Will there be a movie of The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod? Can I be in it? I’m a great actor!

I’m certain you are, Minion. My Minions are creative, awesome peeps. But! I have no idea if a movie will be made. If and when movie rights are sold, you’ll hear it here first, on heatherbrewer.com!

You have awesome hair! I love your hair!

Why, thank you, Minion! It’s my natural color too – can you tell? My hair actually varies in color, depending on how many times I’ve washed it since a fresh dye job. At first it’s purple, then hot pink, then light pink, then I dye it again. The black is dyed too. My natural hair color is strawberry blonde. (ew)

I am the biggest Vlad fan on the planet!!! I love your books! Don’t EVER stop writing!

You’re also my favorite Minion (don’t tell the others)! I’m so glad you love my books. No worries, Auntie Heather will write until her hands fall off…and then she’ll use her tongue.

Will you come to [INSERT TOWN NAME HERE]? Please?? Pretty please??

I would if I could, Minion. And I might! But…the thing is, Auntie Heather can only travel so much (as she needs to keep writing those books that you love so much). Hopefully, when I travel, it’ll be to a town near you. But no promises.

Tell me more about you. I’m doing a paper on you for English and need your stats.

Well, I was born in Lapeer, Michigan on September 21, 1973 (yeah, Auntie’s OLD) and grew up in a tiny little town called Columbiaville, Michigan. Hmmm…what else is there? I like cookies. And video games are da bomb (yeah, I said it).

I never read books until I came across your series.

This is the comment that always tears Auntie up. It means so much to me that you trust me enough to crack open my books and take a chance on reading, Minion. Thank you.

Did I mention I own a Camaro???!!

Okay…deep breath. Spazzing over now. Calm. Serenity.

CAMARO!!!

Also, I’ve been uber busy writing TWELFTH GRADE KILLS. It’s KILLING ME not to talk about the book, but trust me…it’s gonna be good. Just you wait!

How are my Minions?? Does anyone want a hoodie?? Leave a comment to enter, and I’ll pick a random winner on Friday. Oh! And you’ll get your choice of either the hoodie from the cover of EIGHTH GRADE BITES or a zip-up hoodie with the smiley and “Proud Member of the Minion Horde” on the back.

Cuz Auntie Heather is cool like dat.

And also, there are still tickets to the Snow Ball available. In case your interested. Did you know you can win awesome stuff on my Win Things page??? Go there. Do that.

(peace love Vlad)

EDITED TO ADD: We have a winner! Caleb, you lucky Minion you, please email me at heather@heatherbrewer.com with your address and which hoodie you’d like. CONGRATS!!!

For one: tickets to the Snow Ball are on sale now!

And for two: if you want to win a hoodie, head to the forums right now!

And for three (yeah, I was never good at math – Vlad and I have that in common): watch my Win Things page for an exciting new contest….starting sometime this week!

I’m Rayne McDonald, member of the Blood Coven Vampires. I hope you don’t mind me writing you out of the blue like this, but I read about your troubles with Elysia and thought you might be open to hearing about a different kind of vampire organization. One that won’t try to kill you or put on you trial or any of that crap.

The Blood Coven resides in an old New England graveyard, deep underground. Its Master, Lord Magnus, was actually once a knight in shining armor for King Arthur himself. (Crazy, I know!) In any case, he was turned into a vampire during the crusades and just recently took over as Master after his sire, Lucifent, was killed by Bertha the Vampire Slayer. (He’s also dating my sister, Sunny.)

I know, I know, you’re like, why would I join a vampire coven who can’t even protect its master from being staked? Well, let me assure you, Vlad, that this was a very special case. Lucifent was a child vampire and Slayer Inc doesn’t really approve of those. But hey – as you’re already going into the 11th grade that’s nothing you’d ever have to worry about.

Besides, Bertha’s back only part time and I’m the main slayer now.

Okay, I can tell, I’ve lost you again. After all your troubles with Joss last year, I’m sure you’re not totally keen on making the acquaintance of any slayers. But, believe me, it’s not like I wanted this gig to begin with. Turns out, once a generation is born a slayer, just like on Buffy, and this time it happened to be yours truly. Nothing I can do about it–believe me I’ve tried.

