Today my husband and I went and experienced the magic that is a Mannheim Steamroller concert. If you're not familiar with Mannheim Steamroller, let me enlighten you. They're a sort of New Age rock band that formed 30 or so years ago. They started doing celestial, nature-type musical albums and found real success using that style for Christmas songs. So, to my knowledge, that's pretty much all they do now, releasing Christmas albums and digging deep in the Christmas song canon to get more material to reinterpret and sell.

Anyway, if you haven't heard "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" done with guitars and synthesizers, then you haven't really experienced Christmas. And when we showed up at the concert, we discovered we weren't the only ones who felt that way. We were, however, the youngest people who felt that way. There was a considerable age difference between us and the majority of the concert-goers, which turned out to be a bonus since it meant I could easily outrun all of them to the restrooms at intermission.

My review of the concert is mixed. Now, it's the woe of concert-goers everywhere that when you see a singer or band, you usually want to hear your old favorites. But, of course, performers always want to promote their new stuff. With a Christmas concert, you kind of feel safe because let's face it, all the songs are old favorites, right? Well, not exactly. Mannheim Steamroller has composed some 'new' songs and also pulled out some obscure Medieval jaunty type stuff. I don't mind the minstrel stuff, but I was a bit surprised that it took up the majority of the second half of the concert. It was also set to a backdrop of a screen showing a film of a Renaissance feast.

Again, I have no quarrel with that style, but going into this concert, I was ready to rock it out. I wanted the heavy synthesizer-guitar-bass drum stuff that characterizes their older albums. I expected it to be like Journey and Slayer going on tour together and suddenly bursting out playing "Jingle Bells." MS did certainly rock some stuff out, and "Carol of the Bells" was the show-stealer. But, I wish there had been more of that. I also wish there had been more lasers (okay, any lasers), which I just somehow assumed would be part of a New Age rock band Christmas concert. So, I was a little disappointed by the song list.

I will say that they did a synth-tastic job on "Good King Wenceslas," a song that's now convinced me I should write a script for "Buck Rogers Saves Christmas." I know it's only a matter of time before Buck Rogers is remade, and I want to catch that wave. lolcatz says what I'm proposing is actually fan fiction, but I think it's the next big thing. New York Times Bestselling Author Richelle Mead might not be able to get Vampire Academy turned into a movie, but surely she can convince someone to make a made-for-TV movie in which Buck Rogers (played by Joe Flanigan) uses synthesizers to teach those 25th century heathens the real meaning of Christmas. And also fights robots with lasers.

In closing, I'll give you a glimpse of those enjoying the magic with us. In the row in front of us was a couple who were actually younger than us, and when they weren't cheering at the songs, they were on each other and making out. Meanwhile, sitting next to my illustrious husband was an elderly gentleman with binoculars. During intermission, lolcatz got up and then couldn't sit down again because the elderly guy was blocking the aisle, standing with his back to us. Oh, yeah. Said elderly gentleman was also busy massaging a woman's shoulders. And that woman was massaging another woman's shoulders. Yes, that's right. There was a three-way massage train going on in our our row. There wasn't much we could do until intermission ended except exchange astonished looks. I had a better line of sight on the massage a trois and wasn't sure if lolcatz understood the wackiness of the situation, so I held up three fingers--just to make sure it was clear. Then the young couple in front of us started making out again.

So, my snarky review aside, I would still heartily recommend MS's early albums, A Fresh Aire Christmas and Mannheim Steamroller Christmas. They've got some awesome stuff on them if you like Christmas music and need something for your holiday get-togethers. Most of it is that rockin' out guitar and synth stuff, with a few of the jaunty tunes thrown in as a nice touch. I can't speak to the newer albums, since I don't own them, but I'm sure there's good stuff there too.

So, thank you, Mannheim Steamroller, for an entertaining night. You are kind and talented people. Your fans have a lot of love for you--and apparently for each other, too. And to quote your own expression, keep on steamrollin' for future Christmases to come.

Tags: things i can't make up
Current Location: Living room
Current Mood: chipper

The Witch's Alphabet

38 / 472 pages. 8% done!

Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.

Tags: revision hell

I'm kind of surprised at the reaction that the news about my KGB neighbors' return got around here (and on the other social networking sites). I hadn't realized how popular they were! I kind of want to make them their own fan page. The latest update is pretty tame. For the last couple days, there's been a van in their driveway and some guy doing maintenance outside the house with a very loud machine. I got a good look into the backyard today to see what was going on and discovered...there is no grass back there.

