1. I reached 60,000 words on the goblin book today, and most of the rest of it is spinning its armature in my head, like weird cyborg nano-spiders and maybe I'd better just abandon that metaphor right there.

2. It is finally November here, cold and dark and rainy. Secretly, I like this kind of weather.

3. So last year, the entirely cromulent Pat Rothfuss did a huge auction-type thing to benefit Heifer International. This year, he's going to do it again, which I mention because (a.) hey, heads up, especially though by no means exclusively to Rothfuss fans, since I understand there is to be lots of non-Rothfussian Cool Shit as well, and (b.) I have donated two item-sets for the auctioneering thereof:

i.) A complete signed set of the hardbacks of the Doctrine of Labyrinths (Mélusine, The Virtu, The Mirador, Corambis).

ii.) A signed copy of The Bone Key, plus signed manuscripts (for which read: print-outs) of the four uncollected Booth stories: "The Yellow Dressing Gown," "The World Without Sleep," "White Charles," and "The Replacement."

Watch Pat's blog for more news on the auction. Right now he's raffling a Tuckerization in The Wise Man's Fear.

4. Speaking of the Doctrine of Labyrinths, I got the cover flats for the mass market paperback of Corambis last week, and my editor's assistant is making page-proof noises. So, yes, there will be a mmpb edition--although I don't know for sure, it'll probably come out in April--and if you have noticed any typos, you may win my eternal gratitude by posting a comment with the specifics here.

5. And speaking of the Doctrine of Labyrinths, I had a dream Sunday night that, while it claimed to be a new subplot for the goblin book, was actually an AU about Methony, including Mildmay as a toddler.

Another Q&A session.

One of the questions is a spoiler for the end of Corambis, so I'm going to stick it behind a cut-tag.

( here )

elisem is committing art again. I have bought a pendant, "Yes, No, Always, Never," because it is absolutely an illustration for Corambis. Which is freaky, because Elise hasn't read Corambis yet.

Also, for those of you optimistically playing along at home, this means that it is suddenly much more likely that the story about Cardenio Richey, the Principia Caeli, and a serial killer in the Lower City will (a.) be written, (b.) feature the Kalliphorne and her husband, and (c.) be titled "Yes, No, Always, Never."

Jeez. I kind of have an endorphin rush off that.

An anonymous commenter has asked if I know of any online plot synopses of the first three books of the Doctrine of Labyrinths. I don't--and before anyone suggests it, I am not, repeat NOT, going to write one myself--but if you do, or have any other helpful suggestions for a reader wanting to get back up to speed before reading Corambis, please reply to their comment. Thank you all.

It is, in no particular order:

1. Shakespeare's birthday (observed).
2. International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Wretch Day
3. The day before Odyssey Con.

In celebration of 1 and 2, and to provide you all something to do while I am largely afk due to 3, I am posting the three scenes from Corambis that I most regret having to cut. None of them furthers the plot in any way. One, which you've seen before if you've been reading the Q&As, is a conversation between Felix and Mildmay about philosophers and bravery; one is possibly my favorite piece of world-building out of the entire book; the last is notable for being one of the few angst-free sex scenes I have ever written.

Also, a question came into today which will not make any sense on any other day, so I'm gonna stick it here. Call it Q&A Eighteen-and-a-Half:

Q: As a fellow Shadow Unit author, will you be providing backup vocals for Emma Bull at her Odd Con performance tomorrow night? :)

A: No, smartass. Not unless she asks me to, which I can't imagine why she would.

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For the sake of corralling all these scenes in one place so that they can be easily found, I shall start by reposting the conversation about Chattan d'Islay (which belongs around pages 220-221, at the beginning of Chapter 10) that I put up in answer to a question in Q&A 11:

( what Felix and Mildmay are reading )

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Next, the sheer self-indulgent world-building, this scene would start on page 270 of Corambis--you'll be able to see instantly where I stitched the draft together:

( Kay's tour of Our Lady of Mirrors, extended version )

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And this (posted out of order to make it easier for people who don't want to read about explicit gay sex to skip this bit), which I suspect will gratify many of my readers, is the rest of the sex scene ( spoilers for Corambis, NC-17 )

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And there you have it. Feel free to point readers of Corambis to this post. Although none of these scenes is in any way necessary to the book, they are all things that I was sad to have to axe.

