Ravens in the Library will be going OUT OF PRINT this month. The current print run is the last. Thank you all so VERY much for helping us make RAVENS IN THE LIBRARY a success, helping Ms. Tucker and – in the process – creating and supporting a kick-ass collection. Thanks, folks!

Thanks to everyone who bought a copy, read the works inside and supported this endeavor. I’m glad to have been a part of the cause.

I start clicking on the thumb nails to expand the images to their large size. That’s when I come across this:

OMG! I totally spotted Neil’s copy of Ravens in the Library. *insert fangirly squeeing here* Go read the original blog post to get an even LARGER photo where you can distinctly read the spine and see that it has been opened. While you do that I’m going to try and calm down and maybe do some back posts to the site.

In other news, s00j and Cathrynne Valente are here in Portland. They’re doing a Palimpsest Release Concert tonight at the Camellia Lounge, 510 NW 11th Ave, Portland, OR 97209 ($10 suggested donation; this venue is 21+ after 8pm). I think all Portlanders should go check it out. I know I am.

I’ve been trying to get back into the habit of doing daily tarot readings and kicked Friday’s festivities off with a three card draw. As it aligned perfectly with my feelings for the day, I will use the cards to structure my summary here. You can visit my photo gallery to see the pictures I took at the event.

Ten of Swords
The Ten of Swords, in the Deviant Moon Deck, shows a being trapped in a box with swords jabbing in from the outside. It’s not a pleasant card but always reminds me of how I tend to be hard on myself. It’s the inner critic at its worst. Therefore, when this card appeared I made a mental note to myself to go easy on myself and not let the critic get to me. This helped me mentally prep for the drive and any adversity.

I started out the day being a bit nervous and ancy. Long trips always make me jittery and this was no exception. I knew that parking and finding my way around the con were going to be the biggest headaches so I left a bit early. The drive went smoothly and uneventfully. I saw deer munching grass off to the side of the interstate and even spotted a Bald Eagle perched in a tree. Seeing them confirmed just how special and grand the day was going to be.

I made it to SeaTac with two hours to spare, so I set about trying to find parking. The DoubleTree Hotel’s parking lots were completely full. No spots to be had. And of course, my inner critic started badgering on me. Feeling defeated, I kept telling myself to stop and calm down. Finally found a valet parking place next block down and got ECKS (my car) a nice resting spot for the day.

The next hurdle was getting my badge. Navigating the con was easy, thankfully. Everyone was in costume or garb and I silently thanked my sensibilities to have dressed up a bit. After asking for directions to registration, I stood in line waiting to fork over my cash– only to be turned away because I didn’t fill out a form. Grumbling, I filled out the forms, stood back in line, and in less than five minutes had my badge.

The Ballroom was located just around the corner from the main registration area and I smiled at my fortune. I peeked into the room, decided not to listen to what was going on in there, and instead, parked myself outside the door and decompressed while sorting and repacking all the goodies I received into “the HEAVY bag of doom” (containing Cathrynne’s books and copies of RAVENS) that I brought with me. When I was ready, I got up and strolled through both the dealer room and art gallery, where I saw many amazing prints and pretty shinies.

Ten of Cups
The ten of cups shows an image of people huddled close together, enjoying each other’s fortune and company. This was how I saw myself feeling for most of the day. Abundance, fortune and companionship. It was nice to feel wanted and loved by friends and I felt glad to have been wanted.

At 2:30 I wandered back into the ballroom. s00j and her entourage had arrived and just started setting up. I claimed a spot up front and waited. Not too long afterwards, Sandi showed up and I offered whatever assistance I could. Nothing much was going on but I noticed that the hall was beginning to fill up with all sorts of s00j fans and curious attendees.

A few people brought their Ravens books to sign so I took out my Indigo pen and set about signing some people books. During one of the signings, a nice young gentleman called out to me and was all like, “hey, you’re Jaymi… Jaymi Elford, right? Phil’s told me a lot about you.” Taken off guard, that was my introduction to Ben Dobyns, another fellow Ravens collaborator. We chatted a bit and then I wandered back up to the front.

Cathrynne Valente arrived, then a few other people I recognized from other Seattle gatherings and I chatted around with various people. At 3pm, the concert commenced. s00j, Betsy, and Vixy took center stage and introduced themselves. Songs were played and sung in between readings by Cathrynne from Palimpsest. Then s00j, Betsy, and Vixy singing songs that were written and inspired from various stories. s00j had said that her muse and Cathynne’s muse were dating and I thought that was such a great line. They ended this section with “Ravens in the Library,” a perfect way to introduce our part of the event.

