Lilith Saintcrow's Blog, page 225

Yeah, I know I said only 2% of one's posts should be marketing. It's just that there's so much stuff going on lately. And to be fair, I like to market for others as well as my own sweet self.

* You can read the first Jill Kismet novel, Night Shift, online for free here, as part of the OpenAccess program.

* And if you want an e-copy for your very own, it will cost you a WHOLE DOLLAR during the month of August. That's right–Orbit's OneDollar is live for Night Shift this whole month.

* As always, you

Today I blazed a trail down to the store and sorted 16 boxes of books. It was a lot of fun–made me think of working for the bookstore I started out in, nights when we'd get pizza and beer and do inventory. (It's more fun than it sounds, and yet…not.) On the way home we stopped at what has got to be the last Dairy Queen in America without a drive-thru. It is a surprisingly clean, jolly, and lovely place to stop on a whim. I haven't had a dipped cone in literally a dog's age.

[image error]So, news! My story A S

Crossposted to the Deadline Dames, where we've had releases and giveaways all week. It's been pure madness! Check it out!

This Friday's post will be short and sweet, as I have several errands to run, an air conditioner to install (yes, it arrives AFTER the heat wave, but I am not complaining) and a ton of other stuff around the house to do, stuff I put off during the OMG 100+ degree days we've had recently.

Today's question comes from Reader MJ:

You've written about the addictive nature of the inte

Well, now, isn't this a red-letter occasion.

[image error]First up, The Eternal Kiss, a YA vampire anthology with Libba Bray, Holly Black, Rachel Caine, fellow Dame Karen Mahoney, and several other awesome authors, including Yours Truly…is now released! You can find it at Barnes & Noble, Indiebound, Borders, and (for those of you still shopping there) Amazon. My short story, Ambition, almost didn't get into the anthology. Nevertheless, it's there–and it's about one simple question: How far will you go for a t

Busy day. Time for new running shoes for one of my sisters, and a trip to the grocery store. At least both places will have air conditioning.

This heat really kills me. I couldn't afford an air conditioner last week when I knew this heat wave was coming, now I can afford one…and there's not one for love or money in the Vancouver metro area. Driving into Portland without air conditioning is so not an option. So I guess we deal with what we got. Which isn't too bad.

Since it's not cooling off during

[image error]First of all this Monday morning, there's a post (with a giveaway) over at Deadline Dames announcing the release of The Eternal Kiss, a YA vampire anthology I'm in with tons of great authors. My own story, Ambition, is a very dark little tale. Almost too dark. It just barely snuck in.

This week is chock-full of Dame releases, including my own Redemption Alley, the next in the Jill Kismet series. In many ways Redemption Alley is my favorite Jill book. We get to see Jill dealing with things on her

Crossposted from the Deadline Dames, which is full of all sorts of wonderful things. Check it out!

Last week I brought you the things writers should do with social media. (You can also check out Monica Valentinelli's recent SFWA article about online marketing, featuring Alex Bledsoe, Yasmine Galenorn, and Yours Truly.) I promised the should nots this week, and I shall fulfill.

This week, I promise to try not to rant.

I said try. My spirit is willing, but my flesh, alas, is occasionally weak.

I'll st

I've had good luck on the book front recently:

* The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery. Oh. My God. I LOVED this book. It was beautifully written, wonderfully constructed, lovingly translated, and Barbery did not punk out on the ending. The concierge Madame Michel looks like any other 54-year-old concierge in an upper-class Paris apartment building. This is camouflage. She is in reality an autodidact, a connoisseur of art, literature, classical music, and film. The privileged, hyperinte

The day when I want to retreat into lit crit is the day I know I'm on the mend. (About damn time too.) And when a random Simone Weil quote makes me want to read the Barthes I've been saving for a rainy day, not only am I on the mend but I am back to my regularly-scheduled insanity.

So today is a day of gentleness, if I can manage it. Claws in, paws padded, tone gentle, walk soft.

So, in lieu of a real post, here's some links.

Start out with part I of Kaigou's "Dear (Not Just) Urban Fantasy Author."

Ninety degrees even in the shade. The kind of weather that makes even breathing a chore for a pale mushroom PNW girl like me. If not for the air-conditioning unit I bought–was it last summer? Or so?–I would so be laying under a sprinkler right now and cursing the weather gods.

The blogging has been falling off my radar lately, mostly because of Personal Stuff. My method of coping is to work like hell. Unfortunately, when I get the decks clear and I've worked my way through the pile of OMG DEAL NO