It transpires that it is July—that the asphalt is hot, the hail storms are erratic, and my neighborhood is beset by earwigs. That my cohort, critique partner, and dear, dear friend Maggie Stiefvater is currently in the throes of a cross-country road trip of outrageous proportions (that’s mostly just how she likes to do things).

Thanks to the physics of traveling cross-country, if she points west and accelerates for long enough, she’ll reach Denver. At which point I will throw my suitcase in her 1973 Camaro, hope the AC holds, and we’ll drive out to California, probably engaging in some light mayhem on the way, and definitely acquiring our third merry sister Tessa Gratton somewhere in Utah.

Beyond that, the finer points are kind of soft around the edges—if the car breaks down, I’ll push, if there’s a dirt bike or a pony, I will totally ride it—but here are two things that are definitely-definitely happening:

First, on July 24th at 7:00, the three of us will be at Kepler’s in Menlo Park, CA, talking about writing, critique, and why group chat and a constant stream of red panda gifs are absolutely necessary to productivity.

Second, on July 26th, I’ll be participating in a horror panel at Comic Con in San Diego, talking about scaring people on purpose (signing of Fiendish to follow)!

So.

If you are at all in the vicinity of either of those places, you should definitely come see me!

Otherwise, you can watch Maggie’s (and by extension, mine and Tess’s) progress west at Sharp T33th.

(You have absolutely no idea how much I hope there’s a pony …)