Seanan was the Guest of Honor at Conflikt II, the Pacific Northwest's very own Filk Convention. This was Seanan's first solo guest slot, and she was joined for an all-star concert by Vixy and Tony, Amy McNally, Paul Kwinn, Alisa Garcia, Luis Garcia, and Brooke Lunderville. Her set included old favorites, like "Evil Laugh" and "Pretty Little Dead Girl," and debuted several new songs, including "Crazy Little Girl" and "Wine and Whiskey."

Conflikt II was held at the Renton Holiday Inn from January 30th through February 1st, 2009. This was also the official release weekend for Seanan's third CD, Red Roses and Dead Things.

Wondercon 2009—San Francisco's very own comic convention—was an absolute blast. Seanan was on-site all three days, basking in the glory of the company of her peers, distributing unique art cards, and generally having a rockin' good time. Since there won't be another comic convention to rock until July, this was an awesome way to spend a weekend. Hope to see you there next year!

Having been their Toastmistress (in 2007) and their Chairman (in 2003), Seanan was thrilled to attend BayCon 2009 in San Jose, California as a published author. Her scheduled panels included a rousing discussion of the current zombie craze, some awesome dissection of the ways to survive an apocalypse (hint: wear sensible shoes), and a surprisingly lively talk about how to keep a long-running series interesting. (This last was attended by fellow DAW author Irene Radford. DAW girls represent!)

Seanan's reading on Sunday was a lot of fun. It turns out that an hour-long slot allows for a lot of reading! Seanan read "Lost" (Ravens in the Library), "Dying With Her Cheer Pants On" (unpublished), and closed with "Office Memos" and a rousing chant of "ANTS ANTS ANTS!" Disturbingly enjoyable, all things considered.

While it wasn't a weekend packed with music, it did allow for Seanan and her long-time editor/author friend, Jennifer Brozek, the time to sit down and plot evil. In more current evil news, Seanan's "tell me the title of the play Rosemary and Rue is from and win an ARC" plot panned out nicely, with Nikki walking off with the prize.

And a good time was had by all.

Seanan was truly delighted to be the Music Guest of Honor at DucKon 18, which was held over the weekend of June 12th through 14th, 2009. Jim Butcher, author of the Dresden Files, was the Author Guest of Honor, and Seanan's own agent, Diana Fox, was DucKon's first-ever Agent Guest of Honor, making for a very packed and exciting slate. It was Seanan's first trip to Naperville, and she managed to avoid any collisions with the native wildlife, although she had to be dissuaded from chasing the geese.

Seanan's good friends Vixy and Tony were in attendance as the Filk Fund Guests, because every concert is extra-awesome with Vixy and Tony. Seanan was also joined on stage by Amy "The Fiddler" McNally, Brooke "Squid Queen" Lunderville, and SJ "Become A Firebird, Ask Me How" Tucker. Big fun all around.

Seanan's schedule for the weekend was as follows:

FRIDAY.

7:00 PM: Opening Ceremonies. Seanan joined Tom Smith, Amy McNally, and Toyboat on stage to perform "The Time Warp," playing the role of Columbia. Such a stretch. (She later joined Toyboat for a rousing performance of "Gimme Shelter," because cover songs are fun.)
8:00 PM: Whose Line Is It Anyway? The classic improv game goes convention crazy! With Tom Smith, Graham Leathers, Gretchen Roper, and Trevor. Music was provided by Toyboat.
10:00 PM: Sing A Song of Dead Things. Themed filk with corpses in. Seanan was the lovely, loony moderator, and did not go to sleep in the circle.

SATURDAY.

10:00 AM: Plagues Past, Present, and Future. LET'S GET READY TO RABIES!
12:00 PM: The Business of Writing. With Diana Fox and Shannon Butcher.
3:00 PM: Vixy & Tony Concert.
5:00 PM: Seanan McGuire, Undead in Concert! Featuring Vixy and Tony, Amy McNally, Brooke Lunderville, and SJ Tucker. The first live performance of "Sycamore Tree" since 2006.
8:00 PM: Urban Fantasy. With Jim Butcher and Jody Lyn Nye. Because Seanan is always at her most-coherent post-concert!

SUNDAY.

11:00 AM: Reading. Seanan read the prologue and chapter one of Rosemary and Rue. We're sorry if you missed it!
1:00 PM: X-Men Comics. For those of you who aren't aware, Jean Grey is still dead, and Seanan approves.
3:00 PM: Closing Ceremonies.

