It’s official: I just confirmed with Garth Nix and I’ll be interviewing him at World Fantasy! This is so exciting, not only because I’ll be, well, interviewing one of my favorite fantasy authors (everyone go read the Abhorsen trilogy, now) but also because Mr. Nix has been incredibly nice and approachable, even though he is obviously super-busy. More details as they come, but for now, this has lent a beatific glow to me this blustery Monday morning.

Also: Friday night I rolled into Denver with my homedawg Jesse and we saw A Hawk and a Hacksaw live at the Hi-Dive. Oh gosh and golly, it was the best show I’ve ever seen, no exaggeration necessary. I really, really love that band, and they played most of the tracks off their most recent album, Delivrance, which is one of my favorites, and also, uncannily, most of my most beloved tracks from their other albums, as well. They did an entire set on stage, wherein Jeremy Barnes rocked out on his accordion and Heather Trost melted my soul with her violin and also a Balkan contraption like a violin with a trumpet bell in lieu of a resonating chamber. They also had a trumpet/coronet player, a tuba player, and a dude who alternated among an oboe, drums, and what I think was an amplified balalaika. Afterwards they came down into the center of the Hi-Dive and played an acoustic set, which was just as amazing. All in all, pretty much The Best.