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Until last weekend, it had been almost 2 1/2 years since I’d been back home to the Twin Cities.   But thanks to my dear friend Zoë, who arranged a pair of Bitter Seeds signings for me, I had the opportunity to go back, see the city, visit with terrific friends, and spent some quality time with my fabulous agent.  Oh, and I signed a few books, too. 

As homecomings go, I’d be hard pressed to think of a better one.

I’ve just learned about two more giveaways of Bitter Seeds.

The venerable Pat of Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist is giving away 3 (three!) copies.  I’m not sure what the deadline for entry is, but details are posted here. 

And, Fantasy and SciFi Lovin’ News and Reviews has one ciopy to give away.  Details (and some love for the awesome Palencar cover art) here; the deadline is May 11.  Plenty of time to toss your hat in the ring…

On Saturday, I headed down to Albuquerque with Melinda Snodgrass, where we had a joint signing to celebrate the release of our novels.  (Melinda’s newest novel, the fantastic and thrilling The Edge of Ruin, the sequel her wonderful The Edge of Reason, was released by Tor on the same day as Bitter Seeds.) 

Aside from briefly wondering if I was going to get thrown out of the store, and some confusion about the actual start time, I think it went pretty well.

Ever since review copies of Bitter Seeds started shipping a while back, I’ve become increasingly schizophrenic about my web-surfing habits.  Case in point: immediately after my Tor publicist (the awesome and ultra-patient Alexis Saarela) told me that the ARCs had shipped to reviewing venues, I completely eliminated my Google Alerts.  I mean, it’s one thing to know if people are looking forward to that new book by that Tregillis/Tregellis/Tregallas guy; it’s quite another thing to know what they actually thought of it once they read it.  And since I’m still finishing the trilogy (volume three of the Milkweed Triptych, Necessary Evil, is due on my editor’s desk on Septebmer 1), it seems like actively seeking out reviews of the first book can only be counterproductive. 

Likewise, I’ve avoided the comment threads at places like the Boing Boing review and my essay over at Scalzi‘s Big Idea column.  And I’m steering wide of the reader reviews at online vendors like Amazon and Barnes & Noble, as well as on Goodreads.  After all, not everybody is going to like the book, or even the idea behind it, and some might even hate it.  And they’re completely entitled to their opinions– I firmly believe that 50% of each book comes from the reader.  At the same time, I have a contractual obligation to my publisher to finish my current manuscript on time, and I find writing is easier (never easy, but easier) when I’m not sad.

Which unfortunately means I sometimes miss out on really cool stuff.

My friend Kristie, whom I’ve known since about 1987, just sent an iPhone photo of Bitter Seeds lurking in the wilds of Roseville, Minnesota.  This hometown photo means a lot to me, because I used to spend a lot of time at this particular Barnes & Noble back when I was a graduate student living in the Twin Cities.