No. Grass. It all appeared to be very hard packed mulch. I thought this was some new development, but my husband told me today it's always been that way. He actually thought it was some kind of deck material instead of mulch. Naturally, the only way to figure out this mystery was to take neighbor snooping to the ultimate level and look at their house via satellite on Bing Maps. Sure enough: their grassless backyard stood out in our neighborhood, but we're still not sure what it's made of or what its purpose is. We're also still not sure why the van is here, but if someone's there to take care of the house, I really hope they hang up Christmas lights. Red ones.

Okay, here's the other news in the world, and it's good. Remember the poll where people voted on where my next book signings would be? The tour that got postponed from November? Well, it's officially booked for January, and here's the itinerary.

Saturday, January 16 - 5pm - New Orleans, LA
Octavia Books
513 Octavia St.
New Orleans, LA 70115
(504) 899-7323

Sunday, January 17 - 5pm - Miami, FL
Coral Gables Congregational Church
3010 De Soto Blvd.
Miami, FL
*Event is being run by Books and Books but is being held at the church because of space. The store will be there selling books, and questions should be directed to them: (305) 442-4408

Monday, January 18 - 7pm - New York, NY
Barnes and Noble Tribeca
97 Warren St.
New York, NY 10007
(212) 587-5389

Tuesday, January 19 - 7pm - Long Island, NY
Borders Westbury
1260 Old Country Road
Westbury, NY 11590
(516) 683-8700

Rules about signings and book limits are listed over at my calendar page. As always, whenever I post appearances, I get people asking why I can't come to their cities. The answer's the same, I'm afraid: I can't be everywhere. My publisher is the one who arranges my tour schedule, and they try to get me around where they can. We're limited, though, and remember--when I'm out touring, I'm not writing. :) There'll be a big tour for Spirit Bound in May, so I'll be in more places then.

Last note: I'll be autographing mail orders at University Bookstore again tomorrow (Friday), which is probably the last chance people will have to get signed books delivered before Christmas. So, get your order in ASAP if you want holiday books. Instructions are here, and remember, you have to tell them you want books signed. It doesn't happen automatically.

Phew, lots of news today. Let's hope the KGB neighbors do put up some lights so that I have news for tomorrow! I think some reindeer would look great on their lawn. Er, lack of lawn.

Tags: appearances, book signings, neighbors
Current Location: Living room
Current Mood: excited

My mom has a new bathroom and a new shower and I have purple hair that spews everywhere like some eldritch horror after a frat party.

This means I am very careful when I wash my hair.

"The Curse of Four"


Don't ask me why the wordmeter suddenly says "50,o00". My goal is 40k for this novella.

Things accomplished in fiction: Flashbacks, reminiscence, promises of vengeance, jealousy, bad trips

Things accomplished in real life: Some agent-y business-y stuff, about to leave to do final Xmas shopping. Also, it appears I have lost a box of gifts in the mail. Epic fail. (Though I'm hopeful they'll show up tomorrow.)

---

28. Megan Abbott, The Song Is You

A much darker novel than Queenpin, but equally breathtaking. Based on the real-life murder of 1940s B-movie actress Jean Spangler, this is one of those "dark and dirty Hollywood" noirs that I absolutely freakin' love. Amazing in almost every way, even though the ending made me want to strangle the protagonist. But I think it was supposed to.

Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.

Tags: metrics, novella, tsbr

"The Curse of Four"


Things accomplished in fiction: Dead bodies, uncomfortable realizations, jealousy, the return of Pete

Things accomplished in real life: Burlesque recital, flew home for the holidays, got my homeowner's insurance taken care of for the (almost mine) new place, laundry

---

The flight to Boston was really nice except for one incident: I got up to use the teeny-tiny airplane bathroom and when I came back my seatmate (who was roughly 130 and introduced himself by snarling "Can I get by, please?" at me when he took the window seat) was bent over my seat with a wad of paper towels.

Dude managed to spill my cup of tea onto my netbook and iPhone. Everything turned out to be okay, except for a fried USB port on the netbook, but I was ready to choke a bitch.

Seriously, who does that?? And then offers up a half-hearted "Sorry" when it happens?

Anyway, today was much better, in that no tea spilled and I went to the shoe store and bought some boots to go with my holiday dress. And maybe some other shoes too.

Shut up, they were having a sale.

Back to work now...I still haven't started my edits and must be punished.

Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.

Tags: caitlin has (computer) issues, metrics, novella

You guys, there's activity at the KGB house next door. I've heard noise all day and thought it was the neighborhood landscapers. Then, I just looked out the window and noticed a van in the driveway and ladders against the house. This is the first movement we've seen from these neighbors since the Home Owners Association declared war months ago. Updates to follow as this situation develops!