Sandi took the mic and spoke about the anthology and introduced the readers, who all took the stage one by one and read parts from stories. K read from Neil Gaiman’s story. It was a wonderful telling complete with vocal inflections for each character. Cathrynne took the mic next and read parts from her story. Angel followed and despite the fact that it was her first PUBLIC reading, she did an awesome job of bringing her character, Pip, to life. Sandi finished out the reading with a powerful selection from Phil’s story. I wasn’t disappointed that I didn’t read, although I think Phil was bummed that I didn’t get to read. There will be other events and other chances.

That left the last half hour for book signings. I finally got to meet and chat with s00j, someone that many of my friends know and I have never been able to meet yet. We talked about Faerieworlds, keli, and things in general. I even got my picture taken with her.

s00j sold out of 18 copies of RAVENS in 20 minutes. We used the foot of the stage for our signing line. It was fun to write in books once again. I even got my copies of RAVENS signed by Ben, Cathrynne, and s00j herself. Oh and Cathrynne graciously also signed the four books of hers that I owned. (Thank you for the patience Cat!) While she was penning her name in the books, I took a moment to ask her why she wasn’t doing an event at Powell’s. She replied that the bookstore staff didn’t seem interested, which is why she and s00j are playing at other places here in PDX this week. Hearing that was absolutely shocking because I thought Powell’s was a strong supporter of Cathyrnne’s work.

I was impressed and pleased with the concert and signings. It was fun to chat with Ben, and to sign and thank people for purchasing books and supporting the cause. I totally can see joint efforts between authors and musicians being a new tool for promoting works. Music and the muse– a VERY powerful combination. I now sit here with tons of ideas on how to use this as a template for my own work. Partnering with my hubby and other local musicians for collaboration and shows.

Two of Pentacles
The Two of Pentacles shows one of my favorite images in this deck. In the card, a bellydancer dances and swings two “hoops” in her arms. I hope to make a costume of this card one day. It’s a card of earthly balance but all I could see in this card for the reading was that I was going to end up dancing at some point that night. Which was why I brought my poi with me.

After the event was done, and things got packed behind the stage, Sandi and I went to work in the dealer room. We got 10 copies of RAVENS sold or distributed to the dealers. Phil was on his way and we put off eating dinner until we had some time to kick back and relax. Once he arrived, we wandered upstairs to listen to Tony & Vixy’s concert (with s00j guest appearing). It was fun to hear them play and I thought about what a great community the musicians have in the city.

Sandi and Phil convinced me during dinner to stay and hang out with them for the night. So, once again we chatted while trying to find out what the evening could offer us all. We settled on staying at the DoubleTree and dancing the night away. It was an interesting mix of music and brought back awkward feelings of old school dances. I whipped out my poi and decided that it was time to swing with glow sticks.

I had a hard time sleeping Friday night and ended up leaving Seattle around 8:45ish. I left my hosts a message on their desk and drove home… a million and one thoughts racing through my head.

Thanks Phil and Sandi for allowing me to crash once more at your place and for allowing me to participate on the concert/reading/signings. I didn’t wake you up because I know you both weren’t feeling well and had a hard and long day on Friday.

The fun starts at 3pm and goes until whenever. So if you missed me last time, come on down and party! As always, I’ll have my camera for shots.

I arrived in Seattle around 2pm. Sat in front of my host’s home for a bit until they arrived. I read more of Shon’s manuscript and attempted to chat with friends via a really spotty internet connection. Seattle definitely has very little open wifi spots. Everyone here is so smrt. Thankfully I didn’t wait too long, for Phil strolled down the street soon after. Once inside his abode, I was treated to a nummy tuna salad late-lunch, kitteh antics, and good conversation.

Around 5p.m. we packed up the car and stopped by Safeway for some vitamin water and supplies. By the time we got to The Dreaming Comics, a small crowd milled around the tiny store. As we chatted with people, we set out a pile of books and attempted to organize ourselves into an assembly line of signage around the table. Thank goddess for sticky notes and pens! And, then, we started putting ink into books while continuing to chat with attendees.

I was amazed. We had a steady stream of people coming in for all 3 hours of our time! Many from the book boxing party showed up, as well as people who were fans of s00j. People brought in their own copies, while those who were unfamiliar with the book, bought theirs on the spot. Aron sold out of the remaining books he had at the store, bought 10 more, and then promptly sold out of those! Before we left, he had purchased 8 more copies, half of which we signed as well. We also signed half of the books destined for The University Bookstore located just around the corner.