But here’s the deal: I only dust the Big Bads. As a member of the Blood Coven, you’d be totally safe. And by the way, how about cutting Joss some slack while you’re at it? After all, he was only following orders…

Speaking of Big Bads, what’s the deal with you letting D’Ablo just go like that? I mean, dude, I know you want to be all humanitarian and stuff, but come on! The guy’s proven himself to be uber evil! As evil as the Vampire Maverick, who I was commissioned to slay last year after he tried to introduce a blood virus that would destroy the coven! Do you think I had any second thoughts before diving that stake into his heart? No freaking way.

So here’s what I’m thinking. You join the Blood Coven and instantly get protection from all the Elesian vamps wishing to do you harm. And as a bonus, me and Joss can team up to slay D’Ablo for you once and for all.

Let me know what you think!

Love,
Rayne McDonald
Vampire/Vampire Slayer
The Blood Coven
www.bloodcovenvampires.com

And I’ll get to that in a second. But first…there is happy news in HeatherLand, my Minions. The clouds have parted and these feathery guys started singing and my stress level is way, way down. My fangtastic editor has granted me a stay of execution – that is, she gave me more time to finish writing TWELFTH GRADE KILLS! YAY! So, now I have until December 1st and I’m really happy about it. Of course, I’m still going to be hard at work and missing from the forums for a bit, BUT…at least I’ll have time to really get this book where it needs to be.

Also! If you are in or near Austin, Texas, you CAN NOT miss the Austin Teen Book Festival! Why? Because I’ll be there!! And it’s going to be so awesome, I can barely contain myself. More info here: http://www.austinteenbookfestival.com

Okay, for this mini-contest, my black-hearted lil followers, you comment to enter (and it doesn’t matter how much you comment, you’re only entered once) AND there will be NINE winners! Every day I’ll pick a name randomly, for nine days. First winner gets their choice and on down the line (last winner is stuck with the leftovers, but no worries – there are no bad prizes here!). I’m giving the lucky winners each a book – the first book of a popular vampire series. The books up for grab are:

GLASS HOUSES by Rachel Caine (The Morganville Vampires series)
VAMPIRE KNIGHT #1 by Matsuri Hino (Manga)
BOYS THAT BITE by Mari Mancusi (Blood Coven series)
THE VAMPIRE DIARIES: THE AWAKENING by LJ Smith (The Vampire Diaries series)
MARKED by PC and Kristin Cast (House of Night series)
VAMPIRE ACADEMY by Richelle Mead (Vampire Academy series)
CIRQUE DU FREAK: A LIVING NIGHTMARE by Darren Shan (Cirque du Freak series)
VAMPIRE KISSES: THE BEGINNING by Ellen Schreiber (Vampire Kisses series)
and of course, THE CHRONICLES OF VLADIMIR TOD: EIGHTH GRADE BITES by yours truly, Heather Brewer (The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod series – or, as we like to call it around here, CoVT)

So, leave a comment, and hold your breath, because starting tomorrow, nine Minions are going to be winners!!!
—————————————————————

DAY #1 WINNER = VampireMistress (chose Vampire Diaries)
DAY #2 WINNER = Molly (chose Cirque du Freak)
DAY #3 WINNER = Violet_Swigger
DAY #4 WINNER = Vladimir Rose (chose Vampire Kisses)
DAY #5 WINNER = Jordan (chose Vampire Academy)
DAY #6 WINNER = Alice Mayberry
DAY #7 WINNER = kira (chose Morganville Vampires)
DAY #8 WINNER = VladimirXTod
Day #9 WINNER = Troy

ATTENTION WINNERS! Please email me your choice at heather@heatherbrewer.com with the subject “I’m a Winner!” and which book you’d like. If the winner before you picks your choice, you’ll have to pick again. But YAY! CONGRATS!!!

zachtodakavladjk124 & Destin (Ny’Emia), please email me your addresses (heather@heatherbrewer.com)!!!

Tomorrow afternoon, I’m headed to Columbia, Missouri, where I’ll be speaking at the Youth Services Librarian Breakfast (or somethin’…Auntie isn’t good at recalling titles of things) for the Missouri Library Association’s annual conference. WOOT! Auntie hearts librarians big time, so this should be fun.

Then on Saturday, I’ll be here in Saint Louis at the Big Read Festival, from 3:30 – 4pm. If you’re around STL and you’ve never visited this amazing festival, I hear it’s not to be missed!

