WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD

Faerie has always been with us. The fairy tales, ballads, and folklore of the mortal world are only shadows of the true, sometimes terrible reality of the fae. They survive in secrecy, keeping their Courts in the places where the light doesn't fall, existing in parallel to the world we know. They aren't human. They don't want to be. But sometimes they take human lovers, and sometimes, those unions are fertile ones. Changelings aren't stolen children; they're mortal halfbreeds born where the fae and human worlds collide, never able to fully belong to either, outsiders from birth.

October Daye knows how cruel Faerie can be to its changeling children. Born in San Francisco and carried to the Summerlands by her pureblood mother when she was just a child, she was raised in a world that never seemed capable of understanding her. She ran away the moment the opportunity presented itself, only to find that the human world wasn't any better.

Things have been going downhill ever since.

The October Daye books follow the adventures of October "Toby" Daye as she tries to find her footing in a world that seems a little more interested in killing her than she'd like. The first eighteen books in the series are available now:

The October Daye series is published in North America by DAW Books, with cover art by Christian McGrath and interior dingbats by Tara O'Shea. For more details on Toby's world, and for answers to your specific questions, please see the Toby Daye FAQ page.

INDIVIDUAL BOOKS

Rosemary and Rue (September 1st 2009, DAW) introduces us to October Daye, a fae half-breed, former street kid, and self-exiled knight-errant from the Duchy of Shadowed Hills. Her friends, the few friends she has left, call her Toby. After getting burned by both sides of her heritage, she's retreated entirely from the fae community, spending her nights stocking shelves at a San Francisco grocery store and her days asleep in her apartment downtown. It takes two to really make an exile work, and when Countess Evening Winterrose is murdered, Toby finds herself yanked abruptly back into the world she thought she was leaving behind. It's going to take everything she's got just to stay alive, and the stakes are higher than anyone has guessed...

A Local Habitation (March 2nd 2010, DAW) finds Toby still reeling from her return to fae society when her liege lord, Duke Sylvester Torquill, comes to her with a request she can't deny. His niece, January, lives in a nearby fiefdom called Tamed Lightning, and has stopped checking in. Taking Quentin, a teenage Daoine Sidhe courtier from Shadowed Hills, Toby heads for Tamed Lightning on what looks like a simple baby-sitting run on the surface, but underneath, has the potential to turn dangerous for everyone involved...

An Artificial Night (September 7th 2010, DAW) brings Toby into unavoidable, disastrous contact with the darker realities of the fae as Blind Michael, Firstborn son of Oberon and Maeve, begins claiming the children of the Mists as his own...including several that Toby considers to be essentially family. Time is short and the rules are stranger than any she's ever played by, dictated by a mad Firstborn and his private army, but failure isn't an option. If she can't get there and back by the light of a candle, she may not get back at all...

Late Eclipses (March 1st 2011, DAW) finds Toby still reeling from her encounter with Blind Michael, but beginning, gradually, to recover...a recovery that is endangered when an old enemy makes an unexpected appearance. Has Oleander de Merelands returned to San Francisco? If so, why? And what part does the Queen of the Mists have to play in all of this? With the stakes getting higher by the hour, Toby must finally find a way to sort truth from lies, and learn more about her place in Faerie than she ever dreamed...

One Salt Sea (September 6th 2011, DAW) begins as Toby is getting her feet under herself in the wake of Oleander's return. She's running her county, getting a grip on the management of her knowe, and heading for a world of trouble as the sudden threat of war with the local Undersea looms. Can she find the missing sons of the Duke and Duchess of Saltmist before people start dying? Or is it already too late? The fight is more personal than it's ever been before, and not everyone will be standing when the tide rolls out...

Ashes of Honor (September 4th 2012, DAW) picks up in the aftermath of the conflict with the Undersea. Toby's life has changed forever, and she's still trying to figure out how she's going to deal with what she can't deny. But when an old friend encounters an unexpected problem, she can't allow her grief to interfere with her job, and maybe more importantly, she can't allow her inaction to endanger Faerie. Doors that were never meant to open are being unlocked, and roads long abandoned are being used once more. It's a race for the life of a little girl, and there can only be one winner...

Chimes at Midnight (September 3rd 2013, DAW) finds Toby trying to deal with the goblin fruit problem in San Francisco, a problem that turns quickly personal when changelings start showing up dead. What's more, the Queen of the Mists seems bent on making things harder than they have to be, and her interference may be enough to get Toby killed, or worse. With time running out and enemies at every side, it seems like there's nothing that can't be risked, or lost, in the fight to make it out alive...

The Winter Long (September 2nd 2014, DAW) sees questions answered, answers questioned, and old debts finally put to rest. There is more to lose than there has ever been before, and whatever comes next, it will not come easy.

A Red-Rose Chain (September 1st 2015, DAW) puts Toby into a whole new world: diplomacy. When the King of Silences declares war on the Mists, Toby somehow finds herself at the head of the diplomatic mission that's supposed to keep things from turning uglier than they already are. With May, Tybalt, and Quentin to help her, there's a chance she can pull this off...but with Walther concealing connections to the deposed royal family of Silences, there's also a chance that things are about to get very, very ugly. And there are a few familiar faces waiting for her, among the roses...

Once Broken Faith (September 6th 2016, DAW) finds Toby faced with the aftermath of her own actions, as she must navigate a formal conclave to determine whether the cure for elf-shot will be made available to the rest of Faerie. Everything seems fine...until the first murder occurs, and it becomes evident that for some people, this is a matter of life and death. With her allies under siege and her own skills of dubious usefulness, Toby must find a way to bring things to a peaceful conclusion...before everyone involved is lost.