Brian took some pictures of me signing a few of the first books. No, I’m not incredibly short in those shots… I went chairless for a half hour and then never bothered to get a better image of me. Brian’s an incredibly talented artist and it was fun to leaf through his portfolio and see the breadth of his work. Later on in the evening, during a break, he sketched out a tattoo on Sandi’s daughter’s arm with one of my pens. I also loved the “zombie Phil” photo I took as he was trying to play catch-up on his stack of books.

I was hoping the Chelsea Wright, the artist who had done the pencil sketch for my story, would have been able to show up but alas… studying for finals took precedence. Hey Chelsea, I hope you’re finals went well and that I get to meet you next time I’m up in Seattle. Thanks for doing an awesome job on interpreting my story.

After our 3 hours ended, I quickly grabbed a copy of Where the Deep Ones Are and an a past issue of Weird Tales and then helped pack the car back up. I’m such a Lovecraftian fanatic. Sandi, Phil, and I agreed that the evening was a success and we were all pleased with how it went. Snuggled back at their place, we continued to chat a bit about online comics and really… and I mean… REALLY bad writing and how reading it reminds us that no matter how bad we think we are we’ll never be as bad as some of the examples we mentioned.

Sleep came quickly and I was cuddled by a Pumpkin in between her nocturnal escapades of box hopping and purruping. She was adorable and so was Fin, their ragdoll kitteh.

Woke up Thursday to Sandi leaving for work at 6 a.m. Pretty much chatted all day long with Phil. We’ve been friends for something like 15 years and yet this was the first real time he and I actually got to just sit down and be ourselves and talk. It felt good. By noon, we were steadily swapping music and getting each other hooked on current influences.

I left for home by 3pm feeling well connected and satisfied with the events of the past two days. While I was only in Seattle for about 24 hours, it felt like I had been away from home for longer. It was definitely nice to be back home and with kender.

I’ll be back in Seattle April 10, at 3p.m. for a signing and concert that SJ Tucker and Catherine Valente are doing for Norwescon. For locals who missed me last week, I invite you to come out and listen to the infamous s00j and hang out with us!

To celebrate the release of RAVENS IN THE LIBRARY, we are having a Book Signing! Please join us and our friends SatyrPhil Brucato, Sandra Buskirk, Angel Leigh McCoy, Kris Millering, Jaymi Elford and many others.

This is a once in a life time book! Please call to reserve your copy, limit 2 per customer. This can also be ordered online, for a limited time, through: http://www.sjtucker.com/ravens.html.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Time: 6:00pm – 9:00pm
The Dreaming Comics and Games
5226 University Way NE
Seattle, WA
206.525.9394

RAVENS IN THE LIBRARY is an exclusive collection of works from Newberry Award winner Neil Gaiman (of Coraline and Sandman fame), Spiderwick Chronicles creator Holly Black, vampire noir author Laurell K. Hamilton and many other contributors to help independent music artist S.J. Tucker, a popular figure in the postmodern fantasy scene.

Tucker – who, like her idol Ani DiFranco, favors a self-produced career – was struck with a serious and expensive combination of medical problems in December, 2008. Like an estimated third of Americans today, Tucker could not afford health care coverage, and found herself facing tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills. Fortunately, Tucker has friends and fans in high places. Called together by GAMA award-winning author and game designer Phil Brucato (Mage: The Ascension), over two dozen writers and artists contributed their work to help defray those expenses. The resulting book, RAVENS IN THE LIBRARY, has been named for one of Tucker’s songs.

Self-published by Brucato and his partner Sandra Buskirk, the collection has been produced entirely by grass-roots “new media” methods. Through a combination of Internet marketing, social networking sites, virtual technology commerce and print-on-demand techniques, the book was put together in roughly six weeks, and has pre-sold nearly a thousand copies to date.

In addition to New York Times best-sellers like Gaiman, Black and Hamilton, contributors to RAVENS IN THE LIBRARY include American Library Association award-winner Charles de Lint (The Blue Girl), pop-cultural folklore professor Ari Berk (Runes of Elfland), The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror series editor Terri Windling, and Hot Topic fairy artist Amy Brown. The book features 28 illustrated stories; some are reprinted, others are new. RAVENS also boasts original covers by author-artist James A. Owen (Here, There be Dragons). Each contributor donated his or her work free of charge. In several cases, this was because those people had been in similar situations themselves.

