Nice things:

I just heard from my editor, Juliet Ulman. She's happy with my changes to Blood Engines, so it's officially accepted! Which also means money is coming soon! So I'll be able to pay my taxes, if I wind up owing lots more, or I can smash another giant crater in the vast planetary body of my credit card debt. Either way, it's a great weight of stress off me. This has been such a pleasant book. A joy to write (mostly), fun to revise (mostly), and painless to whip into final shape (completely). I can't wait until y'all finally get to read it.

My lovely wife Heather Shaw's story "Mountain, Man" was one of only 25 stories chosen for the recommended reading list in the new Best American Fantasy! Read the whole list here. She's in good company.

Michael Berry of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote a nice review of Hart & Boot & Other Stories (& other worthy books, too). Here's the relevant bit:

Oakland writer Tim Pratt, author of "The Strange Adventures of Ranger Girl," presents a baker's dozen of fantastic tales in Hart & Boot & Other Stories (Night Shade Books; 210 pages; $14.94; trade paperback). Pratt's stories are engagingly matter-of-fact in their premises. He doesn't indulge in a lot of handwaving to make the reader accept the fantastic elements. In these selections, harpies, manticores and the Fates themselves influence the love lives of various mortals and demigods. It's taken as given that a female stagecoach robber can will into existence a magical partner in crime or that a giant catfish can hold the secrets to grief and remembrance.

"Hart & Boot & Other Stories" is a genuinely pleasant surprise, a solid collection by an assured new voice.