Then on October 24th, I’ll be heading down to Austin, Texas to the first annual Austin Teen Book Festival – an incredible party of an event featuring local teen bands and all sorts of awesome YA authors. And I’ll be on a panel that I’m DYING to be on: Zombies vs. Vampires!!!

After that, my schedule goes pretty quiet until February, which means lots of writing time for Auntie Heather. Yay!

Just a heads-up: I’m working on the Snow Ball info page and hoping tickets will be available for purchase by November 1st…but no promises. Oh! And soon, I’ll be starting another BIG contest on my Win Things page and hosting several mini-contests here on the blog!

Plus…there is news coming your way. Soon, Minions…soon.

May the FANGs be with you!

E.M. drew this fangatstic picture of D’Ablo. It’s drool-worthy, for sure!

And the two amazing Minions who won first prizes (autographed copies of TENTH GRADE BLEEDS) are Linnea Nierman, who drew an incredible picture of Meredith at the Snow Ball, and Cassidy Charles, who drew an unbelievable picture of Kristoff (aka David)!

CONGRATS< Minions! Watch my Win Stuff page in the next few days for a new and exciting contest!!

Oh, Minions.

If you had any idea what your dear Auntie Heather is going through right now, you might just lose your precious little twisted minds as well.

My schedule has been ramped up, that is to say, changed so that I can meet my publisher’s quicker-version of a publishing schedule. (Does that make sense?) See, initially, ELEVENTH GRADE BURNS was going to be out in Summer 2010, which meant like August. But because I sold both the first three books of BLOODBOUND and all five books of THE SLAYER JOURNALS, my schedule had to shift in order to accomodate the new titles. So that moved ELEVENTH to February 9, 2010. As a result, my writing schedule has been intense. TWELFTH GRADE KILLS was due to my editor on March 15, 2010. It’s now due around Halloween 2009. So…argh. My days have become a routine of wake up, shower, dress, eat, write, write, write, eat again, write, write, write, sleep.

For the curious, TENTH GRADE BLEEDS will come out in paperback January 2010. ELEVENTH GRADE BURNS will debut in hardcover February 2010 (paperback won’t be until August 2010). TWELFTH GRADE KILLS (this is the one I’m writing right now) will be available in hardcover September 2010 (and in paperback April 2011).

The first book of THE SLAYER JOURNALS will debut September 2011 and the first book of BLOODBOUND will be available in October 2011. So it’s going to be a very Heather Brewer kinda year in the bookstores.

So…that’s why I’m exhausted, and hardly blogging, and absent from the forums currently.

Auntie needs a nap.

But it’s all for you, Minion Horde! And that makes it worth it.

It’s time for a mini-contest, Minions, don’t you think? Leave a comment to enter. Winner gets this WAY AWESOME “Grow Your Own Vampire”, as well as a copy of whichever of the three Vlad books they’d like. I’ll draw a random winner on Sunday and post the name Monday morning.

Also…a Minion by the name of Amanda had a few. *ahem* “Few” questions. I’d like to answer them.

1) Do you like Orange Juice?
Yes. It is quite nummy. But it hurts my tummy.

2) Do you believe in abnormal beings out there that us humans don’t even know about?
Absolutely.

3) Doesn’t Twilight suck? (Seriously–I HATE that book…)
Well, it does have vampires *snort* I kill me! No, seriously, everyone has their personal tastes. Nothing wrong with that. I adored the first and felt it went downhill from there.

4) Do you listen to Nickelback?
Only because the radio keeps playing them. All their songs sound the same to me.

5) Do you think Transformers are awesome?

Yes! I used to watch them as a kid, so this newfound love of them is cool to watch unfold.

6) Do you WISH you could be a Transformer?

Nope. I like being me.

7) Are you stopping by New York anytime soon?

No events lined up, but early June, I’ll be there…with my son Jacob. Hmm…maybe I will set up an event, so you can all meet us!

8 ) Can you identify yourself with any of your characters (And, I mean, ANY)?

Oh yes. Vlad is what I felt like in high school…what I still feel like on occasion. He’s the unpopular, misunderstood me. Nelly is the worrying mother in me. And Otis…well, I think I’m most like Otis. Sharp, semi-quiet, a fixer, conflicted, but protective of those he loves.