As of 2007, an estimated 46,000,000 Americans under the age of 65 lacked health care coverage. That number has grown to unknown proportions in recent months. Over 10.7% of American children, under current estimates, are not covered, and nearly 40% of the uninsured population resides in households that earn $50,000 a year or more. Despite the “fantastic” solution to Tucker’s problem, this issue remains a significant concern in the United States. RAVENS IN THE LIBRARY is an imaginative approach to the problem of health care in America. Few people, however, share S.J. Tucker’s popularity, and so this book is only a small step toward a larger solution.

On Saturday I drove Kender and Ember up to Seattle. Our journey started at 7:30 am, with a quick trip to the gas station and Brewed Awakenings for iced and extra hot mochas. We took a brief pit stop an hour later and hopped back into the car. We made really good time (despite all the cops on I-5), and arrived about 15 minutes before the party got started. Unfortunately, there were no fooderies to have lunch so we didn’t eat till way later. (mmm pizza)

Our host, Kelley, gave us a quick rundown of her house and showed us the many boxes of books out in the garage. Ember and I snapped a copy each and started drooling over the book. It felt so good to hold the actual book in my hands. I think tears welled up in my eyes at one point… I couldn’t believe my good fortune. As everyone else started to arrive, the conversations bounced between Ravens, ourselves, writing, other books, and eBook readers. Oh and everyone introduced ourselves with real names, LJ names and twitter account names. *gryn*

Finally Phil and Sandi showed up and the party got started. Flat wrapped boxes and bubble wrap containers and the first group of books got set into the living room as we organized ourselves into some form of activity. We folded boxes, put single copies of books into each box and repeated the activity for hours. When that was done, we put bubble wrap around the books and then taped the boxes up. It took the administrative area (aka kitchen) many hours to get the labels merged and finally, placed on the boxes. We ended up getting all 800 copies, located at the house, boxed and ready for shipping in about 7 hours. Talk about a group of passionate, driven, and focused supporters!

Kender drove us home and we arrived around 9:30pm. It was a long but fulfulling day. My body didn’t like how I neglected it tho, so I got a bit tired and cranky at the end. That said, I’m still really pleased with how the day went. Ember spent time on the sofa reading her copy while I cooked another pizza to feed my growling tummy.

At last count, the pre-orders sold out over the initial run of 1000 books! You all are amazing. Yes, there will be a second and third print run and you can still order a copy of RAVENS IN THE LIBRARY. I was not able to sign any books but I did recognize many of my friends who ordered copies. So thank you all for the support! The books begin flying out the door today.

This post doesn’t accurately represent or wrap up all my thoughts on Saturday. I felt like I fit in with everyone who helped out. We joked all day long and fed off the energy and one-liners like crazy. Not only did I pick up 5 of my 6 copies, but I met a lot of cool people and gained some new friends. I also signed a few copies for the locals and got some signatures of my own.

I’m excited and hyper and looking forward to Wednesday. I’ll be driving myself back to Seattle for the book signing at The Dreaming Comics in the University District. It starts at 6pm and there will be at least 7 authors/artists there. So for all you local folks, come on up/down and hang with us. I’m going to spend the night and will be bringing my firekit to spin for Phil and Sandi as well.

I am so stoked, all I can do is SQUEE around the house and online. I’ve edited and re-edited this post in the hopes that I got the words out and in the right order. Tonight was our bi-weekly D&D game but… I think I’m a bit too hyper and RAVENS crazy to pay too much attention to the HUGE level raising battle my character took part in (and without armor I might add). Sorry Kender, niraja and ed, thanks for dealing with me.

Saturday, we wake at “way too early A.M” and drive 3 hours North to Seattle for the packing party. I will take pictures and continue to wander around SQUEEING. I can’t wait to get my copies. I can’t wait to help fill everyone’s orders (I can sneek signatures into the books?). Next Wednesday they’re having a book signing at The Dreaming @ 6 p.m. in Seattle, WA. I’ll be making a day of it because driving from Portland to Seattle is a pain. Here’s hoping I can hang with Phil or Sandra or find something to occupy the time between arriving and the signing.

There may be one other opportunity for a signing in April, on either the 9th or 10th. I’m VERY interested in doing that one as well but kender and I need to see whether or not we’re busy that weekend.

I am totally excited and honored to be published with many of my favorite authors. These are people who will hopefully read my work in their copies. Now that the books are out, I plan to try and get the signatures of all the authors and artists who worked on the book. Thanks to everyone for your orders, support, and patience while the book’s been at the printers. I hope you all love it as much as we had fun putting it together.