Claudia Gray

Ow.

Mommy?

I finally have a few ARCs to distribute. A few of them are spoken for, and another few I’ll be distributing via the pre-launch contests for Evernight. (I can’t believe those contests will be starting soon. I am currently hunting up goodies besides the ARCs, so stay tuned.) But I also have a couple left over.

Anybody out there run a review blog? Or know somebody who does, and who might enjoy a YA vampire romance? Suggestions gratefully accepted.

Thanks so much to the anonymous source who upped this to a paid account! I’m very grateful, not least because this means I can now post polls. This is a very good thing, because I’ve been meaning to ask you guys a question:

I’m preparing one of my anthology stories — the one about the young witch Cecily, whom you guys helped me to name — and the tone definitely wants to be more lighthearted. However, I’m also developing a proposal for a book (or books) about Cecily, but as I work on that, I realize that the longer story would be much more serious in tone, mostly because of some things that would have to happen to shake up Cecily’s world and make it complicated enough to sustain a longer plotline.

So basically, I’m trying to find out what you would think as a reader if you’d read the anthology story, enjoyed it, then later picked up a book starring this character that had a different tone to it altogether.

A good friend is coming into town this weekend, so I’m looking forward to that, although she’s going to have to watch me write part of the time. Must lay in provisions of chocolate to keep her happy and entertained.

As of about 30 minutes ago, the first draft of Hourglass is complete! Woohoo!

This gives me six whole weeks to polish. And, uh, write two anthology stories. But that’s OK, because as long as I’ve got a draft of the book to work with, the rest will fall into place.

The draft will need some cutting, and the first chapters in particular are a bit flabby, but that’s what rewriting is for.

Either wonderfully or maniacally, I am considering working on my thriller concept for the rest of the night. But not before I do a little celebratory dance.

Evernight gets the briefest of mentions in this New York Observer article about the popularity of all things teenage and vampire, most particularly Twilight. Although agents everywhere are groaning that they’re seeing too many vampires, this article speculates that the market isn’t close to saturated yet. Let’s hope not.

I can also announce that I’ve joined a second anthology; I don’t have a title for this one yet, but it will be a Borders exclusive — all YA, all vampires, all romantic, all scary. And it’s coming out just in time for Halloween! I’ll provide more info as plans finalize.

(I already know that I’ll be writing about the backstory of a character in Evernight, so I’m very excited about that.)

It’s after 1 in the morning. I’m still up. I finished writing more than an hour ago, but I can’t possibly go to sleep.

You see, I just killed a character.

I knew this was going to happen; I knew this person would die in the third book long before I’d even finished the first. It’s important. It’s necessary. And — as you might guess in a book about vampires — it’s also not the end.

That doesn’t change the fact that I feel intensely guilty right now.

Forgive me, character I cannot name in public! I swear this is for the best.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to lie down with my head under a pillow.

British government pays for exorcism.

I’ve known not one but two people who had “castings-out” of what they considered to be spirits in their homes. One was an aunt of mine who believed strongly that there was something Not Right on the little-used third floor of her old house. Several relatives who stayed there reported feeling extremely odd, and my grandmother (aka the least fanciful human being who has ever walked the face of the earth) was awakened in the night while staying there — she would never discuss precisely what happened, but she kept saying that everyone should believe my aunt and that a priest needed to see to it. A priest saw to it. Apparently there were still occasional bad vibes but far fewer and less often. Another was a law school classmate — funny, snarky and very down to earth — who nonetheless felt quite certain he was being watched in his house. He kept trying to ignore it until one day his wife confessed the same feeling, and coming from the same particular two corners that creeped him out. Then their young daughter innocently piped up and asked if they were talking about that thing with all the eyes. Again with the priest-calling. They had no more problems.

I don’t believe in ghosts, and yet I am not disposed to ignore those people’s experiences entirely. It’s interesting.

Who else has had known someone who had a “casting-out”? Or have any folks out there had them done themselves?

Is this bad news for the show or good news?

The showrunner has been fired, which is usually a sign of trouble, and as I was enjoying the show as-is, I’m not sure how “Moonlight” would be poised to change.

OTOH, does this mean “Moonlight” is being renewed for sure? Seems like CBS wouldn’t go to the trouble of firing the showrunner of a show they were about to tank.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I need my TV vampire fix!

I’m happy to announce that I’ll have a story in the upcoming HarperTeen anthology, Vacations From Hell, due in a bookstore near you for summer 2009. My story is unnamed right now, but thanks to you guys, its heroine is not: Cecily will get to have a few adventures of her own.

So much for all that “free time” I’ve had lately —

(::pauses to laugh hysterically::)

— but I’m really looking forward to writing this story. It’s going to be a little lighter and funnier than the Evernight series, and I personally always think a change of pace is a good thing.

The surly chicken is outside my office again.

He is a man about my height wearing a chicken suit that has presumably seen better days, although it is hard to know in what days the chicken suit would have been considered “good.” For one, it is made of yellow fur, which is less “chicken” and more “psychedelic Yeti.” But the big rubber chicken head on top leaves no doubt that this costume is intended for the impersonation of poultry.

For the past month or two, he’s been hanging around my block. I think he is promoting some local business, although he is never waving or being cheerful in the manner of most such mascots. Instead he loiters, shoulders slumped, turning his head that way and this as if daring anyone to to mention the yellow fur. Every once in a while, he will yell something at the passers-by, which might be an advertising slogan but might as easily be angry obscenities. The rubber mask muffles all words and ensures that the surly chicken will never, ever be understood. All I know is that his tone is not encouraging.

I mean, I guess he’s promoting a business. He could just be a guy whose tether to sanity has snapped, rather spectacularly, and this is his chosen method of crazy. But sometimes he seems to be clutching fistfuls of coupons. I really would like to take one, if for no other reason to find out what business could possibly believe that this is the best way to get themselves out there. But I am somewhat afraid of the surly chicken.

Today I went out to grab lunch, and the surly chicken was yelling at the Daily News guy. At least, I think he was, and the newsguy seemed to think so too.

Will I eventually get to see the surly chicken take someone on? I will report.

Next week: big announcements coming!