Here we go, Minions. The reason Paul said the weird things about pants being touchable (he says weird things all the time, but I felt this one needed clarification) is that I have a brand spankin’ new cover for EIGHTH GRADE BITES! And with the cool, glossy black ink they plan to use, Vlad’s pants…well, I think they’ll be touchable too. Let me know what you think.

Here’s the front:
And here’s the back:

I’m particularly in love with that vampire smiley (DUDE! How COOL is that??). The colors, the boy. It’s all so perfect! Not that I didn’t love my last cover (I really did), but this one just feels right, y’know? My editor summed it up best when she said that after she saw this cover, she couldn’t imagine any other cover for EGB.

Now I just have to let my brilliant web designer know my site needs more changes…

What a horrible, rogue blogger I’ve been lately. But I have an excuse! Actually, a couple. For one, I was busy setting up my ‘Blood Test’ contest. I was also busy enjoying the company of Ms. Linda Levandoski’s ‘Books Fall Open’ class at Pattonville Heights Middle School (her 7th and 8th graders are brilliant, funny, and about as cool as you can get). I was brushing up NINTH GRADE SUCKS for my fabulous agent’s perusal (which he’ll be perusing over the holidays–yay!). And I’ve also been dealing with (read: entering full-on SQUEE! mode) some news that I’m not ready to sahre here just yet (soon, my minions…I promise–think “touchable pants”). In short, I’ve been a busy little Minion overlord.

So catch me up…what have my Minions been up to?

Yep. Touchable. That, my Minions, is the weirdest thing I think I’ve ever heard (thanks, Paul!)…and I’ll tell you all about soon. Promise.

Have you studied? Because there will be a test.

My second contest is going on now! Happy entering, Minions!

Check out this video over at Fuse #8.

…I always knew there was something off about Mary Poppins…

Vlad is chipping icecicles off of his fangs and I’m as bundled up as I can get, perched in front of a heater. All we can do is shiver. Methinks it’s time for a visit to one of two things. A) a sauna or B) a beach. But, as Vlad and I have access to neither right now, we’ll have to suffer with a wind chill factor of ONE FRIGGIN’ DEGREE!

Not to mention that my fingers are so cold, it’s hard to type. *grumble* But type I shall, as I woke up with the urge to tweak a few more aspects of NINTH GRADE SUCKS. Now if I could only thaw my brain enough to focus…

It’s that time of year again, where some poor, unsuspecting tree gets sacrificed, only to end up standing in someone’s living room, decorated and degraded. Poor tree. Anyway…happy holidays! ARCs of EIGHTH GRADE BITES are mailed and I’m trying to focus on ANYTHING but the fact that people are reading my book. Because I’m quite sure it’s terrible, and the hate mail will roll in soon, perhaps attached to the poisoned spines of porcupines. (Yay! I rhymed!) So…there’s some holiday cheer for ya. Humbug, indeed.

I’ve been feeling pretty solitary lately. It’s not a bad thing (this time), just different. It sometimes feels like the world is spinning fast around me, while I’m sitting at my desk, plugging away at stories that lurk in the shadows in the back of my mind. But the world goes on spinning. And sometimes, I glance up at what’s going on and wonder why I’m not a part of it. Occasionally, I’ll pop my head into the fray long enough to say hello, but it’s not like I’m there. I’m here. Writing.

It’s a weird feeling.