CDs and DVDs of Seanan's concert, as well as CDs and DVDs of Vixy and Tony's concert (which featured SJ Tucker on vocals and big-ass drum, and Seanan on backing vocals) are available through the DucKon website, and benefit the DucKon filk fund.

Seanan has successfully survived the 2009 Comic-Con International in San Diego, California. This was her very first SDCC as an attending professional, and it was basically an enormous whirligig of awesome. Awesome and pie.

Seanan started the weekend right, with the ESCAPIST FANTASY panel at 10:00 AM on Thursday, July 23rd. It was followed by a signing session hosted by Mysterious Galaxies, during which ARCs of Rosemary and Rue were distributed to those lucky souls brave enough to show up. A fabulous time was had by all.

Seanan also appeared on a special panel hosted by the Downtown San Diego Borders at 8:00 PM on Saturday, July 25th, along with Patrick Rothfuss, Amber Benson, Kat Richardson, Rob Thurman, and others. As an incredible extra bonus, Borders and DAW had managed to conspire to make the first seventy-five mass-market paperback copies of Rosemary and Rue available for purchase at the panel. So the book is now out in the wild.

All told, it was a wonderful experience, and we can't wait for 2010. If you've never been to the San Diego Comic-Con, and are considering attending in the future, please read Seanan's Guide to Surviving San Diego. It may save, if not your life, then at least your sanity.

The 2009 World Science Fiction Convention was held in Montreal, Canada, which turns out to be very far away from California. Nonetheless, it was Seanan's first professional WorldCon, and she had a fantastic time. Her panel schedule was as follows:

THURSDAY.

2:00 PM: Improv Workshop. Step one, land in Canada. Step two, get off the plane. Step three, conduct an improv workshop. Games included Freeze, Animals, Blind Date, and One-Sentence Story.
4:00 PM: Did You Know...? Filk trivia with Seanan and Mark Bernstein. And Seanan's jetlag. Seanan's jetlag was definitely an active participant. Everybody learned things—even the panelists!

SATURDAY.

3:30 PM: The Future of Horror Movies. Now with bonus Cat Valente.

SUNDAY.

10:00 AM: Author Signing. People brought Seanan things; Seanan signed them. Michelle West was there to keep her awake. It was awesome.
12:30 PM: Author Reading. Ninety-minute group reading with Laura Anne Gilman, Margaret Ronald, and Stephanie Bedwell-Grime.
2:30 PM: Concert: Stone Dragons and Seanan McGuire. Each group had a forty-five minute set. The Stone Dragons were seriously awesome, and Seanan went on at 3:15 PM. Dave Weingart was her stunt guitarist. Half of DAW was in attendance. No pressure! But it went great.
10:00 PM: The Living Dead. Seanan + zombies = a no-brainer. Even that far past her normal bedtime.

MONDAY.

12:00 PM: Songwriting Workshop. A great way to close a weekend.

Thanks, Canada! We really enjoyed the invasion! And the Tim Horton's. Mmmmm, donuts.

The official launch party for Grants Pass—a post-apocalyptic anthology from Morrigan Books, edited by the fabulous Jennifer Brozek—was held on August 22nd, 2009, at Soulfood Books and Cafe in Redmond, Washington.

Authors in attendance included Jay Lake, Shannon Page, James Sullivan, and Jennifer Brozek. And Seanan, of course, since otherwise, this wouldn't be listed as a one of her past appearances. Seanan opened the party with a reading of her contribution to the anthology, and Shannon closed it the same way, thus proving that the day was brought to you by the letter "S."

All attending authors were interviewed by the charming folks from Seattle Geekly, a local podcast of cool, geeky things, and the cake was not a lie. Hope to see you at the next release party!

The first Rosemary and Rue release party was held at Illusive Comics in Santa Clara, California on Friday, September 4th. It was a true release party extravaganza, starting at 7:00 PM Pacific Time and running until 9:00 PM that night. Illusive Comics is an awesome mix of comic books, games, and genre fiction, run by the intrepid and delightful Anna Warren, who was enormously pregnant on the night of the event (and had the baby the very next day).

The Illusive Comics event included cake, snacks, and a rare California appearance by Kitten Sundae, one of the most kickin'-cool bands to hail from the Pacific Northwest. Anna started the night with copies of Rosemary and Rue in stock, and finished the night...without...as we managed to sell out the entire store's supply. It was a fabulous evening, filled with wonder and with laughter, and the Traveling Circus and Snake-Handling Show can't wait to come back again.