Tags: neighbors
Current Location: Lair

Okay, after a lot of deliberation, I'm excited to announce the winners of the 'Lolcat My Books' wedding contest. This has to be one of the hardest decisions I've made--and is part of the reason contests are so stressful for me! It's so difficult choosing a winner, especially when there's so many good candidates. And really, all the entries were amazing. I can't thank you guys enough for working so hard on these. The winners were chosen for all sorts of criteria, including things like the images, how the scenes were translated to pics, how well "lolspeak" was used, and assorted creative things. Too many reasons to list, including which ones just made me laugh out loud.

Anyway, I decided to name THREE runners-up and then one overall winner. Here are the three runners-up, who can choose a book from my backlist. Click on the pictures if you want to see the winners' entire entries.


Runner-up: forevermore01's rendition of Thorn Queen, which inexplicably and wonderfully managed to convey astonishing amounts of lol plot exposition per panel.





Runner-up: danztheniteaway's version of Succubus Heat, which did a really fantastic job of seamlessly translating all the key points to lolspeak and images.





Runner-up: epicureanangel's Blood Promise. The last panel of this one (which I can't show here because of spoilers) sent me into hysterics while the husband and I were in Napa.






And lastly, the grand prize goes to x_thud_x's epic telling of Succubus Dreams. I think this picture probably could have won it alone.





Congratulations to the winners, and thank you again to all who entered! I seriously enjoyed them all and revisited many of them over and over. Winners can email me at richelle@richellemead.com to find out your prize choices. Runners-up get one book of choice, and the overall winner gets three + an augmented VA. Thanks again, everybody!

Tags: contests
Current Location: Lair
Current Mood: amused

A fellow Tenner approached some of us debut YA authors a few days back about Agent Appreciation Day, and because, by gum, I appreciate my agent to an insane degree, I want to take a minute and point out some of the more awesome stuff she does for me.

(My agent is Rachel Vater of Folio Literary Management, in case you all thought I made her up...)

This isn't one of those posts on why you need an agent (you do) or what agents should do for you, like negotiate contracts and get you higher advances. This is just me taking a moment to be glad my agent is who she is and does what she does.

Because...

-My agent talks me off the ledge. When I am being deeply neurotic and silly, she will be calm and rational, and offer a solution.

-My agent makes my books better. She gives me editorial notes and suggestions and lets me bounce ideas for new projects off her.

-My agent knows the market. She can tell me which projects are marketable and which I might want to hold off on or do "for the love" with unerring accuracy, ensuring neither of us waste our time.

-My agent is a badass. She's never not negotiated a more favorable contract and a higher advance for me on any book deal. She's willing to go to bat for her authors, chase down checks, and be ruthless with contract clauses.

-My agent gets me. She gets my sense of humor and what I try to do with my writing, and she gets where I'm coming from as a creative person.

Plus, she's a lot of fun to go for drinks with.

Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.

Tags: publishing

First up, the results of the lolcat contest will come sometime tomorrow, so stay tuned! Second, I wanted to thank everyone for all of the wedding well wishes. We really appreciate it! As some have guessed, the wedding was indeed in Napa, California. Good eye, you guys. It was really beautiful down there, even if it was chilly (though not nearly as cold as Seattle right now or most of the U.S.). The photography was done by Richard Wood, whom I heartily recommend if you ever need pics down in wine country.

I also wanted to add that I'll be autographing another batch of mail order books at University Bookstore on Monday. So, if you have orders pending with them, the books'll ship that day or Tuesday and should make it out in plenty of time for the holidays (at least domestically). I'll try to stop by the store again before Christmas, but if you want any autographed copies for gifts, placing an order by Monday is probably the safest call. As always, info on ordering is right here. Some people have asked what happens with the boxed VA sets. For those, I sign all three books, and then the store shrink wraps them all nicely together again.

Also on the topic of gifts, Synde has made some more Vampire Academy jewelry and, per people's requests, has branched into some chotki-style bracelets that are pretty sweet. The link to her store is here, though last I saw, stuff was moving pretty fast! Check it out.

Okay, last order of business: new book covers. Things have been pretty business in Europe. First, we have the German cover of Storm Born:





Next up, the German cover of Blood Promise.





And (can't remember if I've shown this one already) the German cover of Succubus Heat:





This last pair is kind of a surprise. Until now, all of the English speaking countries who publish VA have kept the American covers. Well, part way through the series, the UK appears to have (ironically) rebelled:








I wouldn't be surprised if the earlier books in the series are re-released to match, but I have no real evidence to support that theory. I'll definitely keep you posted. Also for the UK: you guys will be synced up with the US and Australia when Spirit Bound comes out, meaning it will hit your shelves the same day it hits ours. No need for importing!

Tags: book covers, foreign rights
Current Location: Living room
Current Mood: curious

Here we go:

The Witch's Alphabet

0 / 472 pages. 0% done!

My goals for today are to do all of the holiday mailing that needs to happen, do some laundry, go to my dance rehearsal and then write like my hair is on fire.

Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.

Tags: revision hell