The Brightest Fell (September 5th 2017, DAW) brings Toby face to face with possibly the most dangerous opponent of them all: her mother. When Amandine asks Toby to do a job for her, Toby's first impulse is to refuse. Unfortunately, Amandine doesn't know how to take "no" for an answer. With Tybalt and Jazz as hostages to her good behavior, Toby must team up with an unlikely ally and travel into the deeper realms of Faerie with a single goal. Bring her sister home...or risk losing everything.

Night and Silence (September 4th 2018, DAW) brings the dangers of Faerie glaringly to light when Toby receives the one piece of news she thought she would never have to hear again: her daughter is missing, snatched in the night by an unseen kidnapper, and her ex-lover, Cliff Marks, blames her for Gillian's disappearance. It's going to be an uphill fight to chase the clues and bring her human daughter home. But who could have been responsible for this? And if there are people willing to involve a human girl in fae disputes, can Gilly ever truly be safe?

The Unkindest Tide (September 3rd 2019, DAW) finds Toby recruited to accompany the Luidaeg to the mysterious Duchy of Ships as the bargain that has allowed the Selkies to exist for so long is finally called due, and all debts are settled at last. But when someone begins killing Selkies, and a possible coup in the Duchy of Saltmist looms, Toby must decide how far she will go for her allies, and how much she owes to the Undersea.

A Killing Frost (September 1st 2020, DAW) confronts Toby with something she's never tried to do before: wedding planning. When Patrick and Dianda Lorden happen to remind her that Simon Torquill is still technically missing, Toby is forced to find him or risk her own happily ever after falling apart completely. Pureblood politics have never been her strong suit.

When Sorrows Come (September 14, 2021, DAW) focuses on the event of the century, or at least the weekend, the marriage of October Daye and her deeply beloved King of Cats. As the pair travel to Toronto to be married in the High Court of the Westlands, it seems almost inevitable that they should be pulled into local politics and forced to stop a coup before they can make it to the altar.

Be the Serpent (August 30, 2022, DAW) finds Toby finally married, and ready to embark on her happy ever after. Sadly for her plans, chaos is always lurking, and she quickly discovers that an old friend is actually an enemy in disguise...one that must be faced, or all Faerie may fall.

Sleep No More (September 5, 2023, DAW) pulls Toby into a Faerie twisted and re-imagined without the Court of Cats, but with a loving family all the same. What happens when cracks begin to appear in the Summer Queen's paradise, who can Toby trust, and how much will she risk for a life and a world she doesn't remember?

The Innocent Sleep (October 24, 2023, DAW) brings Tybalt's world down just as he thought he had it all. With his Court banished, Saltmist cut off, and Toby believing him a stranger, hope is in short supply and tempers are high.

SHORT FICTION

"Through This House," published in Home Improvement: Undead Edition (August 2011). This story takes place between Late Eclipses and One Salt Sea, and features Toby, May, Danny, and Quentin as they make their first entrance into the reopened knowe of Goldengreen.

"In Sea-Salt Tears," released in August 2012, available for free download on this site. This story takes place before Rosemary and Rue, and features the Luidaeg before she became a part of Toby's story. "In Sea-Salt Tears" was nominated for the 2013 Hugo Awards, in the Best Novelette category.

"Rat-Catcher," published in A Fantasy Medley 2 (December 2012). This story takes place in the late 1600s, and follows the final adventure of Rand, Prince of Cats, before he was forced to stand and acknowledge his inevitable destiny as King. "Rat-Catcher" was nominated for the 2013 Hugo Awards, in the Best Novelette category.

"Forbid the Sea," released in September 2013, available for free download on this site. Best read after "Rat-Catcher," this story follows Tybalt, now ten years into his reign, as he attempts to distract himself from his loneliness.

"Never Shines the Sun," included in the paperback edition of Chimes at Midnight. A look at the Luideag's first encounter with a little girl named October, and the consequences that followed.

"The Fixed Stars," published in Shattered Shields (November 2014). Before she was the Luidaeg, she was Antigone of Albany, and before she was a sea witch, she was part of a world at war...

"No Sooner Met," released in January 2015, available for free download on this site. Best read after Ashes of Honor, this story follows Toby and Tybalt on their first real date.

"Heaps of Pearl," released in January 2016, available for free download on this site. Best read any time after One Salt Sea, this historical tale takes us back to the day Patrick Twycross met his first mermaid.

"Full of Briars," published as a DAW Books e-original (August 2016). Quentin has dealt with many dangers. None more terrifying than introducing his knight to his parents. Set immediately after Chimes at Midnight.

"Dreams and Slumbers," included in all editions of Once Broken Faith. After the conclave is over, Queen Arden Windermere in the Mists has a choice to make, and no one to help her make it.

"Of Things Unknown," included in all editions of The Brightest Fell. Description coming.

"Suffer a Sea-Change," included in all editions of Night and Silence. Description coming.

"Hope is Swift," included in all editions of The Unkindest Tide. Description coming.

"Shine in Pearl," included in all editions of A Killing Frost. Description coming.

"And With Reveling," included in all editions of When Sorrows Come. Description coming.

"Such Dangerous Seas," included in all editions of Be The Serpent. Description coming.

"Candles and Starlight," included in all editions of Sleep No More. Description coming.

"Doubtless and Secure," included in all editions of The Innocent Sleep. Description coming.

For more information on the October Daye short stories, and to download the free stories for your reading pleasure, please visit the October Daye Short Fiction page.

GRAPHICS AND GOODIES

You can download promotional icons and wallpapers for many of Toby's published adventures, as well as special icons and wallpapers for the German editions of the first two books. More goodies are coming, so check back often!