Seanan's second Rosemary and Rue release party was held at Borderlands Books in San Francisco, California on Saturday, September 5th. The party ran from 5:00 PM Pacific Time until the bookstore politely asked us to leave so they could close at 9:00 PM—and that place was packed for the whole four hours. It was a shindig to beat all shindigs, and we're so glad so many of you could make it!

There evening featured an in-store raffle of fabulous prizes, including super-special pendants from Chimera Fancies, Polidori Truffles inspired by Rosemary and Rue, original art cards by Seanan, ARCs of Rosemary and Rue, sets of Seanan's CDs, CDs from Vixy & Tony and SJ Tucker, a plush own, and hand-knitting by the Fabulous Kate. People were able to enter the raffle up to three times: once by showing up (one ticket), once by making a purchase at the store (one ticket), and once by bringing baked goods to the event (one ticket).

Kitten Sundae (Michelle Dockrey, Tony Fabris, Betsy Tinney, SJ Tucker) were in attendance, as were Amy McNally and Brooke Lunderville, and provided live music at points during the evening, along with sudden surprise appearances by Maya Bohnhoff and Paul Kwinn. The baked goods were delicious, the company was fantastic, and we managed to sell all but two of the bookstore's copies of Rosemary and Rue.

Hope to see you at the next release party!

Seanan was delighted to sign books at the NCIBA (Northern California Independent Booksellers Association) fall trade show on Saturday, October 10th, 2009, from 10:30 to 11:00 AM. Autographed books were available to all attendees in exchange for a one-dollar donation to the Bookseller's Charitable Fund.

Seanan was one of three featured authors lucky enough to give a reading at Borderlands Books during phase two of the October 17th portion of LitCrawl 2009, part of the annual San Francisco LitQuake event.

From the LitQuake website, this event is "a week-long literary spectacle for book lovers." From the perspective of people who made it to the bookstore, it was a wacky whirlwind of corpses, cheerleaders, and creepy. John Levitt read true tales of his days with the Salt Lake City PD. Seanan McGuire read about cheerleaders vs. aliens. And Loren Rhoads read about morbid curiosities. The place was packed, and a good time was had by all.

See you next year!

Seanan's first (and only) midwest Rosemary and Rue book release party was held at the Ohio Valley Filk Festival, on Friday, October 23rd, from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM. There was cake and chatter (and the requisite discussion of the Black Death), and many things were joyfully signed. Thanks to everyone who attended.

Seanan was proud to be a program participant at the 2009 World Fantasy Convention, held over Halloween weekend in San Jose, California. She did not wind up buried in a shallow grave outside of Mt. View. That's pretty much a win.

Seanan is thrilled to have appeared as a part of the Writers With Drinks series of events benefiting the Center for Sex and Culture. An evening of fun, booze, thrills, booze, readings, booze, laughs, booze, adventure, and booze was had by all, as Seanan performed live, along with Dan Fante, Joshua Mohr, Mark Coggins, Mollena Williams, and Meliza Banales.

Writers With Drinks is a monthly event, and all funds go to the Center for Sex and Culture. If you ever get the chance to check it out, you totally should.

Seanan appeared at the Wayward Coffeehouse in Seattle, Washington on the evening of December 26th, with her good friends Kitten Sundae (Vixy Dockrey, Tony Fabris, and Betsy Tinney). The show started at eight and ended at ten, and was a five-alarm blast from start to finish.

Events of the night included music, book signing, a reading around nine o'clock, and yes, a giveaway drawing for an ARC of A Local Habitation. People came for the music, company, food, good times, and fun news about the Toby Daye series and what Seanan plans on jabbing with a stick next, and the house was packed.

Seanan was the featured author at Clayton Books in Clayton, California, on Wednesday, January 20th. The book club began at 7:30PM, and despite the torrential downpour which kept attendance light, the conversation was fun and interesting. Also, Seanan brought cupcakes. Sugar cures all ills.

Thanks to everyone who attended, and we very much hope to do something like this again in the future.

Seanan attended Conflikt III, the Pacific Northwest's very own filk convention, where she appeared in a joyous round of Whose Line Is It Anyway? (always a crowd-pleaser) and donating ARCs of upcoming books to the Interfilk auction.

Tom Smith, who appears on the album Red Roses and Dead Things, was the Guest of Honor for 2010. Next year's convention promises to be just as awesome. Hope to see you there!

In the immortal words of the Blues Brothers, "We're getting the band back together!" The Traveling Circus and Snake-Oil Show was reunited for a glorious blow-out at Borderlands Books in San Francisco, California, where they spent the evening of March 9th celebrating the release of A Local Habitation, book two in the October Daye series.

