So … How’s it going? It’s been awhile, huh? I hope you’re doing well. You look fantastic. Oh, what have I been up to? Well … I started dating again (yikes), I got a new job (hooray), and, through a series of serendipitous events, I sold the Princess of Twilight & Dawn series to MP Publishing. I know! I’m very excited too. The first book, which has been renamed The Uncovering, will be out on 9/10/2013.

Right now I’m working with my editor, Marthine Satris (she’s great, btw), to make the books even better. When all is said and done, it’ll be the same story, of course, but Marthine has given me a lot to think about. There could be some changes ahead for characters you thought you knew…

While this is great news for me, I can understand why you, the readers, may be a little peeved to learn that the last book won’t be coming in May as we all originally thought it would. I know I left you with a bit of a cliffhanger (pun intended) … and now you’ll be hanging from that cliff for kind of awhile. But hold on, my little chickadees! Don’t despair.

In the meantime, I thought it might be fun to write some short stories for you. So if there’s a scene you want to see or a character whose story you want to know, let me know about it in the comments. I’m going to (try to) write one short story a week … hopefully based on your ideas.

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New Year’s Eve has always been my favorite holiday. I like the idea of being on the edge of a new start, looking at a clean slate, about to go someplace I’ve never been where I haven’t had a chance yet to track mud across the clean, white floor. This year, I spent it with my beautiful sisters and our families and our friends. There was a lot of food, a lot of fun, and (in my case anyway) a lot of gin. I wore a sparkly skirt and a feathered hat and I had a lovely evening even though my heart was elsewhere…

(My heart is a wanderer and it goes pretty far afield sometimes. It’s not easy to control and doesn’t listen to what I say or take advice from my brain or my gut or any of the other parts of the human body that are known for being wise and practical. But not to worry. It may take a while, but it’ll make it’s way back to me. When it does, it’ll be bruised and a bit tattered maybe, but it’s an intrepid little thing and no matter what happens to it, its never afraid to go back out. The whole point of having a heart is to give it away.)

Anyway, whether it means going to bed at 8:30 or standing in Times Square waiting for a mirrored ball to drop, I hope you started the new year just the way you like. I hope 2013 makes you a little happier, a little wiser, a little more willing to be joyful and silly and free.  I hope you’ll keep reading and talking and thinking.  I hope you get what you want and it turns out (purely by coincidence) to be exactly what you need too. (I hope those things for myself too. )

Be well, my little chickadees. Be brave and beautiful and strong. Happy, happy New Year!

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Hello my little chickadees. My blog tour for Underneath starts today at Fangtastic Books. It’s the first stop on a month long voyage across the interwebs. Come by and see me off! Bring confetti.

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All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

—J.R.R. Tolkien

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