful that is the St. Francis (except for a lack of robes), Kuleto's, going to Prison, riding cable cars, and the simple happiness of wine.

Soon, I promise, but until then, my free time is taken sleeping, bathing, or working on the next book.

Also: when the upgrade cost equal to or less than 2x the cost of the bag fees to get into First Class and not have to pay the bag fees... take it!

In August it seems like I'm always just home long enough to do my laundry and pack to run again. Leaving tomorrow night for California and many signings and running about. Here's what I'll be up to:

Friday Aug 21: Signing at Barnes and Noble at The Grove (Los Angeles) 7:30 pm
Saturday Aug 22: Signing at Dark Delicacies (Burbank) 2 pm
Monday Aug 24: Signing at Booksoup (Los Angeles/Hollywood) 7 pm.
Tuesday Aug 25: Signing and hanging out at Barnes and Noble Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara) (but I'm not really a romance writer, no matter what the site says.)
Wednesday Aug 26: Reading and signing at Borders on Union Square (San Francisco) 7 pm.
Saturday Aug 29: Signing at Borderlands Books (San Francisco) Noon.

And then I get to go home for a few days before I head for Dragon Con in Atlanta!

Somewhere in there I need to write about 20K words....

It appears Vanished is up in a poll at Bitten By Books for most anticipated book of August. Not only is the competition really stiff but a lot of them are friends of mine and I certainly want to read their books more than mine. I love my book. I would love to win the silly poll, but I don't have the fan base of Richelle Mead or Vicki Pettersen or Melissa Marr....

And I'm in Oregon on business so I have to run away now and do bookstore things. Maybe I should just settle for selling as many copies of my book as possible....

I'm off tomorrow to drive to Oregon for a signing on Tuesday night at the Powell's in Beaverton at 7 p.m. Why leave so early? Well.... I have a radio interview at 10 am on Tuesday and I want to be in town early enough to visit all the babies that have come into the world among my Portland Oregon friends--since recent parents don't get to go out and see authors, even when they are good friends. Authors shall have to come to them! And I will.

So if you are in the Portland area and want to say "hi" to me in person (and get a puzzle), drop in to Powell's at Cedar Crossing Tuesday at 7 p.m. See you there!

So... John Pitts sent me a note to let me know that Vanished has an ad on the front page of Locus Magazine's site! W00t! My publisher has made me very, very happy and so has John! *smoochies* (note that there is a big, fat ad for my book on the publisher's site, too.)

I have just received confirmation of my first date for San Francisco (more to come, I hope....)

I'll be at the Borders on Union Square (400 Post St) on Wednesday August 26th from 7-9 p.m. reading and signing Vanished! Had a lovely time at this store last year and am really looking forward to seeing the crew again--they were terrific!

If you're in the San Francisco area, I hope you can drop in and say "hi" in person.

I'll post more updates as they come in, and once there is a significant number of changes, I'll update the site and newsletter also. Stay tuned....

And this just in: Borderlands Books on Saturday August 29th @ Noon! W00t!

In spite of my lack of voice and constant cough, PNWA went really well; the conference crew were great, I met a couple of amazing people, and Team Seattle was fantastic--they made me look so good and all I did was stand around and point at them a lot.

And...

SinceVanished officially launches on Tuesday and Underground is coming out in mass market, I'll be reading (assuming my voice is back in shape, and if not I'll be whispering a la Mark Henry) and signing at the University Bookstore in Seattle at 7 p.m. this Tuesday, August 4. Then more signing at Seattle Mystery Bookshop in Pioneer Square on Saturday, August 8 at Noon. For more info on my appearance schedule, check my Appearances page.

Hope to see you!

Just packing to run off to Comic Con in San Diego tomorrow. If any of you are in the SD area this weekend, I hope you'll be able to drop in and say hi. Even if you can't do the convention (they are sold out--I know), I'm going to be doing something at Borders in the Gaslamp district Saturday at 8 p.m.

Originally they said it was just a signing, but it seems that it's become a live installment of Babel Clash, so a whole bunch of us crazy writer types will be yammering up a storm, including Patrick Rothfuss, Rob Thurman, Thomas Sniegoski, Amber Benson, Seanan McGuire, Jeanne Stein, and me. I think there's going to be some coverage at the Borders SF/Babel Clash blog after/during the event so even if you can't come, you can check out the crazy.

