Behold, Minions! Vlad recently sat down with former succubus Jezebel and had a little chat. Check it out!

And now onto the really important stuff…
Happy Halloween/Merry Samhain! It’s my absolute favorite time of year…Vlad’s too.

Oh happy, blissful, joyful day–not just because of the Most Amazing, Fabulous Personal News EVER, but because I got my ARCs (Advanced Review Copies)! The picture doesn’t do them justice. They’re LOVELY! And I got a peek at what the final cover will look like…note to my Minions: when going to the store to purchase EIGHTH GRADE BITES, bring a drool cup. Trust me–you’ll need it.
I have two ARCs, with many more scheduled to arrive in the next few weeks. So, if you or anyone you know is a book reviewer and are interested in reviewing EGB, drop me a line and you (or they) might just be lucky enough to be added to The List.

Also, spread the word. Because this sucker (ha!) ends at midnight tomorrow!

When I was a little kid, me and my siblings and cousins would play Freeze Tag in my grandma’s front yard. It was awesome. We played TV Tag too…but sometimes I wonder if we just made that one up. (There was also Cartoon Tag…yeah, we were waaaay creative)

Today I’m not freezing or shouting out cartoon characters (you know, not until 3:30 or so), But I have been tagged by Erica Orloff, fabulous writer, amazing woman, total goddess. You know…Erica.

She’s tagged me to write five interesting or unique things about me. So, here we go…

1. I have a deep and lingering fear of The Thing In The Closet. I can’t sleep if the closet door is open, and I sure as heck can’t get up in the dark to close it. What are you, NUTS?! It’s already seen me! IT KNOWS I’M COMING!!

2. I am the perkiest of the perky goths. Though I spend my fair share of time moping, for the most part I’m an intensely happy person (especially when I’m writing something really gross or scary). Remember, kill them with a smile!

3. I can’t swim. Nope. Not even to save my life.

4. I have two tattoos. A rose on my left calve and a dagger with a rose on my right. Both mean a lot to me. More will come!

5. I hate clowns. They scare the pee right out of me. Any clowns. Circus, Halloween costumes, birthday…all clowns. Hate ‘em. They creep me out.

I’m tagging Jackie Kessler, Richelle Mead, Lisa McMann, Devon Ellington, and EJ Knapp!

Tag! You’re it! *runs away*

I find it absurdly amusing that Books-a-Million categorizes EIGHTH GRADE BITES under “Juvenile Fiction: Social Issues-Adolescence”. *snort* Uhh…yeah, social issues are the least of Vlad’s concerns….but okay. (Still very cool that it’s listed there!)

So yesterday I wandered the halls of the local junior high. Man…I’m shorter than the sixth-graders! But it was way cool. Something about the slamming of lockers and the river of panicking students rushing to their next class just gave me a smile. Or, you know, maybe I was smiling because I was glad my sentence is over… Still, I can hardly wait to go hang out with the 7th grade reading class in December!

Anyway, when I got home and finished answering MySpace comments (Do I really seem that young?), doing chores (yuck), writing (yay), and eating dinner (nummy), I got an email from my wonderful editor saying that she has my galleys!!! I can hardly wait to see EIGHTH GRADE BITES in print. It’s surreal. I’d pinch myself to see if I was dreaming, but I bruise easily.

Paul might pinch me though. He’s kinda mean like that.

Take my fabulous agent, for example. Apparently, he blogs! Who knew? Not me…but then, I am supposed to be writing…

Okay, so he’s forgiven.

Have you entered yet? There are only two weeks to go!

Okay, so today it’s foot + butt + chair = writing. Got it? Good.

Sometimes you need to have a butt-kicker in your corner. Paul’s mine. Whenever I suffer from a bout of woe-is-me or wander off the path to success because of some random, irresistable shiny object, he kicks me in the butt and puts me back on track. The verbal butt-kicking may hurt during the process, but afterward, I always feel excited about my career and grateful that he put foot to butt. (Thanks, Paul–you rawk!)

So he kicked my butt yesterday as I wandered away from NINTH GRADE SUCKS (and the First Pass pages for EIGHTH GRADE BITES–which are nearing completion) to work on DEVON and this new thing (yeah, yeah, I’ll tell you later…be patient, minions). I was drifting toward an older project and wanting to work on details, when his foot hit me hard and I shook off that daze. Now I can focus on Vlad again. So today I’m finishing up as much of the First Pass pages as I can and working on NGS–which is going to kick even more butt (heh) than EGB, I’m sure.

Also, I mailed out Minion Bling! If you or anyone you know might be interested in some Bling (buttons that pay homage to yours truly and yours truly’s book), just drop me a line. I can’t promise they’ll get there fast, but I can promise they’ll get there FREE. (And that they’ll rock when they do)

Just when I settle into a happy writing routine, along comes something else with a deadline.

Okay, so first pass are the pages that will go into my ARCs, so it’s my job to read and reread every bit to make certain that this sucker (sorry, Vlad) shines like it’s never shined before. And to get it back to Penguin by October 30th.

Sure. I can do that. No problem.

I also have to finish writing my first newsletter that’s set to go out on November 1st.

I can do that too. No problem.

Plus I have to get ready for Halloween, mail more Minion Bling (people must like this stuff–so far I’ve given away over 600 pieces of bling, if you count the limited edition Minion Bling 2.0!), exercise, and find time to mess around online and stare wistfully at the calender, wondering why it’s taking so long for August to get here.

I’m tired already. Maybe I should put “nap” on that list too.

The ‘Bat to School’ Contest!

Just in case anyone’s missed it…in honor of the debut of her newly revamped website, Heather is holding a contest! It’s easy to enter, just sign up for her quarterly newsletter, The Bathory Gazette, and you’re in. The contest ends on Halloween, so sign up soon! Winners will be chosen by a random drawing and notified by email on November 1, 2006.

Now, onto the good stuff–the real blood and guts of the contest. The fangtastic prizes!

The grand prize winner will be the proud new owner of a coffin shaped backpack! The coffin…er…backpack is made from genuine leather. It features padded interior sides, has adjustable straps, and a secure locking mechanism.

The first prize winner will go batty over their new Demonia bat wing wallet! This full size wallet comes with two separate compartments that snap up securely with ease. Made for both him and her.

Also, the first five to enter will receive a Minion Pack (which includes Minion Bling, all new Minion Bling, blood bag candy, blood-filled syringe pen, and a few extra surprises).

Remember, if you don’t enter, you can’t win!

But now there’s proof! Jackie Kessler (author, editor, succubus diva extraodinaire) recently interviewed me about my writing process, self-promotion, and which goes better with cat, merlot or pinot grigio (kidding! kinda…). Check it out over at Wild Child.

It’s gray out today…and gloomy…and raining. So of course, I’m in a FABULOUS mood. I awoke with such a sense of hope, and I can hardly wait to dive back into NINTH GRADE SUCKS. Plus, on Friday, I received my very first fan letter (Hi, Anisaa!). It was wonderful…even though I feel enormously awful that I haven’t been to the post office to send out Bling in several weeks. I’ll mail out a big bunch to all you patient Minions this Friday, so hang in there!

And the best part of today…I get the privelege of reading Jackie Kessler’s book, HELL’S BELLES! SQUEE!!! It’s my very first ever ARC and I must say, I’m priveleged. Jackie is enormously talented. And I love her. Plus, she’s way pretty. So buy her book or the cat gets it.

Okay, enough blathering. I’ve got work to do. Carry on, Minions, nothing to see here…