Introductions 

The Opposite of Silence by Catherynne M. Valente

An Appreciation by Elizabeth Bear

Second Breakfast Introduction

Essays and Entries

The Periodic Welcome Post

Things I Have Been Called

A Traveler’s Phrasebook to Writerland

Things I’ve Learned Since Becoming a Published Author

My Little Pony is FUCKING METAL

A Letter to President Obama

Adventures in a Brand-New Cat Tree

Let’s Make a Horror Movie

Cybernetic Space Princess on Mars

Across the Digital Divide

Pondering the Princess

My Narrative Kink is Okay, Yours is Kinda… Well, Okay

Open Space in the Dialog: Why “I Didn’t Like It” and “Bad” Aren’t the Same

The Commandments of Coyote

Komodo Dragon Love

Body Bag Blondes: Why I Break Up with Stories

On Ownership and the Story

I Know a Little Girl and Her Name is Mari Mac: The Misuse of Mary Sue

Seanan Loves Her Some Fanfic, Yes She Does: On Transformative Works

Civility on Public Transit, or, Keeping Me From Killing You

National Honesty Day

Congratulations, You’re You

Odd Duck, Normal Platypus

Thinking About Spoilers, and My Personal Policy

Dear Girls of the World Today…

Navel-Gazing

I Believe…

Show, Don’t Tell: Why We Need to Be There

Some Thoughts About Gender and Literature

Person and Persona and Riding the Line

What Do Disney Princesses and Urban Fantasy Girls Have in Common?

Growing Up a Girl Geek and Becoming a Geek Girl

America’s Next Top Author

Still Life With Blue Cats

Australia! The Hugos Occur, Seanan Does Not Die

Things Seanan Isn’t Allowed to Discuss with the Reporter

Five Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Became a Published Author

And Then Seanan Won the Pegasus Award

Small, Medium, and Large: How Clothes Fuck Us Up

Explaining Fat Shaming to My Mother

Being a Female in the Age of the Internet

Like a Girl

Poverty and Schools

Adventures in Self-Promotion

Sometimes You’ll Never Know Why

Everything I Need to Know, I Learned from Marilyn Munster

Money for Floods: Poverty, Humanity, and the Social Contract

Clothes and Covers, and Why Sometimes, Characters Choose

Things I Will Not Do to My Characters. Ever.

Things I Have Learned, Things That Make Me Proud, and Clarifying Things

In Which Seanan Is Briefly Thoughtful About Awards

You Sunburnt Sicklemen, of August Weary… 

Surviving Snakebite, Surviving in the Desert, Surviving in Space…and Surviving Sudden Stardom? What?

What Gay Marriage Looks Like

Micro Aggressions, Slut-Shaming, and Book Covers: Some Thoughts

“As to hanging, it is no great hardship…”:

Internet Piracy, and Who It Hurts

Yo Ho, Heave Ho: International Please Don’t Pirate My Book Day

The Horror Movie Survival ABCs

The Endless Alienation of Media

George R.R. Martin Is Not Your Bitch, But I Might Be

Life Is Not A Zero-Sum Game: Kickstarter and the Veronica Mars Movie

In Which ASL and Stephen King Make Everything AWESOME

I’d Like To Belong Here. Do You Think That I Could?

Once

Horror Movie Trivia Challenge

Why Authors Have Agents

Literary Limericks, Take One

Cover Me, I’m Going In

My Father Says, When You Gonna Live Your Life Right? Twenty-Five Things I Want To Do Before I Die

Please Don’t Be That Guy

Bitterness, Bullying, and Breaking the Cycle

Do Research

The Art of the Breakup

Ark of the Covenant, Covenant of the ARC

Rich, Lazy, Author? Which of These Doesn’t Apply?

On Character Death

What Happens in Vegas Doesn’t Always Stay in Vegas. Seriously

Of Authors and Agents, Take Two

Flowers, Chocolates, Promises You Don’t Intend To Keep… 

A Vague Disclaimer Is Nobody’s Friend

I Will Not Grow Up To Be Sinistar

The Three Sisters: Fantasy, Horror, and Marchen

Invisible Conditions and the Hyperkinetic Author

Write! Right? Fifty Thoughts on Writing

Write! Right? Fifty MORE Thoughts on Writing

What Makes a Book

Of Authors and Agents

How To Write a Book

Plot with Porn vs. Porn with Plot

Don’t Let Famous People Make You Batshit

Bad Behavior from Smart People: Toys Aren’t Worth It

And Then Seanan Got Angry

You Say “Bitch” Like It’s a Bad Thing

Matters of Control

Blurb It! A Game the Whole Family Can Play

Fairy Tale 101: Are You in a Fairy Tale?

Serial Killer Fun

Ten Somewhat Silly Facts About My Writing Process

Jellyfish Love

A Traveler’s Phrasebook to Writerland, Part II

Happy Limerick Day

Muses