With live music from SJ Tucker, Betsy Tinney, Amy McNally, Seanan McGuire, and more, refreshments, and a raffle, this was basically the kitchen party to end all kitchen parties. The festivities began at five and ended at nine. The evening's schedule:

5:00 PM: Welcome to our party.
5:40 PM: Perhaps you would like some music.
6:00 PM: Perhaps you would like to win things.
7:00 PM: More music?
7:30 PM: More prizes?
7:45 PM: Assuming people are not too busy buying books and drinking coffee, Seanan will read something.
8:30 PM: Last music of the night.
8:50 PM: Last chance to give the bookstore and cafe money before we say goodnight.
9:00 PM: Last raffle drawing of the night and we close the evening.

We ate all the bread the cafe had! It was awesome, and we hope to see you at the next one.

Seanan appeared at the San Bruno Barnes and Noble on Friday, March 12th, from 7 to 9 PM. She had an absolute blast, and hopes you'll attend when she has the opportunity to appear there again.

Seanan appeared at the Belmont Library in Belmont, California (near San Francisco) on Sunday, March 14th, at 2:00 PM. There was a reading and a Q&A session. This was her first library appearance, and she had an absolutely wonderful time. Hope to see you at the next one!

Another Wondercon has come and gone. This is San Francisco's own comic book extravaganza, and Seanan attends every year to rove the floor and enjoy the atmosphere. Hope to see you at Wondercon 2011, where there will doubtless be more madness to report.

The release party for Mira Grant's first book, FEED, was held at Borderlands Books in San Francisco, California, on Saturday, May 8th. This was a more traditional event than Seanan's parties tend to be, because Mira's a traditional kind of girl...especially if by "traditional" you mean "fond of machetes, the undead, and things that go bump in the night."

Festivities were located in the bookstore, where the party began at five and continued until nine. Refreshments were provided by Cups and Cakes Bakery, as well as by the Borderlands Cafe. Readings, zombie Q&A, and discussion of the horror genre were all part of the fun, and the next release party promises to be even better. Be there!

Seanan was deeply honored to appear as the Music Guest of Honor at Marcon 45 in Columbus, Ohio. The convention was held May 28th through May 30th, 2010, and Seanan—our very own pretty little dead girl—was a perfect fit for Marcon 45's Necropolis: A Year of Horror theme.

Seanan's panels ranged from the classic "How to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse" to that old crowd-pleaser, "How Fairy Tales Really Ended" (hint: death and bears were involved). Her concert featured Dr. Mary Crowell, Amy McNally, and Tom Smith, as well as a surprise vocal guest spot by Judi Miller, who also signed the whole thing. It was a wonderful weekend; thanks to everyone who was there.

Seanan was at the Borders in Pleasant Hill, California, on Saturday, June 5th, from 12:00 PM until 5:00 PM. Thanks to everyone who showed up, and double thanks to Dan, for bringing the cherries.

Seanan appeared as part of SF in SF on June 12th, 2010, along with Deborah Grabien, author of several music-inspired mystery novels. Seanan read a short story from an upcoming anthology, prior to a Q&A session/interview moderated by Terry Bisson. Having spent the prior week in bed with a nasty cold, Seanan was very grateful to see several familiar faces in the audience, as they brought her water.

SF in SF is a monthly charity series. All events take place at The Variety Preview Room, at 582 Market Street, in the first floor of The Hobart Bldg. Proceeds from the events go to the Variety Children’s Charity.

Seanan is thrilled to be the Guest of Honor at ConChord 23, which is partnering with Westercon 63 for a double-barreled convention extravaganza of sheer awesomeness. Seanan is even more thrilled to be performing with her beloved Paul Kwinn (the primary guitarist of her 2005 OVFF show) for the convention—he's the Toastmaster!

Come join the party, and find out just how much fun we can have with a whole Westercon to explode through. More details as they come.

Seanan will be appearing alongside Jennifer Brozek as the Murder and Mayhem Tour (Jennifer's Murder, Seanan's Mayhem) at Third Place Books in Seattle, Washington. The festivities will kick off at 6:30 PM, and include readings from both Murder and Mayhem, as Jennifer's In a Gilded Light and Seanan's Sparrow Hill Road get their chance to thrill you.

After the readings, Seanan and Jennifer will be heading for the Wayward Coffeehouse to join the Sereniversity shindig, and rumor has it that Seanan may also be joining Vixy, Tony, Sooj, and Betsy on stage. Be there!

