Greetings, Minions! And how are my horrifically darling members of the Horde fairing this fine, gloomy day? Your Auntie is coming down from a deep-breath-taking kinda weekend. One spent without teh internets and with lots of relaxation time, after a long year of stress and craziness. But I’m good now. And I’m getting a new kitteh tomorrow.

“WHAT?!”, you all say. “But Auntie Heather! You just GOT a new kitteh, not that long ago. Remember Fang???”

Of course I remember him! He lies on my desk while I write, and I love him more and more every day! Which is precisely why I’m getting another. See, Amenti largely ignores Fang during the day, when taking her 12 hour nap. So he gets lonely. Thus, the new kitteh. His name is Loki. And I am a happy kitteh momma. Pics to come!

In other news, BLOODBOUND is totally finished and on its way to the copyeditor! It’s also huge, clocking it at 93,000 words…which is about 21,000 more words than TWELFTH GRADE KILLS had. But it’s a fantasy, and fantasies tend to be long anyway. Plus, I had to make room for all the monsters and blood and gore and swords and kick-buttedness.

The second SLAYER CHRONICLES book is currently experiencing its first round of edits. Truth be told, I already know the title…but it’s a SURPRISE!

And we’re just over a month away from the debut of FIRST KILL. I’m sooooo excited! But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. I worry that no one will buy it, for a variety of reasons. Maybe they won’t want to read about Joss. Maybe they won’t know I have a new series coming out. Maybe…a million other things. That voice of doubt keeps creeping in, no matter how many times I squash it. Sometimes it gets so loud that it keeps me up at night. I call it “Fuddy”. And when I get really sick of hearing it, I literally say out loud, “Shut up, Fuddy.”

Why am I telling you this, Minions? Because even the most awesome of us experience self-doubt, and I want you to know that your Auntie goes through it too. Because, the truth is, sometimes I get really scared about the future, but it helps me to know that I’m not alone. That all of you sometimes get scared too. And together, if we all shout loud enough, maybe we can shut Fuddy up for a good, long time.

If you haven’t checked my Appearances page recently, you might want to, as I’ve added my upcoming tour dates. Also, watch for some changes coming soon to the website and forum. (Note: by “soon”, I mean “eventually” or “when I find the time”) Plus, very soon, I’ll have a big contest to announce! But for now, I think a mini-contest is way overdue, don’t you? So…comment to enter. You can say anything you like (but let’s keep it positive, k?), but no matter how much you comment, you’ll only be entered once. Winner gets an ARC of FIRST KILL. I’ll pick a winner in a few days!