Enthusiastic (somewhat spoilery) review of Corambis at Fantasy Book Critic. Interestingly, this reviewer feels that Corambis does work as a standalone novel, so clearly YMMV on that issue.

1. Tomorrow, being April 7, is the official release date of Corambis. I will be celebrating by starting another round of Q&A, so be thinking of your questions. You can ask anything you like, although, of course, I am not obligated to answer.

2. My box of copies of Corambis came today, which means that my items for the con_or_bust and accessiblehouse auctions will not be delayed, but will ship as soon after the close of the auctions as is physically possible for me. So this is a good time to remind you about the auctions:

con_or_bust, helping fans of color/non-white fans come to Wiscon, auction ending April 13 @ midnight:

• a signed set of the hardbacks of the Doctrine of Labyrinths (Mélusine, The Virtu, The Mirador, Corambis); also personalized if the winning bidder so desires; current bid $200
  
• a signed trade paperback of The Bone Key; also personalized if the winning bidder so desires; current bid $25

accessiblehouse, helping Peter and Ericka keep their house which has been extensively renovated to accommodate Ericka's disabilities, auction ending April 25 @ noon:

• a signed set of the hardbacks of the Doctrine of Labyrinths (Mélusine, The Virtu, The Mirador, Corambis); also personalized if the winning bidder so desires; current bid $200
  
• a signed trade paperback of The Bone Key; also personalized if the winning bidder so desires; current bid $42.50

Another half hour last night with the Wii. Was completely thrown off by suddenly having the male trainer "filling in" for my female trainer on the first exercise of the evening. Mercifully, he went away after that, but it was the worst halfmoon pose I've done in quite some time. wtf, Nintendo?

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Thank you to everyone who has commented with support for and love of my books on the previous post. I appreciate it a great deal more than I can express.

Thank you also to casacorona, who stepped up to the plate to explain how things look from the publishers' apex of the triangle. A thankless task--for which I thank you!

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Also pursuant to the previous post, the April Locus has a review of Corambis by Faren Miller, which includes phrases like "Monette displays both wicked powers of invention and something like sly wit" and says the ending "should satisfy even the rare cynical reader who hasn't already been won over by Monette's gifts for character, voice, and great prose." So I'm feeling better.

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Catzilla got me up this morning by sitting on my pillow and draping his incredibly fluffy tail across my face. I hope that this was a mere accident and not actually, you know, planned. Because if it was planned, I am so doomed.

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I regularly tell Catzilla (he whom we rescued from the flower bed) that he doesn't know how lucky he is, and given the size and scope of his brain, it's true. One of the feralistas who hangs out on and around our porch is a long-haired brown tabby (named Hilary in honor of Sarah Caudwell's Hilary Tamar, because I have yet to figure out what sex s/he is), and poor Hilary has, I noticed this morning, a mat large enough to be mistaken for a kitten on his/her right haunch. S/he also has dead leaves matted into his/her tail, and in general needs the kind of grooming help that s/he is much too skittish to allow.

It's hard to be a fluffy kitty. This is something even Catzilla knows.

Corambis has been sighted in the wild.

I totally have an adrenaline rush going on here, people.

nz_navigatress is the third ARC winner; she has a nonspoilery post here.

To answer a question asked in the comments to nz_navigatress's post, the paperback of Corambis will probably be out in April 2010, if Ace adheres to the schedule they've followed with the other books. There's no guarantee of that, but it's the best answer I can give.

Speaking of answers (I've got my segues down cold today *g*), I will be doing another round of Q&A to celebrate the release of Corambis; the phone lines internet will be open for your questions on April 7. I have had a couple people send me questions in the past few months, and to the two of you, I say, Fear not! Your questions will open the festivities.

Speaking of festivities (see? I'm totally on a roll), I have cause for same: Fantasy Magazine has bought my short story, "After the Dragon."

And I think that's it.