Seanan will be appearing with Jennifer Brozek at Borderlands Books in San Francisco, California, on Saturday, July 17th, for the second stop of the Murder and Mayhem Tour (Jennifer's Murder, Seanan's Mayhem)! The fun begins at 3:30 PM, and will include readings by both authors, as Jennifer brings you the chills of In a Gilded Light and Seanan tells you about Rose Marshall from Sparrow Hill Road.

Seanan and Jennifer have never appeared together in California. Be there for excitement, adventure, and general chaos.

Seanan is getting ready for the 2010 Comic-Con International in San Diego, California. This will be her second year at SDCC as an attending professional, and this year she's attending as not one, but two, because Mira Grant will be there, too.

Seanan/Mira's schedule is as follows:

Thursday, July 22nd: THE POWER OF MYTH, 10:30-11:30 AM, Room 24ABC.
Thursday, July 22nd: Signing as Seanan, 11:30-12:30, Autograph Area.
Friday, July 23rd: Signing as Mira, 11:00-12:00, Orbit booth in the dealer's hall.
Saturday, July 24th: THE RISE OF ZOMBIE FICTION, 11:00-12:00, Room 7AB. (This is a Mira panel, and was chosen by io9.com as one of this year's "can't miss it" events.)
Saturday, July 24th: Signing as Mira, 12:00-1:00 PM, Autograph Area.

There may be details to come on all of these exciting events; watch Seanan's blog for updates, as they're coming fast and furious, and this section may not update quickly enough. If you've never been to the San Diego Comic-Con, and will be attending this year, please read Seanan's Guide to Surviving San Diego. It may save, if not your life, then at least your sanity.

Seanan will be the Music Guest of Honor at SpoCon 2010, where she'll have the honor of appearing alongside fellow DAW author and SpoCon Writer Guest of Honor, Tanya Huff. Thrills, chills, weird programming moments, and musical mayhem are sure to abound. Be there, and be witness to the mayhem!

Seanan will be attending the 2010 WorldCon, Aussiecon 4, from September 2nd through 6th in Melbourne, Australia. She is one of the 2010 nominees for the Campbell Award for Best New Writer, which means she could potentially be awarded a tiara in the LAND OF POISON AND FLAME. This proves that sometimes the world is awesome.

Seanan's schedule for the weekend is as follows:

Thursday, September 2nd, 3:00 PM: Breaking the Fourth Wall: Supernatural and Its Audience. Given Seanan's thoughts on how things went down with Jo and Ellen, this should be a super-fun panel, in the "bring plastic sheeting and pray" sense.

Thursday, 5:00 PM: Kaffeeklatsche. For those of you who have never encountered this strange creature before, basically, Seanan will sit in a room at five on Thursday, and talk to anyone who shows up. Also, there will be coffee.

Friday, September 3rd, 4:00 PM: Seanan McGuire and Catherynne M Valente In Conversation. Who is driving? Bear is driving! HOW CAN THIS BE?! Cat and Seanan will spend the better part of an hour talking writing, editing, and whatever else comes into their heads. It's the Snow White/Lily Fair Variety Show, and you should totally be there.

Saturday, September 4th, 11:00 AM: Capes and Skirts: The Plight of Female Superheroes. Lo, Seanan and friends are going to sit and talk about female superheroes, why they are awesome, and why they don't get as much love as their male counterparts. This is the best convention schedule ever.

Saturday, 1:00 PM: Fringe: Paranormal Investigations in SF Television. Seanan and Paul Cornell are gonna tear. This. Up. It's going to be a super-awesome panel full of super-awesomeness, and you should totally come, and Seanan will do her best to avoid discussions of Peter Bishop's fabulous ass.

Saturday, 3:00 PM: What is Filk? This is a fairly standard panel, but a very good one to attend if you want to learn more about filk, what it is, and why people are doing it in your hotel lobby. Not that filkers do that anymore. Much.

Saturday, 4:00 PM: Signing. Seanan will sign stuff. Super-exciting.

Sunday, September 5th, 3:00 PM: YA Urban Fantasy. Why YA urban fantasy? What's the attraction? What makes it awesome? Discussion to follow.

Sunday, 5:00 PM: Post-Apocalyptic YA. Boom, baby. Boom.

Monday, September 6th, 2:00 PM: Reading. What will Seanan be reading? Only the Great Pumpkin knows. She'll figure it out based on who shows up.

Seanan will also be giving a concert (time to be announced) and attending the Hugo Awards, and very much hopes to see you there.