Aside from that, I'm also on a panel about Crime: Usual and Unusual on Thursday, 12:30-1:30, then signing in the Autograph Area afterward. Friday is par-tay day with dinner with the Penguin publicists and a couple of the coolest writers afoot: Marjorie Liu, Seanan McGuire, and me (yes, I am cool, when you don't notice the pudge and the gray hair). Then off to party the night away, then signing, signing, signing on Saturday, first at the Penguin booth (#11-17) from 11 to noon and then the Babel Clash Live gig.

In between, I hope to hang out a bit with my sister and the fabulous Caitlin Kittredge, Jackie Kessler, Pat Rothfuss, Victor Gischler, and maybe I can finally meet some of my favorite comics writers (I hear Ed Brubaker will be there and so will Warren Ellis! W00t!)

I'll try to be a good little hermit and take photos, but... you know how bad I am about that...

So, tonight is big-time signing for Lisa Mantchev's debut YA novel, EYES LIKE STARS and I 'spicion Team Seattle will be out in force to support our favorite cake-abuser. There will be cupcakes! So get yer buns down to the University Bookstore tonight by 7 p.m. and get a copy (or two or three) and a tasty treat (sans destructive fairies). You know you want this book: it has Theater, Shakespeare, Fairies, and Cake!

And sometime today, the fabulous Seattle Geekly will be uploading the weekly podcast which includes yours truly blithering away.

Fleur Bradley's interview with me has been included in the Pikes Peak Writers NewsMagazine. You can download a pdf of the whole issue (it's pretty nice) if you want to read the article. Thanks to Fleur and the editors and publishers at Pikes Peak!

I'm not blogging today: off to muck about, write, and not be a responsible adult. But there is a nifty interview with me at Amberkatz's Book Blog. (more free books!)

I'm not up to the daily goal of 3K a day, but I'm accelerating and Greywalker #5 is starting to feel like a real Harper novel, at last. It's the hardest one so far, no bones about it: a lot to remember, balance, integrate, and tie off. And it should still be fun, stand on its own merit, and have a good mix of action, exposition, and humor along with the mystery and horror. I think I might have yelled at my editor recently and that makes me angry with myself--even in late-night email, being a jerk isn't acceptable or fair. Did 2000 words 2 days in a row and 900 so far today. Alas, I seem to work best late at night, which is inconvenient, but may be the only thing I can do.

Meanwhile, however, I see that the mass market of Poltergeist will be out next Tuesday and I'm only 5 weeks away from the release of the Underground mass market and the new book, Vanished, in hardcover. I'm so excited about that book I have a hard time concentrating on what I need to do now.

Oh yes: my mum-in-law will be visiting soon and that also makes me very pleased--she's nifty!

And tomorrow I think the schwag will arrive... Oooooo.... (yeah... limited edition schwag you can only get by coming to say "hi" to me in person--I'm so cruel.) But there is a chance to get some if you're going to be in Salem Oregon on July 18th. Why? Because Team Seattle will be at the book fair at Escape Fiction in Salem from noon to 2 p.m. Tres cool, yes?

Things are just a bit nutty over at Bitten By Books, where the silliness will continue until midnight with--oo!--prizes and more strange replies to questions from lil' ol' me.

Also, I'm updating the main website, so there should be a complete Appearances schedule there (at least as far as I have one) soon.

I'm going to be doing a day-long interactive interview and Q&A at Bitten By Books tomorrow (Thursday, May 28). Five lucky people get an Amazon gift certificate and a puzzle! Be there or be... umm... haunted.

Imagine my surprise when I opened my new issue of Crimespree magazine today and found a story I'd sent them about... four or five years ago. I'd assumed the file had gone feral and escaped into the wilds of Milwaukee long ago to wreak havoc on unsuspecting tourists visiting the Harley Davidson Museum nearby but... no... there it is on page 24 of issue #29: "Pigeons" by Kat Richardson.

I have to admit it's not my best, but it's not totally stinking bad. Just a short story about a homeless woman (who might be a college researcher or might just be crazy) and the murder of pigeons, friends, and overripe tomatoes. It's not a Harper Blaine story, just a short mystery, but if you are in need of a quick Kat-fix, it'll do. (And you might spot some characters who got updated and polished and turned up in Underground.)

What? You don't have your own subscription to Crimespree? And you can't find it on the newstand (because it's a subscription-only publication unless you happen to know the right Mystery bookstores to pop into)? But you can remedy that! Sean Chercover is giving away subscriptions to this fine publication! It says so right here at the Central Crime Zone! (and no, in spite of the date of posting, that's not an April Fool's joke.) OK, yes... you have to take a photo of yourself reading Sean's wonderful thriller Trigger City while you're at work, but... aren't you already reading that...? (You should be: it's fantastic!)