9) Who do you WANT Vlad to be with, girl-wise (No, you don’t have to give away who he gets together with in the upcoming book…just….who do you think is better for him, personally?)

I want Vlad to be with someone who truly gets him and can accept him for who and what he is.

10) Do you have a boyfriend? *wiggles eyebrows suggestively*

Nah, my husband would get mad.

11) Have you read Harry Potter?

I have DEVOURED that series several times over.

12) Did you ever go to Japan?

No, but I plan to.

13) Do you think hermit crabs are digusting and utterly repulsive?

I won’t touch them. But…they’re kinda cute from afar.

14) Have you ever seriously injured yourself?

No, but that’s because I’m a big chicken.

15) Do you HATE bugs?

Not at all. I think every living creature has its place.

16) Any advice for people who struggle through jerks in high school? Just out of curiosity.

This too shall pass, believe it or not. I was the most picked on kid at my school…and now the bullies’ children are Minions.

17) Did you ever go on Fanfiction?

Nope.

18) Is Henry hot?

Oh yes. Way too hot for his own good. It’s a McMillan thing. Joss is hot too – hotter than Henry, even.

19) Is OTIS hot?

Otis is super mega ultra hot.

20) Do you gag when people think of Vlad and Henry….being a couple *face turns green*

Nope. I’ve seen a few Yaoi drawings around and heard of a few fanfics like that – if people love them so much that they take them to a place they enjoy, I’m okay with that. Auntie has a very open mind…even if I totally do not see Vlad and Henry hooking up.

21) Do you own a purple pen?

Several. They match my hair.

22) What was the most disgusting thing you’ve EVER done in your life?

Gave birth. Seriously. Gross.

23) If I did something very courteous for you, would you give me a copy of ELEVENTH GRADE BURNS, after making sure I promise and signed something saying I’d never give ANY info about it to ANYONE?

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Oh wait, you’re serious?

24) Favorite number?

13!

25) Your opinion on squids, please.

They are squidlike and squiddy.

26) Ever stepped in cow manure?

No.

27) Have you ever gone sky-diving? If so, what’s it like?

No way! Chicken, remember?

28) What shampoo do you use?

Depends. I dig Paul Mitchell, but Pantene gets the job done.

29) Aside from your own books, any reccommendations to read? Us fan need SOMETHING to help us wait patiently for your next book to come out.

What about monster unicorns? Read RAMPANT by Diana Peterfreund.

30) Do you like the color blue?

It’s okay.

31) Think of a number.

Now, double it.

Then, add four.

Divide by two.

Subtract the original number.

Is your answer 2?

(Cool, isn’t it?)

WHOA. That’s eerie…

32) Do you think hobos are awesome, in thier own way? Or do they creep you out?

Hobos are awesomely creeptastic.

33) What was your past like?

Dull and lonely.

34) Do you believe in aliens?

Yep.

35) Have you ever thought you went crazy?

Thought I was on the verge of crazy, but I’m better now. Besides…everyone’s a little crazy.

36) Did you notice that there’s an arrow in the FedEx logo?

Huh. No. Thanks for pointing that out. HA! Get it??? Pointing?? I crack me up.

37) Do you own any scratch and sniff stickers?….If so, can you ship them to me?

No, but I used to collect them! Had a leather one. It stunk.

38) Have you ever been followed by someone (it could be anyone–friends, family)

Not that I’m aware of. (and OMV what a creepy stalker question…)

39) Do you puzzle why pieces of art that a six-year old could pull off costs tons of millions of dollars?

No. I don’t think too much about others’ interpretations of what art is.

40) Are you intrigued by the Earth?

Totally.

41) Ever witness roadkill?

Yes, but not caused.

42) Do you like sporks?

I love sporks!!!

43) Have you ever used sporks?

YES!!

44) Do you have an ipod?

Yeppers – a nano. And an iphone.

45) Is yours as awesome as my iTouch?

My iphone is better

46) Do you like waffles?

Yummy!

47) Are you a vegetarian?

No. Eating meat is murder….yummy, yummy murder.

48) Does blood gross you out?

Dude. Have you read the books?

49) Ever hear of Operation Beautiful?

Yes. Just now when you typed it. What is it?