September’s newsletter includes information about upcoming emails, a call for volunteers, auction news, supporting registrations, and exciting fantasy book news.

Checking In
As we prepare for Sirens over the next few weeks, we’ll be sending emails with important reminders and information. Please keep an eye on your inbox to find out where to check in for the Sirens Shuttle, meet for the Sirens Supper, and how to pick up your registration materials when you arrive at Skamania Lodge.

Hotel Reservation Deadline
The deadline to reserve a room at Skamania Lodge at the Sirens rate is September 12. Please visit the Skamania Lodge page on the Sirens website for complete information.

Volunteers
We still need volunteers, especially room monitors. If you have some free time, or plan to be in one room for a couple of sessions in a row, we’d love for you to join the volunteer team. Room monitors stay in a room during presentations, help speakers get situated, and keep things running on time. We’ll have a quick volunteer training session after the Thursday keynote, and you can find out more and sign up to help on the Volunteers page of the Sirens website.

Books and Breakfast
One of our favorite Sirens programs is Books and Breakfast. You bring your breakfast (or just yourself), and you can join an informal book discussion (whether or not you’ve read any of the books on that morning’s schedule, though we encourage you to pick out a book or two to read in advance). It’s a great way to ease into the day’s programming, and we always hope that you’ll find new items for your reading list.

Usually, the Sirens staff and friends host all of the discussions, but this year, we’d like to invite you to take part as a Books and Breakfast discussion leader. Your challenge: read the book in advance, then be the friendly table host during Books and Breakfast. You don’t have to plan any questions or activities—just be able to explain the book in a few sentences, and have a few thoughts about what you read.

The following is the status of books available for claiming by volunteers:

Friday, October 11
Prophecy by Ellen Oh (claimed)
A Kiss of Shadows by Laurell K. Hamilton (available)
The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff (available)
Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord (claimed)

Saturday, October 12
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit by Nahoko Uehashi (available)
Bronze Gods by A. A. Aguirre (claimed)
Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake (available)
Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeyemi (available)

Books and Breakfast will be held on Friday, October 11, and Saturday, October 12, both sessions at 8:00 a.m. If you’re interested in leading a discussion, please email Suzanne Rogers Gruber (suzanne.gruber at sirensconference.org) as soon as possible with the book you’d like to host.

Auction
Every year, proceeds from the Sirens auction go a long way toward covering conference costs. We are so grateful for and humbled by the generosity of those who donate auction items, and those who bid on items.

If you’d like to donate an item and you have questions, please write to Amy Tenbrink (amy.tenbrink at sirensconference.org). (She’d love to hear what you’re planning, so that we can create a comprehensive list of auction items by the end of the day on Thursday, October 10, and so that she can address any concerns you might have.) Also, for those of you with bulky items, we can provide a shipping address, if you’d like. And, of course, thanks in advance for your support.

Supporting Registration
If you can’t make it this year, we will miss you, and we hope that you’ll please consider purchasing a supporting registration. This helps us present Sirens this year and offer Sirens in future years, and you’ll receive a 2013 program book following the conference. Supporting registrations cost $50; $35 of each supporting registration is a donation to Sirens, and because Narrate Conferences, Inc. is a charitable organization, that amount is eligible for tax deduction in the United States. (The other $15 covers the cost of the program book and our mailing costs.)

What We’re Excited About This Month

The Secret Journal of Beatrice Hassi Barahal by Kate Elliott is now for sale!

Mette Ivie Harrison on Fairy Tales, Fan Fiction and Copyright.

Recommended reading from Terri Windling.

“On what basis, really, do we choose the books we read?” Challenging the Classics: Questioning the Arbitrary Browsing Mechanism by Foz Meadows.

Review of Ascension by Jacqueline Koyanagi at A Dribble of Ink.

Book Smugglers call for participants and topics for a new monthly feature called SFF in Conversation.

The Mary Sue covers N. K. Jemisin’s new series.

The Hollywood Reporter shows off the cover and title for last book in Laini Taylor’s series that began with Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

Via Nalo Hopkinson (who is on the cover of this month’s Locus!), Macmillan’s Island Fiction stories are all based around fantasy, science-fiction and the legends and folklore of the Caribbean.

Nominate works published in 2012 for Carl Brandon Awards, which honors works of speculative fiction created by a self-identified person of color.

September releases include…

Revenant Eve (paperback) by Sherwood Smith

Conjured by Sarah Beth Durst

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Antigoddess by Kendare Blake

The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White

If you have fantasy-related links—reviews, news, announcements, or something else that’s of interest to Sirens attendees—we welcome them! Please send them to (help at sirensconference.org) at any time.

Questions? You can comment here or write to us at (help at sirensconference.org).